Antelope Zodiac + Arrived

[CryoParts]

"What specs say mini-B? Our website says Standard B Type."

 

The imaginary specs in my head... I need to drink more coffee in the mornings, ha! I thought I read mini-b somewhere, but, I think it was my brain cloud.

 

Peace,

 

Lee

 

[ted_b]

You have a features list under Zodiac Gold, and it says "USB mini B connector up to 384kHz"

 

http://www.ciamara.com/brands/brands/antelope/zodiac_dacs/zodiac_gold/zodiac_gold.html

 

Glad it's not, though. Thanks Marcel. Oh, and does the 384k refer to 24 bit or 32 bit? The reason I ask is that I can take DSD files and convert to either.

 

[Clybourne]

That's the Ciamara website, not the Antelope website.

 

Hey, question is. Does anyone in the US want to order any Golds? The longer you all wait, the further we fall behind the international guys who have already pre-paid for close to 50 of them! I guess high end audiophile is alive and well (outside of the US)! :-)

 

Just joking a bit with everyone, but seriously, I've had daily inquiries on the Gold, but no US dealers are on board or planning to stock it at this point. We're sort of scratching our heads and figuring that this looks like a hit outside the US and the Plus and the Silver are more in line with US budgets I guess.

 

Marcel

 

[hifitubes]

You demoed at Sweetwater, correct? They won't be stocking the Gold?

 

[roscoeiii]

I had been regularly checking Sweetwater and Vintage King's websites to see when they would have the Gold and the PSU in stock, and I'd imagine others here in the US have been doing likewise. A pleasant surprise to find out on this forum that the Gold is shipping.

 

[ted_b]

As you know I demo'd the Plus and liked it very much (was quoted in 6Moons, etc). I am very very interested in the Gold (i.e if I buy a Zodiac DAC it would be the Gold). The 384k is icing on the cake, but the real plusses for me are the better PS and the better analog stage...as I felt, like Srajan, that the only "areas of improvement" for the Plus were it's slight lack of weight/heft. However, if a US dealer doesn't order one I will not get to hear it!

 

[Clybourne]

I expect they will, once they get some orders. But, it's slow out of the gate, but I think that's because people don't know they've started to ship.

 

[aps]

Marcel

 

A quick question. The unit(s) have analog inputs which is an interesting feature for those of us who with vinyl side-by-side a computer audio set-up. Is the volume control analog or is this input converted into the digital domain?

 

Regards

APS

 

[ItemAudio]

The much-improved attenuator should be a step forward. Will be interesting to see what they've done with the output stage, too...

 

[Clybourne]

The analog inputs remain in the analog realm, so no they aren't converted to digital. Our attenuator is all analog, btw.

 

[ciamara]

Ted_B

 

Thank you for pointing that out. We'll have that corrected. I think previously, those were the specs that were contemplated, but have since been updated -- as we now know.

 

Thanks again.

 

[alan_un]

Rym, I just saw that your earlier comment on the DCD-8. I am using firewire out from my PC into the DCD-8 and from there by AES into the EE minimax DAC. It sounds just great with 96kHz material, but I cannot get 192kHz files sounding right. Any ideas on that, is it the AES connection?

Sorry for posting this here, but the DCD-8 was mentioned and I would really like to get the 192kHz issue solved.

 

[ted_b]

I am demoing the Bolder Cables modded EE DAC right now and like Srajan (6moons) can't get the Weiss DAC2-as-firewire converter to EE DAC to lock onto 24/192 (via AES/EBu or S/PDIF). it works for eveything up to including 24/176 but no-go on 24/192. Wayne (bolder) and others have reported success with Hifaces, which supposedly put out a hotter than "normal" signal.

 

That same Weiss (AES or SPDIF) setup worked flawlessly when I demoed the Antelope Zodiac Plus (although so did USB).

 

[alan_un]

though it somewhat renders my DCD-8 obsolete and I really like the firewire interface. I read Srajan's comments about his 24/192 travails, and contacted Alex Leung before I bought the EE DAC. Alex assured me Srajan's problems were addressed and fixed in the latest EE DAC models. Anyway, this all shifts the problem back to the EE and away from the DCD-8 - very interesting development.

 

[ted_b]

The s/n is EE10040056

 

[Rym]

Hi Alan,

 

I suspect it is a DCD-8 issue ! Unfortunately, I also struggling with this issue, as only when you go into the does one recognise that the DCD-8 gives 176/192 with AES Dual-wire only. I am still hoping SPDIF IN & OUT can handle the 176/192 ... atleast that is what the manual says. But I haven't had a chance to test it, as I am going out form the LynxAES16 card, so I need some kind of converter to SPDIF, before I can test if the DCD-8 can take in 176/192 & also give out 176/192 audio via SPDIF. Hope this was helpful. Good luck !

 

[alan_un]

You are absolutely right Rym, I just realised that most AES single wire connections are limited to 96kHZ, unless you double the speed. This explains the funny sound when I play back 192kHz over a single wire AES connection from the DCD-8. I will get a y-adapter and will dual wire AES out from the DCD-8 into the EE to see how that works. Unfortunately, the Brainstorm folks are quite unhelpful, I did not get any reply to my two messages to them.

 

[Rnasr]

Ok I'm in the US

How do I get my gold?

 

 

[alan_un]

who confirmed that the HiFace works well with the EE DAC, but did not know about the Brainstorm. I tried the HiFace, even got it going with J River MC15, and - bingo - I hear 192kHz over BNC. Many thanks for the hint ted_b

 

[lolo77]

Hello

Sorry to use this forum. I will be short :-)

I'm a french retailer of Antelope. I make integration and I use for my personal set up OCX + 10M (before to order a ZODIAC GOLD)

The purpose is that I have a problem with your distributor in France.

I didn't find a contact for sales in Europe to speak about that.

Thank You in advance.

 

[email protected]

 

[turbogti]

Finally replaced the stock power supply with Voltikus for the Z+.

 

the improvement is obvious & significant, that the Z+ sounds like a completely different DAC (at least in my setups).

 

The most obvious improvement is the Bass. Everything else also sound so much deeper, cleaner, air-er, 3D-ish, and darker, without being slow.

 

I highly recommend the Voltikus although the price is a bit high.

 

I also own a W4S Dac2 which I listen to everyday at work; IMO, the Z+ is in a different league - after all, you pay what you get. Don't think the DAC2 can be a giant killer, it's more a bargain master

 

 

 

 

[roscoeiii]

And I have just seen the first ad on Audiogon for the non-plus version of the Zodiac. USB is only 24/96 (still async IIRC), and it has a bit fewer connectivity options, but the internals and output stage are the same as the +, with a price that matches the W4S DAC2.

 

[ted_b]

It is a necessary add-on, unless you have something like the Hynes power supply as a potential 3rd party. I did, and still chose the Voltikus for the Gold (personal preference, like tube vs sold state), while the Hynes will power my Alix Linux server (it transformed it).

 

To me the Gold is slightly more taut in the bass department, and has significantly more air and detail than the Plus. Some may not like the detail, but with the nice analog stage and the smoothness of the Voltikus it is a great combo. I haven't tried going direct to amp yet (my Concert Fidelity pre sounds glorious with the Gold/Votikus).

 

[christoph]

hi there

 

has anyone compared the (plain vanilla) zodiac against the zodiac plus, sonically?

 

shouldn't the zodiac without plus be a very hot contender if you don't need an analog input nor more than 96/24 over USB? sonically, it should perform on par with the zodiac plus? or not?

 

do i get it right, that the only difference between zodiac and zodiac plus is the analog input and the limitation to 96/24 via usb?

 

only the zodiac gold offers really "more" with the remote control and the better output stage with stepped attenuation. is that right?

 

 

thanks in advance for your input

christoph

 

ps: i want to go directly into the power amp with the dac.

 

[lolo77]

I use the Zodiac Gold + Voltikus and I'm really happy with this bundle.

directly connected in XLR to my amps.

 

I try to push it and to recommend it to my client…

but I know people who like also (and someone prefer)Zodiac + with voltikus. Not exactly the same sound

 

a question of taste