[Lindholdt]

After getting the HE 1000's, listening to them intensely for a day, and then going back to a speaker setup, I have been reminded how much of a pain room acoustics are

 

[Monsterzero]

I have been a headphone guy for the past 20 years, mostly IEMs and DAPs, but went to speakers this spring. Then realized a headphone amp and new cans could help me not bother the wife during the afternoon, so got the G111+LCD-2C. I have less invested in the headphone setup, but in general I love the immersion of the headphone experience, but I will say my KEF speakers + Marantz are a bit more forgiving on some of these bright 80s recordings. So, I tend to switch around between headphones and speakers depending if I find my ears bothered too much. Any suggestions on whether a Lokius would be worth it for the headphones, to warm up these harsh 80s recordings? I see in the Lokius thread some people complained about its effect on soundstage, don't want to compromise the sound quality too much.

A basic rule of thumb is to keep as few devices within your chain as possible. I have no experience with the Lokius, but have tried other hardware based EQs and it did nothing but degrade my general SQ.

 

[DP42]

A basic rule of thumb is to keep as few devices within your chain as possible. I have no experience with the Lokius, but have tried other hardware based EQs and it did nothing but degrade my general SQ.

That is my fear, I typically set my DAPs to standard settings, trying EQ on those, or any other added DSP effect and I don't like it as much and return to the default sound. I am really into re-visiting 80s stuff right now, I just take the good with the bad and just accepting it for what it is. This music hobby is such a great pass time, trying old albums (and new ones), equipment changes, and occasionally getting an emotional immersion. I feel a much closer connection with the artists in music than I do with films, when the vocals are clear and close to me I feel a more real emotion vs acting. Acting has plenty of emotion, but they are playing a character, a lot of musicians songs are about what they are experiencing in their personal lives at that time, and it feels real. In the 80s we just jammed out, but now re-visiting some of these songs with hifi gear I am hearing the singer much more clearly and can now see the emotion much more clearly, you just never know where the next easter egg will come from. Examples are The Cars, and Phil Collins.