Loki arrives...

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Here we are some 3 years later and Stephen's Loki is now sitting on my desk hooked up to the MacBook Pro. Audirvana pumping DSD into Loki, Loki feeding the Asgard 2 which in turn is driving the Senn HD650. What can I say? I am truly impressed by the little guy. Only wish I had more DSD material to feed it and I would keep listening! Outstanding little product. Too bad they don't make it anymore but this little guy just keeps on giving.

Yes, it's a FANTASTIC DAC, especially for the money. I've heard $2000 DACs that do not sound as good. It's pretty frickin' ridiculous, to be honest.

Apparently, there are guys that know about this DAC and they are in demand on that auction site.

Yeah, it is too bad its no longer made.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Yes, it's a FANTASTIC DAC, especially for the money. I've heard $2000 DACs that do not sound as good. It's pretty frickin' ridiculous, to be honest.

Apparently, there are guys that know about this DAC and they are in demand on that auction site.

Yeah, it is too bad its no longer made.

Was that Schiits first product Stephen?

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Was that Schiits first product Stephen?

No, IIRC, Asgard was.

Bifrost was their first DAC. I bought one in 2012, IIRC, and it blew my $1200 Wadia 121 completely into the weeds.

Loki was a "testing of the waters" for both Schiit and customers. There was a lot of buzz around DSD (much as their is around MQA today) as being the hot new format, so Schiit put one out to see if it would fly. They admitted they were skeptical it would sell and they were 100% right; it did not sell. This is one of the reasons they are not doing MQA; they learned this lesson with DSD.

Schiit's view is that 99.5% of digital content is PCM, so that is what they are going to focus on providing to customers. Hence their motto, "...for the music you already own, rather than have to re-buy...."

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

No, IIRC, Asgard was.

Bifrost was their first DAC. I bought one in 2012, IIRC, and it blew my $1200 Wadia 121 completely into the weeds.

Would love to find the original Asgard. Would be fun to own their very first.

[US Blues]

Loki, the Trickster God of the Norse pantheon, has been reborn as a 4 band analog equalizer in the Schiit line-up.

http://www.schiit.com/products/loki

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by US Blues

Loki, the Trickster God of the Norse pantheon, has been reborn as a 4 band analog equalizer in the Schiit line-up.

http://www.schiit.com/products/loki

Yep. And, it's a really good one. Schiit spent over a year developing this equalizer. From all reports, it's completely transparent when by-passed (as was the original DSD DAC Loki).

[US Blues]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Yep. And, it's a really good one. Schiit spent over a year developing this equalizer. From all reports, it's completely transparent when by-passed (as was the original DSD DAC Loki).

There have been hints in another forum from Jason Stoddard (co-founder and analog designer) that if the Loki sells well there might be a fully-balanced EQ in the future.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by US Blues

There have been hints in another forum from Jason Stoddard (co-founder and analog designer) that if the Loki sells well there might be a fully-balanced EQ in the future.

Yes, that is correct.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by US Blues

Loki, the Trickster God of the Norse pantheon, has been reborn as a 4 band analog equalizer in the Schiit line-up.

http://www.schiit.com/products/loki

Unlike old-school EQs of the 1980s, which and frequently had problems with noise from stacks of op-amp gain stages and open-frame slider controls, Loki Mini is designed for superior sound. A single, fully-discrete gain stage and a single discrete buffer per channel is coupled with sealed Alps potentiometers, a 100% linear power supply with +/-18V rails, and LC (inductor-capacitor) filtering to keep performance high and noise low.*
*
Loki Mini also features gentle control and rational ranges to allow for precise and subtle tonal alterations. Potentiometers are progressive, so that a full 30 degrees is needed for the first dB of boost or cut. Loki Mini offers adjustment center frequencies of 20 Hz, 400 Hz, 2kHz, and 8kHz. 20Hz and 8kHz offer +/-12dB of adjustment, while 400Hz and 2kHz offer +/-6dB.