Shows the truth of “different strokes for different folks”. For me, the second from highest knob of the Lokius is perfect to tame a slightly hot treble note on my EgglestonWorks Nico Evo speakers in my live listening room (office), and the two bass knobs are good for very quiet listening as a loudness compensation that is not overdone.
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Indeed. I’ve had a Lokius for almost two weeks, and my first instinct was to try my best to match the software EQ profile I had settled on. I couldn’t. The Lokius is nowhere near as surgical a tool. But when I switch back and forth between the two, I actually prefer the way the Lokius sounds. I’m a big believer in the placebo effect, and it might be that I’m affected by the appealing idea of physical knobs I can touch. But the odd thing about the Lokius is that it’s clearly more limited than software EQ, and yet, because it’s right there next to me, I feel like I have more control.
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Time spent listening and hearing fatigue plays a large role in my preferred volume, tone, and EQ settings. Sometimes I’ll listen for an hour and everything sounds great, but then take a 5 minute break. Upon restarting, the same song is suddenly too loud, it’s too bright/bassy, etc., etc., etc.
I suppose one could generate a “fresh ears” software EQ profile and a matching “tired ears” version for swapping over time, but that would involve a lot of guesswork and may never be right. My answer is to simply tweak the knobs to fit what sounds good right now and be done.
And it’s easy. It takes about 2 seconds to nudge a knob, and I can’t even get an EQ app loaded in that time. One thing that is different about the Loki/Lokus, at least according to the literature, @bagwell359, from the old spectrum or harmonic equilizers, is that it does not throw off phase.
Yes the Loki doesn’t mess with phase. Its impossible for it to EQ my 3 regular cans properly: HE-500, HE-6se v1, HEX v2 - not even close, so what good is it? Its a single blade compared to a full loaded Swiss Army Knife. Even a 20 band fixed frequency EQ does not allow me to change the shape of the curves. I generally have 2-3 very broad shapes and 2-3 very steep curves.
Here is my HE-500 (modded) setting on digital parametric:
Low Shelf 36 Hz +2.6 db ,9 Q
Analog Bell 945 Hz -1.9 db 4.30 Q
Analog Bell 1840 Hz +2.4 db 3.60 Q
Digital Bell 2 4160 Hz -3.6 db 5.30 Q
Digital Bell 2 6130 Hz -2.2 db 7.60 Q
Digital Bell 2 9870 Hz -3.6 db 6.90 Q
Thats the 6 band, the 10 is just that much more impossible for the Loki to do.
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Keep in mind that, while this behavior is appropriate for the Loki/Lokius, if you are using parametric EQ to correct the FR to a target then you actually want to affect the phase (IE - use a minimum phase rather than linear phase EQ).
The Loki can’t do that because it is not a Parametric EQ.
Rather than comparing a single blade to a Swiss army knife, it’s more like comparing a spoon to a knife. Both can be used for eating but you wouldn’t choose a spoon to cut bread nor a knife to eat soup.
I see things like the Loki as quick on the fly adjustments for certain songs, albums or genres, not as something to be used to specifically equalise headphones or speakers.
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Most of my Loki uses are:
- Cut harsh treble
- Boost weak bass
Then the headphones and speakers are fully “bearable,” but certainly not optimal or congruent with a chart.
Do you care more about the process or getting to the music? Make your choice and have fun.
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I don’t have a Loki - yet. But I’m considering getting one to do this in addition to using parametric EQ specific to the headphone. Right now I’m trying to use the graphic EQ built in to Apple Music that can be applied on a song-by-song basis. It doesn’t seem to be working right though. 
I wouldn’t recommend the EQ built into Apple Music, unless you’re listening on iOS, in which case it’s basically your only (pretty terrible) option. The reason I decided to buy the Lokius was that I prefer listening through my phone or my iPad, as opposed to the Mac, which does have system-wide EQ software. That EQ software works well, but almost everything else about listening through the Mac is clunkier, including the horrendously outdated Apple Music app, which doesn’t let me see more than about 20 songs in my play queue, gets confused if I try to reorder songs in that queue, and starts to glitch out if I do too much searching for new music while I’m listening. It’s the worst in so many ways, but I cling to it for smart playlists, since nobody else seems to offer that capability. And now, with the Lokius, I can listen through my phone or my iPad, and it sounds just as good if not better than the profile I was using on the Mac.
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I think you misunderstand me. I’m using system-wide EQ software to tune the headphone and Apple Music EQ to tune the… tune (song/track). I don’t think Spotify, Tidal, or even Roon players can do this but I’d love to be wrong.
Have you tried a parametric? It would be lucky indeed if that knob took care of your issue properly without under or over stepping itself.
I am lucky indeed. I tried my 4 knob Loki, and it wasn’t quite right. I went to the 6 knob Lokius and I was able to tame the tiny bit of hotness without getting rid of air. And no, I haven’t tried a parametric. Because I’m at work and I’m allowed to use a tablet but not a rogue computer in the office. Or the SEC and FINRA will probably follow close on the heels of my employer, Edward Jones to lock me in the dungeon.
So I don’t have the equipment to run parametric EQ. I’m using an iPad Pro (the new one with the M1 chip). And because it’s work, it isn’t CRITICAL. Most of the time I play music, I play it very quietly. If I’m on the phone, it’s going to be either ambient or quiet chamber music. I’ve found it an advantage in business to actually pay attention to what clients, support personnel, and resources are saying. Which means not multitasking and wondering if the sound of the reed squeaking in the oboe needs to be backed off 0.5 db at 7200 Hz with a Q of 2.2
A twitch of a knob works just fine. Sometimes it’s a twitch to OFF.
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Seems like you have a set-up that works for you - thats all you need. FINRA - cool outfit that I worked for back in the day.
@Resolve is it true that some headphones may not be minimum phase? If this is the case, wouldn’t using EQ also affect our perception of technical performance etc?
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