New Lokius

I.Greyhound Fan · « **on:** 1 Jul 2025, 06:59 pm »

I got my Schiit Lokius today. I bought it to tame the bass of my new Mark Levinson 5805 integrated amp and my Arendal 1528 Stand Mount speakers and the Fritz Carbon that I have in for review. I currently have it connected via XLR's to my Luxman DA-06 DAC. It definitely controls the bass well. It also can tame sibilants and female vocal peakiness. It is transparent as I have not noticed any degradation of sound that I can hear. I find it ridiculous that preamps and Integrated amps do not have defeatable tone controls. There is a lot of poorly recorded music or music lacking bass or too bright.
I will be connecting my phono preamp to it via RCA's. If there is anything else interesting about it I will post it.

Tyson · « **Reply #1 on:** 1 Jul 2025, 08:04 pm »

I am 100% streaming and Roon also has a great EQ. But unfortunately it doesn’t work with an analog source.

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #2 on:** 1 Jul 2025, 08:19 pm »

I have 9 TB of music and I also stream Tidal through Aurvana. I do have a parametric equalizer for Audirvana but the Lokius works better for my needs and it is easy to use. I wasn't sure of the frequencies but they are just right.

Mariusz Uszynski · « **Reply #3 on:** 1 Jul 2025, 08:46 pm »

Mr.I.Greyhound Fan, I'm 100% onboard with you, on lack of tone controls in high end audio equipment.I have problem with high frequencies, due to hearing damage at work.So, my question is, would Schiit EQ help me getting some trebles?They have 3 units; Loki Mini+, Lokius and Loki Max.I'm wondering, why Loki Max is so expansive, compare to other EQs?

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #4 on:** 1 Jul 2025, 09:24 pm »

I am sensitive to high frequencies as well. My whole system is geared for warmth and to cut down on high frequency irritation.
The Lokius does help. The lokius max used Alps pots with a remote control.

I recently bought some Duelund 16ga RCA XLR cables and they smooth out the high frequencies without sounding rolled off.

newzooreview · « **Reply #5 on:** 1 Jul 2025, 09:39 pm »

It looks like the Loki Max is much more expensive to build and is different in a number of areas compared to the other two. In comparison to the other two, the Loki Max appears to have

Pure LC filtering with nickel-core inductors instead of gyrator-based filters*.
Relay potentiometers with 72 relays instead of Alps potentiometers.
Remote with motorized knobs instead of manual-only control.
Internal linear power supply instead of external wall wart.
Discrete current-feedback gain stage instead of op-amps + simpler discrete components.
Three user-definable presets instead of no preset functionality.
Nexus™ differential topology instead of single-ended EQ processing.

* I had to look this up: "A gyrator mimics the impedance characteristics of an inductor by manipulating the phase and amplitude of the signal. This allows the circuit to function as part of an LC (inductor-capacitor) filter without requiring a bulky, expensive physical inductor."

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #6 on:** 1 Jul 2025, 10:52 pm »

Thx for correcting me

newzooreview · « **Reply #7 on:** 1 Jul 2025, 11:19 pm »

I was just looking to be helpful answering the question that Mariusz Uszynski posted above.

It was fun reading up on things on the Schiit site.

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #8 on:** 1 Jul 2025, 11:38 pm »

I wish that I could get my hands on a Loki Max and compare it to the Lokius. As it stands now, I see no need to upgrade to the Max. The Lokius is transparent in my system. Unfortunately, I cannot use it with the internal DAC in my Levinson amp. The internal DAC does a lot of things better than the long in the tooth Luxman. I will use the Lux for bass heavy music but otherwise use the internal DAC. I will also use it with my TT.

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #9 on:** **Yesterday** at 12:39 am »

I have to say, this is one of the best accessories that I have bought. Listening now and it is all smooth sailing. No more occasional peaky female vocals and sibilants are decreased.

I am listening to Linda Ronstadt and the Nelson Riddle orchestra.

Mariusz Uszynski · « **Reply #10 on:** **Yesterday** at 02:13 am »

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=189133.msg1979390#msg1979390

I accidentally found review of Schiit Loki Max, written by one of the AudioCircle members.

AllanS · « **Reply #11 on:** **Yesterday** at 06:23 am »

I had taken a Lokius out the system because I had too many boxes and found that I just wasn't fiddling with stuff as much as I thought I might. After getting fitted for hearing aids I reintroduced it to experiment with more or less replicating the hearing aid correction for listening w/o aids. Results are promising and much better than I got using the Eversolo DMP A8 EQ (operator error?).

I got a wild hair last time I had REW out and grabbed the frequency response range for each of the 6 bands which I though y'all might find interesting. You can see each affects response at multiples of the center frequencies. The center plot (red) in each is baseline without EQ. The other two are the specified band at +/- 100%. All are 1/12 octave.

The only thing I'm not wild about is the unequal and limited central frequency responses: 20/16k +/- 12 dB, 120 and 6k +/- 9 dB, and 400/2k +/- 6 dB I'm sure it's perfectly fine in most instances, but replicating the hearing aid correction will take more than 6/9 dB at 2k and 6k. Though, to be honest, I probably wouldn't crank it up much for that I already have.

Other than presumably "better" sound and the presets, I'm not sure what the Loki Max will do that the Lokius cannot. Same 6 bands. Same frequency response specs.

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #12 on:** **Yesterday** at 02:40 pm »

Thanks Allan. I am using mine to lower bass, female vocals peaks or sharpness and to help with sibilants.
So all my settings are minus dB.

Mariusz Uszynski · « **Reply #13 on:** **Yesterday** at 02:56 pm »

https://www.schiit.com/products/lokius

Hi guys, if you scroll down on this page, there is a really really good demo video, when you can hear the sound difference, with Schiit Lokius off and on.
I'm beginning to wonder, if Loki Mini+ would not be just good enough, since I would probably not adjust mids?

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #14 on:** **Yesterday** at 03:51 pm »

Quote from: Mariusz Uszynski on Yesterday at 02:56 pm

https://www.schiit.com/products/lokius

Hi guys, if you scroll down on this page, there is a really really good demo video, when you can hear the sound difference, with Schiit Lokius off and on.
I'm beginning to wonder, if Loki Mini+ would not be just good enough, since I would probably not adjust mids?

The Lokius has balanced connections as well as RCA if that matters to you. Schiit sells B-stock and there usually are used ones available if you check daily in US Audiomart and Ebay.

AllanS · « **Reply #15 on:** **Yesterday** at 03:58 pm »

Quote from: Mariusz Uszynski on Yesterday at 02:56 pm

https://www.schiit.com/products/lokius

Hi guys, if you scroll down on this page, there is a really really good demo video, when you can hear the sound difference, with Schiit Lokius off and on.
I'm beginning to wonder, if Loki Mini+ would not be just good enough, since I would probably not adjust mids?

Probably good enough if you’re only interested in low end. EQ is pretty much the only component whose effects are obvious to me. Real time off/on certainly helps. As poor as my ears are at picking up on subtleties even the 16k band brings some of what I believe others describe as airiness.

Quote from: I.Greyhound Fan on Yesterday at 02:40 pm

Thanks Allan. I am using mine to lower bass, female vocals peaks or sharpness and to help with sibilants.
So all my settings are minus dB.

I was hoping to use it to trim the 80-120 dB peak but it takes too big a bite out of everything else. I’m probably better off adjusting the speaker set up and adding a sub to fill in the 60 Hz hole. But I have no idea how to address the 200 Hz suck out. Another thread for another day…

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #16 on:** **Yesterday** at 04:24 pm »

Allan, have you tried a digital equalizer or parametric equalizer. I downloaded a Parametric eq. for Audirvana. I have version 3.5 of Audirvana and I am going to up grade to the Studio version which has a much easier parametric eq.. You can adjust the Q on it so you can make it a narrow band instead of a broad band like a parametric eq.. You would be able to dial in the 200hz and fix the suck out. They have a free trial version.

My son installed Audirvana Studio last night and it is a big improvement over 3.5. Much fuller, more clear and resolving. There is more texture. It leans just a smidge to the warm side. I find it better than Roon and HQ player.

AllanS · « **Reply #17 on:** **Today** at 02:30 am »

I bought an Eversolo DMP-A8 in part for the EQ/PEQ functionality that would allow me to remove the miniDSP SHD that I’d bought to handle DSP (that is also sitting under the desk boxed up waiting on a new home).
I haven’t tried boosting the 200 suck out but I didn’t like what trimming the lower peaks did to the sound.
That said, I underestimated the DSP learning curve and haven’t put enough time into it. I’m guessing better results can be had but the Lokius description is talking to me “And yeah, we know you can get a surgical software EQ, but the 6 knobs here just sit on your desk and beckon. No apps, no graphic confusion with mice or styli. Just tweak the sound to your exact preference…”

artur9 · « **Reply #18 on:** **Today** at 03:14 am »

Quote from: AllanS on Yesterday at 03:58 pm

... But I have no idea how to address the 200 Hz suck out. Another thread for another day…

that's in the range of Allison effect aka floor bounce.

AllanS · « **Reply #19 on:** **Today** at 05:23 am »

Quote from: artur9 on Today at 03:14 am

that's in the range of Allison effect aka floor bounce.

Hmmm. That rabbit hole you sent me down may have revealed a basic setup problem - equal distances from the woofer centers to side and front walls. It may not be the entire answer but finding out is no harder than moving and measuring. Thank you.