jilgiljongiljing
Headphoneus Supremus
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- Oct 24, 2006
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At the NorCal meet on Saturday, I had an opportunity to pit my Gilmore Lite against the GS-1, thanks to blessingx. Both units have had lots and lots of hours on it.
I used the Beyerdynamic DT990/600 and my Ultrasone 680 to compare the two. The source was Yamaha CD player outputting optical to Dacmagic. The Dacmagic was set on Linear filter setting for the tests. The connections were made using BJC LC-1 going into the GS-1, and loop out from GS-1 using Audio Art cables to the Gilmore Lite. The Gilmore Lite was powered using Walwart and NOT the DPS.
First I used the DT990's, my new toy. First up was "Temptation" by Diana Krall. This song is one of my favourites, has a neat bass line, and the odd percussion hit which gives a great sense of clarity, space, decay and precision. Her voice is a good reference to test the varying presentations of different equipment. On the GS-1 the song has more weight, the percussion hits are a bit quicker, and have nice decay. The Gilmore Lite doesnt fall very short on this particular song, theres a hint of coldness to the sound overall, and the bass is slightly less powerful. The voice sounded quite good on both, and I would actually call it a draw in the vocals department.
The next song was "Tin Pan Alley" by Stevie Ray Vaughan. This song has some solid guitar work on a tight foundation laid by the bass and drums. The guitar needs to really stand out on this song, and speak to you, with the bass and treble from the drums sitting outside the guitar playing, and not blending. On the GS-1 the sense of seperation was greater, clearly more air and breath. The bass was a bit tighter and more focussed. But I'd call the treble a draw, I didnt find any particular differences. The guitar sounded quite good on both, with the GS-1 giving that extra twang, which always helps
Next up was one of my favourites, "Chitlins Con Carne" by Stevie Ray Vaughan. This sounds phenomenal on speakers. Anyone who hasnt heard it on decent speakers should hear it once to get a sense of how the song should sound. There is an absolutely solid foundation presented by the bass and drums, which is super tight, and super precise. The sense of air around the hits and guitar is so wide and spacious on speakers. On headphones, these things can be very apparent. This is a very good reference for bass weight, bass definition, and sense of space and decay, and imaging. This was the title winner for the GS-1, there was a significant difference between the GS-1 and Gilmore Lite. Just to be sure, I handed the HP's over to my wife who was patiently waiting next to me, and she said she could clearly tell the difference as well.
Its all about the foundation. The GS-1's can really provide that platform on which SRV can play his guitar, it just sounds right. In comparison the Gilmore Lite sounded a bit anemic, slightly narrow, and lacked seperation. The GS-1 presented a full, weighted, precise bass line, over which the guitar was sitting on a clearly seperated layer, with lovely sense of space and depth, with the reverb on the individual hits on the drums being so clear and well defined. But take into account that the Gilmore Lite sounded quite ok by itself, and they can actually manage quite well, but they were clearly outclassed here.
To confirm the differences, I put on some other rock and metal songs, like Take the Power Back by Rage Against the Machine, and some Porcupine Tree and the differences became a bit more apparent as I went on.
Here are some of the primary differences and upgrades that GS-1 offers over the Gilmore Lite IMO
- Better control of the bass
- Better definition and weight for bass, without being warm or overdone.
- Slightly better balance overall
- More air around instruments and individual hits
- Better decay and definition
- Sounds tighter overall
- Doesnt sound as cold as Gilmore Lite, but still analytical sounding rather than lush sounding
I then compared the two on the 680's and the findings seemed to be more or less along the same lines. But I must say the differences were a bit more apparent on the DT990/600's than the 680's. The treble energy is a bit much on the Gilmore Lite, and it seems a tad more refined and crisp on the GS-1. But this is very subtle and the 680's tend to be kinda bright.
To summarize, on their own, the Gilmore Lite can really hold its own on any headphones. They arent very picky, and sound pretty good with a variety of headphones (I've tried a LOT of HP's on these). But compare it directly to its higher counterparts and you get an idea on whats missing and what can be better. I'm pretty confident that the DPS addresses some of these issues and brings it closer to the GS-1, but if you can afford it, get the GS-1, its really quite impressive.
I used the Beyerdynamic DT990/600 and my Ultrasone 680 to compare the two. The source was Yamaha CD player outputting optical to Dacmagic. The Dacmagic was set on Linear filter setting for the tests. The connections were made using BJC LC-1 going into the GS-1, and loop out from GS-1 using Audio Art cables to the Gilmore Lite. The Gilmore Lite was powered using Walwart and NOT the DPS.
First I used the DT990's, my new toy. First up was "Temptation" by Diana Krall. This song is one of my favourites, has a neat bass line, and the odd percussion hit which gives a great sense of clarity, space, decay and precision. Her voice is a good reference to test the varying presentations of different equipment. On the GS-1 the song has more weight, the percussion hits are a bit quicker, and have nice decay. The Gilmore Lite doesnt fall very short on this particular song, theres a hint of coldness to the sound overall, and the bass is slightly less powerful. The voice sounded quite good on both, and I would actually call it a draw in the vocals department.
The next song was "Tin Pan Alley" by Stevie Ray Vaughan. This song has some solid guitar work on a tight foundation laid by the bass and drums. The guitar needs to really stand out on this song, and speak to you, with the bass and treble from the drums sitting outside the guitar playing, and not blending. On the GS-1 the sense of seperation was greater, clearly more air and breath. The bass was a bit tighter and more focussed. But I'd call the treble a draw, I didnt find any particular differences. The guitar sounded quite good on both, with the GS-1 giving that extra twang, which always helps
Next up was one of my favourites, "Chitlins Con Carne" by Stevie Ray Vaughan. This sounds phenomenal on speakers. Anyone who hasnt heard it on decent speakers should hear it once to get a sense of how the song should sound. There is an absolutely solid foundation presented by the bass and drums, which is super tight, and super precise. The sense of air around the hits and guitar is so wide and spacious on speakers. On headphones, these things can be very apparent. This is a very good reference for bass weight, bass definition, and sense of space and decay, and imaging. This was the title winner for the GS-1, there was a significant difference between the GS-1 and Gilmore Lite. Just to be sure, I handed the HP's over to my wife who was patiently waiting next to me, and she said she could clearly tell the difference as well.
Its all about the foundation. The GS-1's can really provide that platform on which SRV can play his guitar, it just sounds right. In comparison the Gilmore Lite sounded a bit anemic, slightly narrow, and lacked seperation. The GS-1 presented a full, weighted, precise bass line, over which the guitar was sitting on a clearly seperated layer, with lovely sense of space and depth, with the reverb on the individual hits on the drums being so clear and well defined. But take into account that the Gilmore Lite sounded quite ok by itself, and they can actually manage quite well, but they were clearly outclassed here.
To confirm the differences, I put on some other rock and metal songs, like Take the Power Back by Rage Against the Machine, and some Porcupine Tree and the differences became a bit more apparent as I went on.
Here are some of the primary differences and upgrades that GS-1 offers over the Gilmore Lite IMO
- Better control of the bass
- Better definition and weight for bass, without being warm or overdone.
- Slightly better balance overall
- More air around instruments and individual hits
- Better decay and definition
- Sounds tighter overall
- Doesnt sound as cold as Gilmore Lite, but still analytical sounding rather than lush sounding
I then compared the two on the 680's and the findings seemed to be more or less along the same lines. But I must say the differences were a bit more apparent on the DT990/600's than the 680's. The treble energy is a bit much on the Gilmore Lite, and it seems a tad more refined and crisp on the GS-1. But this is very subtle and the 680's tend to be kinda bright.
To summarize, on their own, the Gilmore Lite can really hold its own on any headphones. They arent very picky, and sound pretty good with a variety of headphones (I've tried a LOT of HP's on these). But compare it directly to its higher counterparts and you get an idea on whats missing and what can be better. I'm pretty confident that the DPS addresses some of these issues and brings it closer to the GS-1, but if you can afford it, get the GS-1, its really quite impressive.
