[dcguy73]

My Loki Max is at Schiit Audio right now for repair due to a channel imbalance. I miss it already. I don't care what people say about signal purity, I just want all of my headphones to sound good. I appreciate the Loki even more in its absence.

 

[rkindel]

Can anyone tell me how to remove the knobs? Seems like you would just pull but I don’t want to break anything.

 

[belgiangenius]

Schiit told me they wanted to see my My Loki Max and issued an RMA number. So, it is on the slow truck ride back from Toronto to California.

FedEx perplexes me. When you order from Schiit, you get it delivered by air within 24 hours for $80. When I try to send it back with FedEx, they want to charge me $350 for the same speed service. Go figure...

Well, I finally got my Loki Max back after about a month. It spent nearly three weeks travelling there and back and 9 days at Schiit.

The paperwork says "Replaced blown output transistor and resistor. Adjusted CAP and resistor values for stability. Tested on APX555. Checks 100%."

Unit works fine now.

It concerns me that a fairly low power device like this would be blowing output transistors! And why would they need to mess with CAP and resistor values? I find that odd.

Considering it's hooked up between a Yggdrasil and a Freya+, no one can blame the connected equipment. Hopefully it doesn't happen again...

 

[chesebert]

So they are just winging it on the circuit design and revise as things break?

Fyi, blown out transistor and resistor typically means there was a short or runaway voltage somewhere.

 

[tbrobison]

I've been reading this thread and have an interest in getting either the Lokius or Loki Max, or maybe just a vintage equalizer. Since I don't have one, and since I am trying to tame an upper frequency range that really grates on my hearing. Something I just started experimented with is the equalizer built into Apple Music(AM) app. Currently streaming from a Macbook Air to Airplay 2 via Bluesound Node 2i. I was surprised how well just a small adjustment in the upper frequency range worked with taming the shrillness from my speakers.
I normally don't stream from AM to Airplay 2, but I'm not too keen on the Node 2i's own tone controls (base&treble).

Does anyone here have experience with using a vintage equalizer ('70's, 80's) with today's modern equipment? I'm interested in Schiit equalizers, but if a vintage equalizer will work in the chain, and the fact that most have at least 10 bands, I sure would be leaning towards one.

 

[aljordan]

I've been reading this thread and have an interest in getting either the Lokius or Loki Max, or maybe just a vintage equalizer. Since I don't have one, and since I am trying to tame an upper frequency range that really grates on my hearing. Something I just started experimented with is the equalizer built into Apple Music(AM) app. Currently streaming from a Macbook Air to Airplay 2 via Bluesound Node 2i. I was surprised how well just a small adjustment in the upper frequency range worked with taming the shrillness from my speakers.
I normally don't stream from AM to Airplay 2, but I'm not too keen on the Node 2i's own tone controls (base&treble).

Does anyone here have experience with using a vintage equalizer ('70's, 80's) with today's modern equipment? I'm interested in Schiit equalizers, but if a vintage equalizer will work in the chain, and the fact that most have at least 10 bands, I sure would be leaning towards one.

Are you trying to make a permanent fix for speaker room issues, or trying to fix up various recordings that are too hot sounding? If you are trying to fix up individual recordings, something like the Lokius is very effective because it is easy to dial in a quick fix with its wide band controls. If you are trying to fix your overall speaker room interaction, a good digital room correction package can give amazing results if you already have a decent room.

I think you will find that vintage equalizers will not sound transparent compared to Schiit equalizers, and the more bands will be harder to dial in for individual recordings. I've tried a number of equalizers in the past, and never found anything that sounded transparent until I started using digital EQ some 15 years ago or so. When I first tried the Lokius, I was shocked that something so inexpensive sounded so much more transparent than some very expensive equalizers I had tried in the past. I haven't tried the Loki Max yet, but even the Lokius is great for fixing up tough recordings.

 

[tbrobison]

Are you trying to make a permanent fix for speaker room issues, or trying to fix up various recordings that are too hot sounding? If you are trying to fix up individual recordings, something like the Lokius is very effective because it is easy to dial in a quick fix with its wide band controls. If you are trying to fix your overall speaker room interaction, a good digital room correction package can give amazing results if you already have a decent room.

I think you will find that vintage equalizers will not sound transparent compared to Schiit equalizers, and the more bands will be harder to dial in for individual recordings. I've tried a number of equalizers in the past, and never found anything that sounded transparent until I started using digital EQ some 15 years ago or so. When I first tried the Lokius, I was shocked that something so inexpensive sounded so much more transparent than some very expensive equalizers I had tried in the past. I haven't tried the Loki Max yet, but even the Lokius is great for fixing up tough recordings.

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain your experiences. I am mainly trying to tame a speaker issue (too brite). With just a little adjustment on Apple Music's equalizer, I get excellent results, which surprised me a lot. The Lokius would be my next purchase as I don't always listen to AM to Airplay 2 speakers as it is limited to 16bit/44.1kHz (I think). Most of the time, I am streaming music via: Bluesound Node 2i > Nova150 (soon to be: Node 2i > Denafrips Ares II > Nova150).

I've never tried digital EQ as I'm really lacking knowledge of it. Does it require an AVR, or can it be setup for use with a 2 channel stereo system, like I have?

 

[aljordan]

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain your experiences. I am mainly trying to tame a speaker issue (too brite). With just a little adjustment on Apple Music's equalizer, I get excellent results, which surprised me a lot. The Lokius would be my next purchase as I don't always listen to AM to Airplay 2 speakers as it is limited to 16bit/44.1kHz (I think). Most of the time, I am streaming music via: Bluesound Node 2i > Nova150 (soon to be: Node 2i > Denafrips Ares II > Nova150).

I've never tried digital EQ as I'm really lacking knowledge of it. Does it require an AVR, or can it be setup for use with a 2 channel stereo system, like I have?

Digital EQ is off-topic for this thread, so I'll send you a private message.

 

[dcguy73]

Schiit returned the Loki Max to me within two weeks, with a note saying it tested fine and there’s no channel imbalance that they could detect.

Is it just my unit, or when the Loki Max is turned on and the EQ circuit is switched on (even with all knobs set at default), does the volume sound louder? That is, as opposed to when the Loki Max is turned on and the EQ circuit is switched off? Is it adding gain when the EQ circuit is engaged, regardless of where the knobs are set?

 

[Ynot1]

Is this a product that is build-able? Where the eq device actually does sound processing that we already recognize like reverb, delay, compression, and tube amp modeling?
So assuming a System On Chip has a DSP filter capability, arguably this is only requiring memory to store the coefficients to change the sound. But to make this a Schitt product the filters will then be replaced with analog circuits to do the exact same thing. And the new name will rhyme with Don Quixote. Loki OT [Over Time]. Just couldn't resist.

 

[Conmoto]

Can someone help me understand the benefits of using a Loki Max vs a digital EQ that can be downloaded? I'm not being snarky. I truly don’t know.

 

[dcguy73]

Can someone help me understand the benefits of using a Loki Max vs a digital EQ that can be downloaded? I'm not being snarky. I truly don’t know.

Oh, man. You’re opening up a can of worms by asking this. Have you read through this thread already? Seems like both sides have already answered your question.

 

[Conmoto]

Oh, man. You’re opening up a can of worms by asking this. Have you read through this thread already? Seems like both sides have already answered your question.

Guilty…I have not gone through the entire thread. Will do so now.

 

[tbrobison]

In my case, I mainly listen via a Bluesound node 2i, which only has bass and treble, no equalizer and no option for a plug-in. I have a Lokius on order.

 

[Benny-x]

I don't think digital/analog EQ has to be an either/or thing. A long time ago I wrote a software package called DRC Designer to facilitate easier configuration of the Open Source digital room correction software. At the time, I fell in love with digital room correction because even good speakers in a good room could realize benefits from well configured digital correction. These days I use Acourate for correction, but have no qualms about laying down a slight adjustment with Lokius analog EQ over the top of it. I generally don't need it, but I find the Lokius very convenient for a little bass boost or a 2 kHz cut on tough recordings. Sure I could use digital EQ instead, but it's a pain in the butt compared to a slight twist of a knob or two.

I am in this camp also. Everyone's always trying to make something a showdown, it's OK to do it all or anywhere in between.

I think any EQ at all destroys the fidelity of the sound signature.

*comes to a fiddlesome, analogue EQ owner&impression thread, then craps. Haha.

I agree EQ changes the sound signature - although that's why I use EQ because I don't like some headphones' sound signature but I like their technical performance. Good sonic bones but problematic execution.

You still don't own the Loki Max, but at least your replies are sensible and you seem to like hanging on in the thread. You said you've tried a lot of other analogue EQs, which ones would you recommend? Or with digital ones would you recommend that might be easier or more "on the fly" like the Loki Max? I haven't pulled the trigger yet, so I'm happy to take advantage of your experience and maybe catch a different perspective on this one.