[bigshot]

I don't know what the markings on the knobs represent in dBs, but that looks like a very extreme correction.

 

[ishmaelk]

I don't know what the markings on the knobs represent in dBs, but that looks like a very extreme correction.

One of the links the original poster sent was from Superbestaudiofriends, with measurements.

This would be +4dB for 20 Hz, roughly -3dB for 400 Hz, +2dB or a bit more for 2KHz and maybe -1dB or -2dB for 8KHz.
Not extreme at all, really. When I bypass it, you can tell the difference, but it's not huge. There is some more clarity in some vocals (without sibilance), enhanced bass without being bloated... but nothing exaggerated.

 

[bigshot]

Ah. Those knobs make small corrections. I was expecting more like a 20dB range.

 

[gregorio]

What helps is that they are simply modulating an analogue signal and thus avoid the extra noise of preforming a double conversion like the minidsp. Since they only deal with the analogue signal this means that the sound quality from your prefered dac is largely maintained.

Unfortunately, you have this backwards. Since they only deal with the analogue signal (in the analogue domain), they introduce more noise than an extra AD/DA conversion, that's why digital was invented in the first place. "Simply modulating an analogue signal" requires an electronic circuit and every component in an electronic circuit introduces Johnson/Thermal Noise. Something like the minidsp avoids most of this thermal noise by simply modulating digital data rather than modulating an analogue signal.

Most likely you won't be able to hear that extra noise and if you like playing with the knobs then it's your choice of coarse but you can't justify your choice here on the basis of less noise.

G

 

[Pondoro]

In short, this:
But let me explain why so I can justify my previous four hours of madness and hopefully this can be used as something of a guide to other loki mini plus owners. First let me explain my goal, increase the bass some on my HD 6xx's while maintaining the rest of its original tone. Here is approximately what I ended up with.
First off I want to say that I obtained the frequency response from drop's website. Secondly this was the initial chart that I assembled from my planned changes, I no longer have the original chart but I did recreate the process that I used to set the eq.

The quirks of the loki mini plus:
The loki mini plus is a physical eq device. All of its adjustments have been shown to be symmetrical meaning that for any increase in a setting, turning equivalently to said negative setting should have the a similar but opposite effect. The four sections that it is capable of eqing also have somewhat broad regions of effect leading to most settings having notable areas of overlap. Thus if you want a very specific effect then you may need to make counter adjustments with the other settings. Some digging let me find a rough guide to the effects of the control knobs here https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...t-loki-mini-eq-review-and-measurements.11195/

The first planned adjustment:

Since the primary goal was to increase the bass the first tweak aimed to increase the 20-30hz range, which would be accomplished by turning the bass knob just past the 3 o'clock position. This unfortunately had the side-effect of over emphasizing the 60-300hz range so a tweak down was needed next

The second planned adjustment:

The counter adjustment would be achieved by turning the mid-bass knob to approximately the 8 o'clock position. This should neatly level out the 60-300hz range but unfortunately lead to a dip at the 300-2khz range that now needs to be corrected.

The third planned adjustment:

This adjustment would be achieved by turning the midrange knob approximately to the 4 o'clock position. This serves the purpose of returning the 300-1khz to their previous levels but produces a notable increase in treble.

The final planned adjustment:

By turning the the treble knob to the approximate 9 o'clock position it should return the treble to their normal levels, resulting in a very similar sound signature with an extended bass.

The final tuning. A.K.A. why I love/hate that the pass-through switch is on the front:
After the initial adjustments the last thing that needed to be done was to fine tune the settings. What proceeded was two hours of a-b testing the eq against no eq. Genres included jazz, dubstep, rock, chip tune, acoustic and a few others. Some songs took to the eq a bit too easily and didn't show much change unless something was really off. I want to again state that my goal was to create an eq that ONLY noticeably extended the bass. The one oddball song that helped me dial in the eq was Fortree City from the original Pokemon Runy/Sapphire soundtrack. For some reason each time the eq was even slightly off it would cause the song to sound strange compared to the non-eq'd version which sounded delightfully natural. It kept shifting between sounding too tinny to too compressed in comparison to the non-eq'd version. After enough tuning the song was nearly indistinguishable to me between the eq'd and non eq'd version so I went back to some other songs to compare. I checked back on songs that I knew didn't extend down into bass region and I couldn't notice a change between their eq'd and non-eq'd versions. So I had atleast, to my ears, maintained the sound signature of the HD 6xx's from the mid bass through the treble now I just needed to check the bass. I started playing through some dubstep and some bassier jazz and it looks like I had also achieved my goal of boosting the bass. The Inside Man (Soopasoul Remix) by Funky Destination is a song that definitely benefits from the eq. While still a good song on the stock HD 6xx, the eq raised the bass enough to give it a warm welcoming character that it was missing on stock. This eq also helped some of the bassier electronic music I listen to regain the impact that they were sorely missing on the stock HD 6xx's.

Overall I'm very happy that I created the eq that I did. I somehow managed to extend the bass while leaving the rest of the sound signature for these headphones largely untouched. I also wish I fully realized how the loki mini plus worked ahead of time but it's hard to find guides for the thing.

Your process seems sound. I prefer your method to digital manipulation. The fact that the bypass mode is easily invoked is very nice.

 

[scoo]

@Rehcsif , thanks so much for this. Have a Loki as well and never really been satisfied with it until now. Your settings sound great on this combination. Pulled back on the pre amp and perfect. Thanks for the work!