Schiit Audio Loki Max experience


I just finished listening to the soundtrack to “Star Wars - The Empire Strike Back” remastered soundtrack on CD. As warned by several Amazon reviewers of this disc, it really is on the bright side. In remastering the original analog tapes to hi res digital, a wealth of detail is revealed but the original LP release’s warmish balance is replaced with a plethora of heretofore obscured musically interesting details along with a brightness in the presence and treble that find you reaching to lower the volume. Too bad.  Or not necessarily, as having the Schiit Audio Loki Max equalizer in the system allowed me to compensate for uneven frequency response by augmenting the 20 Hz control by 6 clicks, the 120 Hz control by 3 clicks the 400 Hz control by 3 clicks, reducing the 2 kHz by 2 clicks, the 6 kHz dial by 3 clicks and augmenting the 16 kHz dial by 6 clicks ( for air).  The result of all this was a recording that was dynamic, revealing but balanced allowing me to revel in the resulting music. There is a button on the aluminum remote that allows you to make adjustments as you listen and bypass the Loki Max in real time to listen for any degradation of signal.  I couldn’t hear any negative effects whatsoever! 
 

Schiit Audio is apologetic about the price $1500.00.  This is the second most expensive piece of audio gear in their line. Having two other ridiculously inexpensive eq’s for more modest systems, they finally decided to discover what they could do for more “pricey” kits.
 

This is a marvelous component. If you are a minimalist who rejects the very notion of eq. then skip and I will continue to revel in how it compensates for imperfect recordings. 
 

The Loki Max can be eliminated from the signal path by a remote button.  If I play a frequency response balanced recording then I just depress the eq bypass button and enjoy the tunes.  
 

Try using this thing to tame the original Boston album (remastered) to discover that there is some bass and the presence region can be tamed to allow you to bask in the musical beauty. 

128x128hifiman5

@tattooedtrackman  You have a very nice system!  TheLoki Max is a remarkable component.  My appreciation of it continues to grow. For example, last night I was listening to Dave Brubeck’s “Back Home” CD of a live concert performance. It is very well recorded by Concord, but by elevating the 40 Hz band by a few clicks and the 120 Hz by a click or two, the electric bass was augmented just enough to bring it into balance with the rest of the band. If you find your system to be generally generous in the highs, shelving the 6 kHz dial a few clicks will tame that brightness, bringing it into better balance with the rest of the frequency spectrum.  If a recording is a bit too “in your face”, the 2kHz “presence” control will help with that. The presence of the bypass control on the remote tells me that Schiit Audio has confidence in the transparency of the Loki Max as by the push of a knob you can compare the signal with and without it in the circuit. 
 

My system consists of a Marantz Sa-KI Ruby SACD player into a highly modified cj PV-12L line stage, into the Loki Max into my SMc Gold Special McCormack DNA-1 power amp. I also have a VPI table with Dynavector cartridge into a Luxman phono amp. 
 

Hope this info is helpful. 

@hifiman5   Thank you for your response. This Loki max is just what I’m looking for and need. I’m very interested in purchasing it. Does Schitt have a telephone number to order it or it has to be done online. I looked at their website but didn’t see their telephone number. 

@tattooedtrackman 
It will probably be easiest to purchase online. I found this phone number online 1-323-230-0079. They are closed on Mondays.

@hifiman5   Definitely. And I definitely will be getting it. Really looking for to it in my system. 👍