The Max is transparent, looks cool, has a remote, and does the job brilliantly. I suggest to anyone considering a Max to read Robert Green's well written Absolute Sound review, as that certainly helped in my decision to buy one. Highly recommended.
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I've been using the Max between the preamp and power amp and having bypassed it by simply unhooking it to see if it had any impact on the signal, I determined that it doesn't degrade anything. It's a great sounding piece of gear, works beautifully, the remote is really fun, and I suggest to anyone interested in system EQ to try one of these. YOUR ears will let you know what's what. I've rejected well regarded items here and there when the reality of what they do doesn't square with other opinions or reviews, but the Max hold up. It's somewhat more subtle than other digital or analog "pro" EQs I've used (and owned) over many decades in the pro studio, live music, and audio geek worlds, in that if you "dime" any frequency it adjusts an appropriate amount and doesn't pull too hard..seemingly less dramatic than studio EQs I've used. Also it's important that "chicken head" knobs are applied or your not gonna have as much fun.
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The Max is a very well designed and executed piece of gear that they could charge more for I suppose...Schiit is often disregarded for being inexpensive, although my experience with the original Loki and their small headphone amps made me a believer (original Freya from 2017 also...NOS GE tubes last forever). Note that in my system the frequency sweeps of the Max are more than enough "high quality" EQ for my needs. I rarely need it at all, but when I do want to sweeten a mix, hear cymbals buried somewhat, or bring up bass...it's all there...from the comfort of my chair. I simply don't need wider bands of EQ, although maybe some do. So get up and adjust it and run back to the couch to see how it worked. Nothing wrong with a little exercise.
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More extreme level adjustments don't necessarily mean "better"...nonsense...again, the Max is designed and built to a specific standard and it functions perfectly as designed. Especially with Chicken Head knobs.
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Tlcocks...sorry to ruffle your feathers but you're simply wrong. Nuff said.
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There is simply nothing made anywhere from pro audio or home audio that comes close to ease of tonal tweaking provided by the excellently designed Max...a great item that's I've used for far more than 20 minutes (a few months actually), and it's performed brilliantly. Great reviews generally everywhere, including from me. It cuts and boosts wherever I need it to, looks great, makes no noise. I've used pro EQ for many decades in studios, live concert mixing, and home recording and the Max fits in my hifi system beautifully. Nothing will replace it anytime soon.
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Relentless fragile egos around here...note to self: I really have to try to be more gentle. The Max I have is utterly quiet, but Schiit warns about locating these things near gear with transformers (I worried about that as I have a Bryston Bit-15 with its huge Piltron transformer, but all is well with the Max) ...I also haven't heard any hiss from it when testing higher frequencies so maybe I'm just lucky. I have a couple of Lokis also and they're very quiet. Results may vary I suppose but the Max is superb in my rig.
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The Max could put the Room Treatment Cabal out of business. It's amazing and... hey...fun? Anybody have fun anymore? I’ve been using EQs of various types in pro work for decades although not in my main hifi rig as that’s traditionally been a sacred "less is more" audio geek space. Having become a fan of the original Loki (I use one for headphones and another in a video rig) as a very well designed thing that is astonishingly transparent unlike anything I’ve used before, It was easy to get a Max. You need stereo EQ? Get a couple of ’em, or maybe the less expensive ones...problem solved. As discussed in another thread, I improved the operation on my Max by adding cool little "chicken head" knobs that I can see from across the room even in low light (white knobs on a black Max)...seriously...the best and most effective cheap tweak ever, and they’re 100% vegan and recyclable (threw that in). Also they look cool. If you get a Max and don’t install chicken heads please don’t tell me as I will take it personally and be sad.
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Regardless the opinions of some outliers (Cello Palette. Really? Large and unobtainable, and try to get one repaired.) the Schiit stuff is generally accepted as superbly designed and great sounding. At least around my house anyway. There is absolutely no burden on the signal with the Loki EQs in the chain (unless there's something going on with the cables maybe), and like others here I only put it in if it's needed...the Max allows you to A/B the signal instantly from your beat up old beer stained couch without the need to hop over the dog to adjust it.
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The Max isn't designed as a 2 to 4 grand mastering EQ, and likely no reasonable audiophile would confuse it for one. There is no advantage in SQ with a multiple frequency notching parametric, just more specific and smaller bands of adjustment. The Max has no sound at all until called to make frequency changes with its sophisticated relays. Utterly transparent. I've been around pro EQs in studios and mastering labs for decades and understand the difference.
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