[exdmd]

I’ve bought a lot of crap in my time but I’ve finally pulled the trigger on my first piece of Schiit. My Loki should be arriving tomorrow and I’m looking forward to some fun knob twiddling. I’ve skimmed through the thread but didn’t notice any experiences of this device with Elears or PM3s, so I would like to hear thoughts any of you guys might have on settings for these cans. I’m guessing perhaps some boost in the upper mids/lower treble region for the Elears and maybe a little treble hike for the PMs? Even if you don’t have a Loki, perhaps you could use your experiences of eq-uing these ‘phones to make suggestions for settings. My Loki will go into a vinyl-based system with a Burson Soloist SL and I have no prior experiences of using anything more complicated than bass and treble knobs on systems back in the day. Cheers.

Elears have a pronounced dip in FR at 5 kHz. Unfortunately Loki adjusts at 20 Hz, 400 Hz, 2 kHz and 8 kHz. May not be ideal for Elears; I would try slight boost on 2 kHz and 8 kHz. The PM3 probably need a boost at 20 Hz, 400 Hz. Tyll's measurements show a sharp dip at 6 kHz the Loki may be unable to correct you will just have to experiment to get best sound for your ears. Again try slight boost on 2 kHz and 8 kHz. I really hope Schiit comes out with a Loki 2 with an extra knob for adjustment at 5 kHz.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

Half the fun is simply playing with the Loki until you find the settings you like. Fortunately it's pretty simple with only 4 knobs to adjust. Enjoy!

I got carried away with cross referencing the frequencies with recording guides. While informative, it was indeed unnecessary. I'm appreciating the 4-knob approach as I learn more about tone control. And I find myself turning it off ("before/after/before/after") less and less. Mighty fine, mighty fine. @VRacer-111 has a nice set up, btw.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

It's a touchy subject but many consider analog equalization to sound better than digital. Also if you are streaming Tidal direct from your laptop to DAC you are limited to using a Loki between the DAC and amp.

The Cello Audio Palette analog equalizer provided six frequency adjustment controls for each channel at 15 Hz, 120 Hz, 500 Hz, 2 kHz, 5 kHz and 25 kHz and cost $6500 in 1992.

The four channel Loki is the bargain of the year at $149. (Cello Audio Palette photo courtesy of TAS.)

Crimme. Knob nirvana. If I ever get a chance to listen to one of these refurbished devices, I'd be intrigued!

 

[omniweltall]

Btw, 400hz is not really mid-bass, more like low-mid. Mid-bass is around 100-200hz afaik.

 

[rutter]

Would this work with a Questyle CMA400i used as both a DAC and an amp?

 

[omniweltall]

Unfortunately no. You need a separate DAC & Amp, whereby Loki comes in the middle.

 

[rutter]

Do me a favor please. Turn the third knob (2khz) left and right. Does your sound shift laterally? If I boost/i.e. turn it right the sound is shifted left, if I reduce/turn it left the sound is shifted right. It's the only knob that results in such movement. Did I get a defective unit?

 

[riffrafff]

Do me a favor please. Turn the third knob (2khz) left and right. Does your sound shift laterally? If I boost/i.e. turn it right the sound is shifted left, if I reduce/turn it left the sound is shifted right. It's the only knob that results in such movement. Did I get a defective unit?

If mine does, my ears cannot detect it.

 

[Pavioni]

Mine does not. Email Schiit.

 

[rutter]

Yea, they should cover most of the shipping as well in such a case. Almost $30 cheapest on the way to me, and I'll have to pay $13 more to send it back, let alone if I elect to get a replacement.

I'm not sure whether I should get a replacement as opposed to a refund. Turning the bass from 12 to 5:30/max creates far more boom than punch, reminding me of the gimmicky bass boost of other devices. I tested the 8khz knob similarly and was surprised to see that it affected vocals, which I thought were much further down. The other two knobs were a little strange too. What I ended up doing was turning all to 2 o'clock, then 3, which had a potentially good effect, but that is dependent on whether it can't be reproduced simply by turning up the volume. The lateral imbalance was apparent though and it's clearly the third knob causing it.

 

[riffrafff]

Wow. I've never turned the bass (20 Hz) to more than 2:30 or so (and seldom even that far). I'm not surprised that it gets muddled by the time it reaches 5:30.

 

[rutter]

It doesn't do that much up to 2:30, as described by Schiit. It's not the amazing device it was made out to be, but perhaps still useful. By the way, out of curiosity, are older equalizers really that bad that this thing comes out with four knobs and some people think it's a big deal? I was expecting a lot, and while it might have merit, I think some people were exaggerating.

 

[riffrafff]

It doesn't do that much up to 2:30, as described by Schiit. It's not the amazing device it was made out to be, but perhaps still useful. By the way, out of curiosity, are older equalizers really that bad that this thing comes out with four knobs and some people think it's a big deal? I was expecting a lot, and while it might have merit, I think some people were exaggerating.

I seldom touch the other three knobs; I find that the 20Hz knob helps to restore some of the bass I lose with open-back headphones.

There's a youtube video out there that shows the knobs' effect, overlap and Q with some graphs. I just use it for minute corrections. It can't fix horribly recorded/mastered recordings.

 

[rutter]

Not what I'm trying to fix.

 

[rgmffn]

I experimented with my Loki on several sets of HPs. Not all of them responded positively to excessive adjustments. Especially the 20Hz knob. With some HPs, mostly dynamic, when turning the bass up, it just got boomy. They couldn't handle the extra bass gain. My planars are really the only ones that responded favorably. Any adjustments were easily apparent and the change in sound was what was expected.
So, the Loki is not going 'work' in every setup.