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Schiit Lokius Review (Equalizer)

aranido

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Sometimes, I just need to make a small adjustment to a particular song while I'm working. Having an EQ with knobs is super convenient, because it's better than having to find Roon's DSP settings. I don't have perfect pitch, but I have a good ear for what sounds good to me. I usually know what frequencies I need to adjust to get the sound I'm looking for.

Audio chain: Roon (with convolution filter for Sennheiser HD800S, Headroom -5 dB) -> Denafrips Ares II with OS -> Schiit Lokius -> (Singxer SA-1 | McIntosh MHA-200) -> Sennheiser HD800S
 

Qwin

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I would use one of these, purely for the lowest bass boost.
I tried DSP, utterly useless at dealing with analogue sources. With both Hypex and MiniDSP my set up took a major step backwards and I mean major.
They were very good with digital sources, but the ADC's are an after thought on these devices and the quality is very, very poor. The Hypex was slightly better than MiniDSP with analogue sources, but still lowfi not even midfi. I bet any degradation introduced by the Lokius would be way less than either of the DSP items I tried, so in this regard, while not ideal, I think it still has its uses. There are many people using Turntables and Reel to Reel tape machines, even the odd Cassette Deck. A quick tour of the approx. 50 rooms at last years WAM show, was a fair indicator of just how many folks use Analogue as well as Digital sources. In the main, most off the shelf DSP devices do not cater for this in any serious way, if they did it would be no contest and everyone would go DSP. There are ways round this situation, but it ends up as a very complex, expensive, multi box system, a one box does all solution is badly needed. To do digital right, including crossovers, you need to know what you are doing, or be willing to endure the extensive learning curve, which seems to steepen, with every so called step forward the technology makes. Most of us don't want to take a degree in technology and just want to listen to music.:)
 
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Qwin

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Say more, if you would.
Is this a commonly held view, ASR folks?
It's news to me.
Have you ever tried to run an analogue source into an off the shelf DSP unit?
I was bitterly disappointed.
There may be some top end unit carrying a big price tag that has a decent Analogue to Digital converter.
My experience at the MiniDSP end of the market is they are very, very poor at handling analogue input.
I would compare it to replacing a £1k+ phono stage with a £30 phono stage, that is the kind of backward step my system took.
The sound was smeared, less transparent, flat (dynamics) and lifeless, lacking any real timber. Think of an early, badly remastered CD of a classic album, with little dynamic range.
It was the same on both the units I tried, my Phono stage and Pre Amp were both fully balanced and the connection to MiniDSP and Hypex DSP units was balanced XLR.
But like I said, they both handled digital signals well.
 
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BDWoody

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Say more, if you would.
Is this a commonly held view, ASR folks?
It's news to me.

News to me too. Never had any issues personally.

To do digital right... you need to know what you are doing

So, you believe they don't?

I'm not sure how to even respond, as you seem to be saying that there's a problem with basic sampling theory, as once an analog---->digital conversion takes place, it's now just a digital file that you say there are no problems with.

This seems like maybe something wasn't set up properly if the sound was as poor as you describe.
 

Platypus20

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I have 2 of them, one in each system, I use them on the multiple live soundboard recordings from bands at clubs, they take the care of the excess bass or shrill highs, that mar these recordings.
 
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