johnwolfpell: I've used EQs professionally (graphic, notching parametric, etc.) in my pro sound musician life and home audio for decades, but hadn't even considered one in my hifi rig for many years as I'm more of a purist when it comes to that sort of thing. I tried the original Schiit Loki and was blown away at its transparency and lack of any tonal degradation when it's in the system. I use it in line between the preamp and power amp in the "on" but bypassed mode as suggested by Schiit. I actually bought the newer version, the Mini +, and stuck it in the hifi, moving the other one to the video heap. Just a great EQ, and I imagine the Lokius and Loki Max work fine.
Does Anyone Buy Schiit for the Sake of Schiit?
Most of us I think when buying something where workmanship and materials are less critical than price will go to a discount store like Walmart of Target (I think we've all heard they about calling it Tar-zhay because it's classier than Walmart) or Costco - the sort of stores where what you buy is not the best but it's always good for what you pay for it. I'm wondering, is Schiit the audio equivalent of Target? That is, does anyone buy it because the Schiit gear is particularly good, or merely that it's good for the price? The only Schiit product that I've ever bought is the Asgard as a headphone amp, since I don't use headphones that often, and I wasn't going to put a lot of money into it. Actually, I tried the Vali 2+ at first, and that seemed rather inadequate, so I sent it back and got the Asgard instead. It seems good enough, though I don't have much to compare it to, but it seems to struggle a bit in getting to higher volume levels.