Schiit Loki Max?

@stuartk - I'd also be interested in what you think of the Max if you get one. I have DSP in my system already through Roon, but a remote-controlled, quick-to-adjust analog EQ is tempting.

@stuartk - your spreadsheet reminded me of the "old days" for me -- 20 yr ago I listened mainly to CDs and owned a Cello Palette Preamp (which Schiit hints was the model for their new unit). When I open a CD jewel box, sometimes I find an index card with the EQ settings I used back then.

@dwest1023 - Did you mean "It was not very hard to detect . . . ."?

@rpeluso - Thanks for the report. It would be great if you (and other users of the Loki Max) could post more impressions as you use the unit more.

I had one on trial and returned it. Make no mistake, it's quite transparent and quiet and does its job well. So why did I return it? The user interface.

• From six feet away, I couldn't see which way the knobs are pointing. I tried putting tape on them and couldn't get it exactly straight. What was the thought behind making the pointers nearly invisible?
• There is no reset button for any band, or for the unit as a whole. The only way to start from zero is turn a knob all the way up or down, then count fifteen clicks as you turn it towards center. You can save a flat setting in one of the three presets. How nice it would be to have (on the remote) Down - Reset - Up buttons for each band, instead of just Down and Up!
• To store a preset, you have to select it first. That means that if you had settings you like but with a different preset active, you lose them before you can save them.
• The Loki was largely redundant for me. My preamp has bass, treble, and subwoofer controls; my streamer has DSP; and Room has DSP. I was looking for something transparent and that I would enjoy using.

Given that I can correct tonality other ways, I couldn't see keeping a unit whose user-interface shortcomings would annoy me every time I used it. But I have to say, sonically, I think the Loki Max is quite an achievement. Years ago, I owned a Cello Palette Preamp. I think the Loki Max is at least as transparent as the CPP was, and it has a remote control, and it costs much less.

@stuartk

After cataract surgery, my view of the gear became a lot clearer. I missed the Loki Max, so recently I bought one again, now in silver finish (formerly unavailable) to match my other gear.

Although I can read the knobs, I prefer more definite indicators. I bought replacement knobs from DigiKey.

I do find the unit cleaner than any other analog eq I’ve used. It doesn’t take anything from my listening pleasure; rather, it adds to it.

I set Preset 1 to all bands flat, and with each track, I start out that way. If EQ is needed, I can dial it in in a few seconds.

Did I really need it? No. Am I enjoying it? For sure!

One view -- the one I hold -- is that some kind of rather precise, fixed EQ will be needed to make many systems sound the most natural. Certainly in the bass, and sometimes higher up to correct quirks of the loudspeakers or headphones.

THEN, one has to deal with the different approaches taken in producing different recordings. Some producers will use EQ or microphones that do not sound accurate. In many cases, broadband EQ like the early Cello devices and the new Schiit ones will be able to make substantial improvements.

One could call the first kind of EQ timbre correction and the second kind tonal-balance correction without objection from me. Still, if one is wrong, the other will be wrong, almost by definition, since timbre is largely the balance of harmonics, i.e., tonal balance in some sense. That is to me not worth much discussion, being mainly semantics. My main point is that pinpoint EQ and broadband EQ are two different items and for two different purposes.

@firstonetallguy 

It was a while ago, so I don't remember all the details. I wound up returning the knobs to DigiKey. They were more legible, but maybe not enough so, and they were sized enough differently that I didn't like them.

Mike