Always find analog domain tone controls less sterile sounding, than digital or dsp based ones.
Cheers George
Schiit Lokius anyone?
Hello @sanvara - You are absolutely right. Visited the site to look at Loki delivery times and got sidetracked once I saw the Lokius. Did not even register that the Loki Mini+ was a new model. From the Schiit Loki Mini+ FAQ So wasn’t there a Loki Mini, no “Plus,” that you introduced like 5 minutes ago? |
Ordered a Lokius July 14. Shipped via FedEx from Schiit TX. Was supposed to arrive Mon July 19 but got held up in TX over the weekend at a FedEx facility. Arrived yesterday the 22nd. Got it installed yesterday. Ran the XLO test and burn in CD track 9 for about 4 hours before doing any listening. Equipment involved: Prima Luna Prologue integrated, Gungnir MB, Aries Mini, TEAC CD-3000, Silverline Prelude Plus speakers. Some observations... 1) In my system/to my ears the Lokius is completely transparent. Whether processing signal or not, can’t hear a difference [of course that’s so long as the tone controls are at ’0’ (i.e., straight up 12 o’clock position) when in the loop!] 2) No hum. Given space constraints in my equipment console it’s sitting on a small bamboo cutting board atop an APC power conditioner. With nothing playing and with the Lokius in the signal path, there is NO hum to be heard with ear just a few inches from the speaker drivers. And that’s with the volume knob of the Prima Luna Prologue turned all the way up (not something I like to do for any length of time). Dead silent. 3) If you don’t like the "power on" LED of other Schiit components you ain’t gonna like the LED on the Lokius. Same as on the Freya, Gungnir and Eitr I have. Doesn’t bother me at all but some find it annoyingly bright. 4) The Lokius allows two inputs (one XLR and one RCA). Worked well for me as I was able to run an XLR cable out of the Gungnir (easily listen 80+% to ripped CDs and Tidal) and an RCA cable out of the TEAC using both as inputs to the Lokius. Flip a little toggle to select between them. During this listening the RCA outputs to the Prima Luna (has RCA jacks only) were used but XLR out is also available though I’m not certain whether this represents a true balanced signal (see the Lokius FAQ on the Schiit website). 5) It won’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse as witness some of the atrocious sounding tracks (e.g., Wah-Wah) on All Things Must Pass. Some (not all) sound like they were multi-tracked waaaay too many times resulting in music embedded in a thick layer of white noise and distortion. Lokius couldn’t fix those although reducing high frequency and treble made things a little less aggravating. 6) Older digital recordings that lack bass or were recorded (remastered!) with the treble a little too hot is where the Lokius shines. Found listening to Genesis’ Wind & Wuthering more enjoyable and engaging after applying a little reduction of treble and a little addition to bass and lower midrange with Lokius. 7) It provides a good measure of fine tuning capability and most often the desired effect was achieved with less than a +/- 90 degree rotation of any given knob from the 12 o’clock/neutral position. It is possible to be ham-handed and over do but I found the Lokius effects easy to manage and appropriately subtle. 8) The lines marking the position of the adjustment knobs in a lighted room were tough to see without the help of a flashlight. 9) You can make yourself crazy jumping up and down to A-B and make adjustments rather than just listening to the music. Hoping with more experience, the necessary adjustment will be arrived at with less experimentation. I think it’s a keeper. I’ve other recordings in mind that are candidates for sonic remediation and am looking forward to learning about how best (and more efficiently) to use the Lokius. It seems a reasonably sharp scapel offered at a great price. |
Hi secretguy, I would say ghosthouse’s excellent description of the lokius more than covers anything that I could ever write. Big ditto on it is invisible to your system when on and all the tone controls in their neutral position, just wonderful. My main reason for getting it was because I wanted to add just a "touch" of extra highs to my speakers presentation on some music. I really do mean just a touch, as I dislike anything approaching an excess of treble. My speakers are an unknown brand in the U.S., they are made by a Danish company called Avance International. They use all Scanspeak "classic" series drivers, including the silk dome tweeter. I now have the ability to add just the right sparkle to my highs at will. Hope this helps. |
@jetter I'd certainly be interested in reading about your experience with the Lokius if you are ever inclined to write something up. I share your aversion to "an excess of treble". |
I waited literally months for my Loki+. Excellent packaging and impressive looking build quality. Hooked it up in and out with high quality Audio Quest King Cobra interconnects. Plugged it in to my dedicated 12/2 20amp quad set of Audio Quest hospital grade, cryo treated 20 amp outlet. Turned it on... immediately a bad hum occurred, it also runs hotter than my C-J premier 17 ls tube pre amp. Shut it off or bypass and the hum disappears. Contacted C.S. Took 5 tries to get a R/A to ship back for them to look at. Wish me luck..... |
Good luck! Quincy. Hope you get some satisfaction. I know someone else that recently (minus the hum issue) had the same experience as you with their Loki+: Long wait to get the unit, it ran hot, and took multiple attempts before finally getting an RA. Not sure what’s going on with Schiit. FWIW, and not to be an apologist for Schiit, - the Lokius is completely silent (even though in proximity to a power conditioner) and only runs warm, not at all hot. If the Loki+ hasn’t turned you off completely, maybe be an option if you still want an equalizer. Nicely effective unit. |
I added a silver Lokius in my main system (higher end Yamaha/Klipsch) last year and was and still am mightily impressed. I now wonder why I waited so long? It was the missing ingredient that I didn't know was missing until I installed it. So recently, I put together a desktop streaming only head-fi system, consisting of an ifi Zen Stream, Schiit Bifrost 2, Jotunheim 2, and of course another Lokius. These are all in black. Listening in with Klipsch HP-3 cans. Sounds terrific! Highly recommended the Lokius is! |
I have the Loki max. I just love it. I use to be a purist, but know more. I particularly, like to bass boast when listing at low levels. The fact that I can make changes from my chair is a huge plus. I even like the Loki better that the tone controls on my Mac MA352. It works so well it seems to change more of the characteristic of the speaker then change the music. It’s really very good and a wellcome addition to my system. |
The Lokius is an excellent device, especially for the price. I wish it had a remote but the price jump to the Loki Max is significant.
My only quibble has to do with the factory wall-wart. Initially the device did impart some background static noise. I replaced it with a linear power supply and ever since the background has been silent. |