[Shabda]

...that’s not the schitt loki...i need more bands! 16 would be nice but i need at least 8

any suggestions?

100-200 bucks

 

[ADUHF]

A software EQ like Equalizer APO is not workable?

 

[Shabda]

I mostly listen through my iphone and there arent many good eqs that synchronize with music streaming apps. Plus physical controls are fun

all the ones i’ve tried either noticably alter the sound quality or only work with downloaded files

 

[Shabda]

Anyone ever tried a guitar eq pedal with headphones??
Half kidding...

 

[ADUHF]

I don't have any great suggestions on this, other than to look on Ebay or Craigslist or your local fleamarket for a vintage home audio EQ deck.

Back in the 70's, this kind of thing was fairly commonplace. But they're much harder to find now. Behringer makes a little inexpensive 9-band desktop EQ, called the MiniFBQ800. But I'm not sure if it'd deliver the type of quality you want.

The next best solution is probably a mixer with a graphic EQ built-in. But they may run into a few more $$ to get something decent, that's noise and distortion-free. And you will generally only find features like that now on the larger, more expensive models, because the lower-end stuff is going more towards digital effects.

There are also rack-mountable graphic EQs, like the DBX 215s and 231s. But they are generally designed more for +4 dBu pro audio than the -10 dBV consumer audio that your gear is probably using. And have separate EQ controls for both channels, unlike the Behringer MiniFBQ.

 

[ADUHF]

Most decent home audio-video receivers will have some type of graphic EQ built in to them btw. So that is generally where you'll find this kind of functionality now on home audio gear. And why they aren't generally offered as separate modules anymore.

 

[Shabda]

That’s just about what I’ve concluded, was lookin at those behringers but they just didnt seem like a good fit for my set up and for other reasons you mention it wasnt a good buy.

I ended up getting the loki actually, better than nothin and it seems to preserve the sound quality. I’ll take what I can get

Thanks for taking the time!

 

[ADUHF]

There are a couple other things I should mention on this (which are readily obvious to me, but may not be to a newb on the subject).

To use a standalone EQ module like the Loki or Behringer MiniFBQ, you generally need a separate amp, and player or DAC. Because the EQ is designed for fixed line level audio, rather than amplified/variable level audio. And needs to go between the sound source and any amplification.

In my current setup, for example, I would put the Loki or MiniFBQ between my DAC (which is just a simple TOSLINK digital optical to analog audio converter), and my Rolls-Bellari HA543 headphone amp, using RCA cables for all the connections.

There are also some headphone amps with graphic or parametric EQ features built-in. To get really decent integrated EQ features may run into some $$ though.

 

[ADUHF]

Rolls-Bellari also makes a simple 4-band EQ/tone controller similar to the Schiit Loki, called the EQ570. Both are around the same price as well.

https://www.bellariaudio.com/index.php/products/eq570-audio-equalizer/

A typical mixer will generally have the following EQ/tone adjustments btw...

Low Frequency Bass Shelf: 80 or 100 Hz
Midrange: 2.5 kHz
High Frequency Treble Shelf: 10 or 12 kHz

 

[ADUHF]

In addition to the Behringer, I see there are also a couple other standalone graphic EQs with RCA ins/outs available through Amazon from companies like Rockville, Technical Pro and EMB. I have no idea how good the quality would be on these though. And like the DBX rack-mounting units, they appear to have separate controls for the left and right channels.

Example...

There appears to be no basic left/right gain or stereo balance control on this unit btw. Which can sometimes be a useful feature for fixing headphone driver imbalances.