advertisement


Schiit Loki

Joe P

Joe P

Memory Alpha incarnate | mod; Shatner number = 2
I used to be an audio purist. I used to recite the audiophile's creed (thou shalt not alter thy signal from thy source...). And I used to think that adding anything to the audio replay chain could only make the signal worse, even if correcting something egregiously wrong.

But then it hit me. No system is perfect, no room is perfect, and far too many records and CDs have been mastered by people with jam and honey on their fingers and too much ear wax in their auditory canals.

So, in my quest for perfection — or more correctly, a sound I like — I ordered a Schiit Loki, an inexpensive external tone control thingy. It arrived today.

loki-mini-front-1920.jpg


The Loki: https://www.schiit.com/products/loki

A review or two of the Norse God: https://www.cnet.com/news/schiit-loki-breaks-a-cardinal-audiophile-rule


Standby, or not, for first impressions...

Joe
 
Would be interested to hear your thoughts, I took delivery of a Magni 3 headphone amp for my second system this morning, really excellent sound for the money driving my also newly purchased Sennheiser HD600s, would be nice to play around with the tone to try & tame brighter recordings though.
 
Tony,

It's cheap experiment, but I will let you know what I think if a pink fishie's take would be helpful.

At $150 the Loki is a helluva lot cheaper than fancy interconnect cables, which some people buy for the same purpose — to fix some tonal glitch that drives them crazy. I hope the Loki is otherwise transparent — well, apart from the obvious alterations a tone control would introduce — because this would seem to be the bargain accessory of the millennium.

Joe
 
Turnover frequencies 20Hz, 400Hz, 2kHz, 8kHz.

All except the last are perverse. I hope that your system survives if you apply +12dB at 20Hz...
 
Won't you need to adjust it for each recording separately?

I've got a vague memory of some old LP sleeves where there was a bit for you to fill in yourself about how you wanted to adjust your equaliser.

This sort of thing should use artificial intelligence. It should be able to learn from the adjustments you make, and suggest appropriate adjustments itself, based on the recording and on what it knows about you.

At the very least it needs a memory.

There's a wonderful bit designed to blind the punter with science

Loki uses a single, discrete, current-feedback gain stage, coupled to passive LC filters for 3 bands, plus a gyrator for the bass. It also uses sealed Alps potentiometers with rational adjustment ranges to allow for fine control. Coupled with a 100% passive bypass setting . . .
Click to expand...

I wonder if it really is better than a Quad 44 for example.
 
Ye gods, Joe! Firstly it was vinyl, then cassettes and now equalisers. It'll be valves next ! Or radiograms. I'm still a purist ('cos I'm too lazy to be otherwise and anti gadget) and believe synergy of mainstream components is the key, not aftermarket tonal correction.

I have a fiendish plan that a digitised Dansette would sweep the market.:)
 
Short review: It’s da

The Schiit Loki is easy to adjust, with an effect that’s subtle or not, easy to bypass and it makes zingy, dull or thin recording so much more pleasant.

Longer review to come.

Joe
 
The important test for me will be how the Loki beds in over the long term, as I’ve learned that initial sonic impressiveness may not be a good thing as the minutes become hours. The other important test is whether some tonal tweaking improves acoustic music. Pop, rock and electronica often sound more impressive or lively with a bit of bass or treble boost, but acoustic jazz, small ensemble chamber music and full orchestra usually don’t — at least over the long term.

The thing is, the Loki in my system is so easy to bypass that if I want it out of the signal path it’s as easy as flipping a switch. Well, two switches on a Manley Stingray. It’s either in the signal path or not at all.

But, really, for 150 clams? For me that’s worth it even if i use it only once in a while.

Joe
 
P.S. I think I’ll try to get my speakers to sound tonally more or less like my headphones, then tweak from there. It’s as reasonable a target as any.

Before someone asks, the headphones have been bypassed so I’m not tweaking both at the same time.
 
I've had one for a month.....it's great and transparent. The contouring at the lowest frequencies is really well done, for example. I get no boominess and the bass enhancement sounds natural and easy to control, especially since the knobs are progressive in their effect. They begin with significant rotation of the knob to yield a small change, and the changes increase rapidly thereafter.
 
I just noticed the Loki Max is now available:

https://www.schiit.com/products/loki-max

An analogue EQ with both single-ended and balanced inputs/outputs and a remote control, or in other words, a wet dream! :)

I wish I could justify a use for this as it would be perfect for a headphone setup, the chosen centre frequencies are well suited to the frequencies you'd want to adjust.

Of course it's still no good for the targeted taming of room modes in a loudspeaker setup, for that you need a parametric EQ that allows you to change the centre frequency and Q of the filters.
 
Did you order the Loki from Schiit USA? I notice that it's out of stock in Europe/UK. How long did it take to arrive?
 
For me there’s three routes to audio nirvana: room correction, room treatment or tone controls. First two options can be really expensive and tone controls are an inexpensive marvel ( especially todays implementation, not talking about the 70’s, 80’s efforts!)
The Loki is incredible, I’ve got one…..set it up with a piece of music you love, and know really well, and you shouldn’t have to ‘tinker’ after that…everything just slots into place
 
JoeJoe said:
For me there’s three routes to audio nirvana: room correction, room treatment or tone controls. First two options can be really expensive and tone controls are an inexpensive marvel ( especially todays implementation, not talking about the 70’s, 80’s efforts!)
The Loki is incredible, I’ve got one…..set it up with a piece of music you love, and know really well, and you shouldn’t have to ‘tinker’ after that…everything just slots into place
Click to expand...
From an audio fidelity point of view, treating the room itself is best by far, but tends to be ugly, impractical and very expensive. The next best thing is room correction, and that isn’t particularly expensive and definitely isn’t impractical in most systems. I use a MiniDSP which have in a tape loop, allowing me to switch it in for recordings with a lot of upper bass energy, they’re no more expensive than a half decent graphic EQ.
 
I bought a Schiit Magni 3 of face book with smashed switches for £20, replaced them and it sounds rather nice.

Pete
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top