Schiit Lokius Review (Equalizer)

[Audiophilosopher]

Two month follow-up...

Love the Lokius even more than I would have imagined! It's normally connected to the JDS Labs Atom 2 DAC and Amp on my desktop. I like it so much that I move it to the table next to my "easy chair" when I want to chill out away from my desk (FIIO M33 --> Lokius --> Topping G5 --> headphones). I disable the PEQ on the M33 and use the Lokius instead. I've been able to EQ all of these headphones to my liking (and also adjust based on the recording quality):

Noire X
Noire XO
HEDDPhone D1
Arya Unveiled
Edition XV
Hadenys
FIIO FT1
Meze 109 Pro (most recent purchase)

The Lokius allows me to make somewhat broad adjustments that make the headphones sound more pleasing to my ear without changing the overall character of the headphone. Really love the ability to quickly make minor tweaks with each song when required.

Note that the filter bands are pretty wide and often it takes the interplay of two settings to get the desired result. I think this is typical for a "graphical" type of eq. For example I might increase the 6 kHz band and then decrease the 16 khz band to offset the increase in treble from the 6 kHz band. Similarly, I might reduce the 120 Hz band and increase the 20 Hz band.

 

[Proud Audiophile]

Sounds like this device has some problems. However tone controls and limited band eq's are not designed to equalize you system and room. This device is simply for making fast wideband changes to compensate for different recordings throughout the decades. It's not for equalizing your system or headphones. Totally a different product. It should be evaluated in light of it's intended purpose. Cheers

 

[Audiophilosopher]

Sounds like this device has some problems. However tone controls and limited band eq's are not designed to equalize you system and room. This device is simply for making fast wideband changes to compensate for different recordings throughout the decades. It's not for equalizing your system or headphones. Totally a different product. It should be evaluated in light of it's intended purpose. Cheers

What problems? Have you ever listened to a Lokius? I've had mine for two months and have used it for many, many hours with many different headphones and find it to be fantastic. I posted a few messages earlier in this thread that give a little more background on my reasons for purchasing and my usage. And yes I DO find it adequate for eq'ing headphones enough that I no longer feel the need to PEQ. Less time fiddling = more time enjoying IMO.

That being said, to each his/her own. I'd be happy to hear how you do your adjustments (if any). Cheers.

 

[Proud Audiophile]

What problems? Have you ever listened to a Lokius? I've had mine for two months and have used it for many, many hours with many different headphones and find it to be fantastic. I posted a few messages earlier in this thread that give a little more background on my reasons for purchasing and my usage. And yes I DO find it adequate for eq'ing headphones enough that I no longer feel the need to PEQ. Less time fiddling = more time enjoying IMO.

That being said, to each his/her own. I'd be happy to hear how you do your adjustments (if any). Cheers.

The problems were clearly identified in the review. I haven't listened to it but the testing demonstrates less than optimal product performance and design. I'm not opposed to tone controls at all but digital equalization seems like a better alternative to me as it seems to produce fewer artifacts. I equalize my system to taste with the 27 band graphic equalizer plug in for Foobar 2000 on a Superlogics EIA 2RU computer remotely mounted running windows 11. I generally only play FLAC files burned from CD's with db poweramp as my ripper. I only use a 3 db smooth broadband cut to the upper midrange so nothing drastic. I am currently investigating more sophisticated options for digital measurement and room correction for windows but am yet undecided as to what would be best. Once you go full computer digital the options are really unlimited. I find the advantages of computer audio too large to ignore. The tested unit has had quite positive reviews on audioasylum.com so I don't doubt that you enjoy your unit. Have a nice day.

 

[Ralf Stocker]

From an engineering perspective, the device has two problems: it introduces significant distortion, and the adjustment range is homeopathic—meaning it is barely effective, at just 3.5 dB.

 

[Audiophilosopher]

From an engineering perspective, the device has two problems: it introduces significant distortion, and the adjustment range is homeopathic—meaning it is barely effective, at just 3.5 dB.

Have you listened to a Lokius? I may not have perfect ears but I cannot detect even the least bit of distortion with this device. I have some very resolving headphones (see my prior post) and, if it's there, I certainly don't hear it. I can turn up the volume all the way without an input signal with my most sensitive headphones (no IEMs - all over ear) and hear no hiss or background noise. I can set the knobs to the middle (flat) position and toggle the bypass switch on and off and also turn the power off entirely and the background sounds entirely "black" in all cases.

Not sure I understand this statement "adjustment range is homeopathic—meaning it is barely effective, at just 3.5 dB.". Are you saying that the adjust range is 3.5 dB and that this not discernible by the listener? If that's the case then I wholeheartedly disagree. With any EQ I've used (PEQ, Band EQ or Lokius), other than in the bass region, I rarely EQ more then 0.5 to 2.0 dB and it is super obvious to my ears when I make these adjustments. The Lokius provides much more adjustability than I typically need. These are
the adjustment ranges directly from the Schiit specs so not sure where the you got your 3.5 dB spec:

Bands: 20Hz, 120Hz, 400Hz, 2kHz, 6kHz, 16kHz
Adjustment: +/-12dB at 20Hz and 16kHz, +/-9dB at 120Hz and 6kHz, +/-6dB at 400 and 2kHz

I've used PEQ (both on my Mac and in my DAPs) for years and spent many hours chasing the "perfect" EQ for my headphones. Certainly I can dial in a better EQ with PEQ. There's no argument there. What I've concluded using the Lokius for 2 months is that I can, on the fly, adjust for both headphone variations and source variations enough to adapt any headphone and any source to my satisfaction. IMO this gets me to the 90% level and that's good enough for me.

I'm an engineer by training and am all about measurements. I really appreciate Amir's reviews and love the technical detail he provides. That being said, there are so many nuances to music reproduction and enjoyment and I find that the end user experience is not what might be predicted by measurements alone. For me, this is the case with the Lokius. I use it not only for my headphones but also to adjust the sound of my desktop speakers for Zoom calls where the participants have widely varying audio quality and different dialects. With a few tweaks of the Lokius, I can greatly increase the intelligibility of the different speakers.

 

[Ralf Stocker]

Sorry, if you like the device, fine. To me, -80 dBc THD represents very poor performance.

 

[Audiophilosopher]

Sorry, if you like the device, fine. To me, -80 dBc THD represents very poor performance.

That's a fair callout and maybe the THD is detectable to your ears. Fortunately, my ears don't hear any sound artifacts.

Still trying to understand your comment on the adjustment range.

Thanks

 

[solderdude]

With music -80dB 'additions' (which is what they are) are inaudible. They will be masked by the actual signal.

This is why most people cannot even hear 0.1% distortion in music recordings.
-0.1% = -60dB
It is possible to hear (higher order) distortion products with single continuous test tones.

 

[Audiophilosopher]

The problems were clearly identified in the review. I haven't listened to it but the testing demonstrates less than optimal product performance and design. I'm not opposed to tone controls at all but digital equalization seems like a better alternative to me as it seems to produce fewer artifacts. I equalize my system to taste with the 27 band graphic equalizer plug in for Foobar 2000 on a Superlogics EIA 2RU computer remotely mounted running windows 11. I generally only play FLAC files burned from CD's with db poweramp as my ripper. I only use a 3 db smooth broadband cut to the upper midrange so nothing drastic. I am currently investigating more sophisticated options for digital measurement and room correction for windows but am yet undecided as to what would be best. Once you go full computer digital the options are really unlimited. I find the advantages of computer audio too large to ignore. The tested unit has had quite positive reviews on audioasylum.com so I don't doubt that you enjoy your unit. Have a nice day.

Thanks for constructive dialog. I've used SoundSource on my Macs for years for PEQ and found it to be quite excellent so I'm all for digital EQ. Having a lot of headphones and listening to a super wide variety of music, I found that I had an unmanageable number of EQ profiles that I would have to duplicate across my different computers and devices. As I've already stated, the Lokius allows me to rapidly get "good enough" EQ results and a makes my listening sessions much more enjoyable. Not saying that my way is better. Just wanted to post an objective review based on real world experiences with the device so that others can make an informed decision.