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Gilmore Lite or Total Bithead - what would you get?

#1
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6/6/06 at 9:16am
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I'm pick up a MacBook in a week or so to dual-boot OS X/XP. The MacBook has analog/digital audio output as well as USB ports. I've been looking at either the Gilmore Lite (analog) or Total Bithead (USB) to go along with my HD-650s and the MacBook. I've heard lots of good things about the Gilmore Lite, but the Total Bithead would be convenient for the portability factor. How do they compare? I also have a Pint on the way that I will be using with my 570s and 650s. If the Gilmore is significantly better than the Bithead I may go with that. What do you think?
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#2
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6/6/06 at 9:32am
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in your situation I'd get the Bithead.

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#3
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6/6/06 at 12:16pm
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Keep the Pint and get MicroDac. Pint is a very decent amp, you just need a better source.

As an amp GLite is big step up from Bithead, but Bithead has DAC and GLite is not exactly portable.
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#4
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6/6/06 at 1:11pm
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apples & oranges . . . .

laptop = bithead (portability)

home = G'Lite (sound quality)

unfortunately there is a compromise involved in choosing, you can't have it both ways in this case . . . have you considered other amps which may be more comparable to GLite but also more portable??

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#5
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6/6/06 at 3:51pm
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I haven't tried the lastest Bithead yet, but afaik the PINT has a more advanced circuit in it and they're both likely using AD8397s, just the PINT is 3 channel so it has 2 of them.

The Gilmore Lite is a different beast. It has much more power available to it, and it also uses discrete stages instead of op-amps, I think. It probably can deliver higher fidelity overall, unless you end up preferring the Bitheads sound signature.

Fidelitywise, your best bet might be to get a Headroom MicroDac and use that with the optical out on your computer, and hook it into the PINT.

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#6
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6/6/06 at 4:06pm
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HeadAmp Lite hands down. Your Mac is likely to have better sound than the BitHead to begin with. In the off chance that the BitHead is better you're still better off buying the HeadAmp Lite as the cornerstone of a solid Senn 650 setup. Then later you can buy a DAC to swing the sound more to your liking.

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