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Burson Audio HA160D vs. Gold/Voltikus: Now the Antelope converter was the Aussie's equal on low-down grunt, mass and welly. This also meant that black levels and tone density were matched. Juan Manuel Cañizares' Puento de Encuentro made that point. Though Cañizares is a very formidable flamenco guitarist who played for years with Paco de Lucia, this is a successful crossover effort into Jazz full of pluckily popped bass, muted trumpet, tight grooves, hooks, real Earl Klugh cool and only the very occasional flamenco-reminiscent riff or arpeggio run. Where the converters differed was on top-down illumination. The Zodiac Gold enjoyed more visibility down into the lower midrange below which the two presentations became mostly a draw.


Cymbal work showed more overtone splashiness. Image specificity/focus lock and with it the 3D-wraparound effect of 'hearing' space behind and around the performers were higher. Visibility enhanced. A good descriptor for the effect is aeration. This was not a function of an upshifted tonal center. It was built on more upper-range energy and as such a sense of greater resolution. Close-mike'd effects on vocals and fret boards were highlighted. Plosives and sibilants had more pepper. Hall sound and ambient retrieval were greater. My thinking on the causes thereof followed quite primitive lines. It seemed to me that with the 'analogue' virtues of tone, image heft and foundation weight now on par with the Burson whose team's declared focus has always been analog, Igor Levin's digital chops could finally dominate the comparison. This parlayed as deeper resolution which most benefited the upper registers.


Along these lines I decided to explore further. I wanted to override Antelope's in-equals-out sample rate thru put. What if I upsampled 44.1kHz data to 176.4kHz or 192kHz in PureMusic? This very logically would force the Gold to reset itself and process standard Redbook files at higher rates. Focusing especially on the treble of acoustic instruments—a recent acquisition of Krystian Zimerman playing Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos 1 & 2 with the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa came in handy—I quickly concluded that 176.4kHz was the most sophisticated (it's true also for my Weiss DAC2). PureMusic confirmed support for all sample rates between 44.1kHz and 192kHz (albeit nothing above it) so the user has full control to suit personal preferences.


The point is, the Zodiac Gold is astute enough to finally transform these often subtle to outright imaginary changes into something worthwhile.

Amp direct: One big selling feature of the Gold is its precision resistor array IR volume control to eliminate a preamp. My setup involves a lengthy 6-meter interconnect in either XLR or RCA config. I thus opted for the Gold's balanced outputs with their higher gain. Comparator in this instance was my $10.000 Esoteric C-03 transistor preamp in zero voltage gain mode. Here I had to eat crow chowder. Prior to the magic 500 I'd instantly written off a short-lived direct attempt as far from satisfactory. I now revisited the exercise just duty-bound. Instead I was greeted by space exploded. To fully hear what the Antelope converter can do on walk-in soundstage immensity might have to mean ditching the preamp. Dynamics could take a small hit but in my case this wasn't a factor except for the usual symphonic bombast. Since I rarely engage that or at levels which would matter in this context, t'was academic. I thought the gains in staging grandeur and vocal immediacy were a fair trade for giving up a tad of robustness and low-down slammage to the preamp. After all I now was perfectly content with the bass registers and overall embodiment.

Minor practical limitations in the direct scheme are Antelope's step size—depending on where in the range you listen you could come across 4dB jumps which are certainly a far cry from the consistent 0.5dB of my Esoteric—and audible relay clicks. The latter are mostly mute if done one or two at a time. Things only devolve into a sewing-machine click fest when you traverse the entire range without signal.


Conclusion: With designer cosmetics that are very attractively executed—some might find the white signal lock LED too bright—and truly comprehensive functionality, the Zodiac Gold sonically surpassed my affordable Burson Audio HA160D reference on magnification power in the upper half of the audible range and equalled it in the lower (by default the latter had it overtake my Weiss DAC2 too). The USB DAC category is presently hyper active to make ultimate statements more unstable than ever. But with the Weiss Minerva as benchmark and overachievers like the Burson and Wyred4Sound DAC2 in the mix, Antelope Audio's Zodiac Gold emerges as a very strong front runner for extra coin. Even Toslink with a plastic rather than glass conductor performed better than expected (though less distinct than coax or USB, i.e. more cuddly smoothness than sharp attacks). The Gold's 384kHz compatibility is still a non feature in early 2011 but given the fast pace of changes in digital entertainment, future-proofing investments for a few years down the road is a solid anti-obsolescence tactic.



Exotic CD players today struggle very hard for the dubious distinction of 'the last deck you'll ever need'. The Zodiac Gold has all the earmarkings of being the only PC interface you'll need for the next five years whilst participating in streaming audio at a very high level. That's particularly apt with its excellent showing in amp-direct mode (there is one analog input too). For such applications the core mandates of analog-domain volume control, precise channel matching and remote convenience are all accounted for. This really makes one pause. Think on what else one could possibly require from such a device. From where I sit ... nothing really. Case closed, jury released. Pipe in the applause.
Quality of packing: Very good.
Reusability of packing: A few times.
Ease of unpacking/repacking: A cinch.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect. Includes SMPS, USB and Toslink cable.
Human interactions: Sufficient.
Pricing: Fair but the law of diminishing returns kicks in aggressively with the $1.150 Burson and $1.495 Wyred4Sound units.
Final comments & suggestions: The fundamental weakness here is the 500-hour break-in requirement. The changes are so significant that any premature auditions will fail the mark far more than usual. Be prepared for real disappointment upon delivery. If you audition at a dealer, be firm that the unit had the requisite time. Else you'll be wasting your time. The Voltikus power supply is a very credible option but less of an unmitigated upgrade and more of an alternate flavor. Thicker slower denser systems and adrenaline junkies could conceivably prefer the stock SMPS. Lovers of 'analogue' sound will almost certainly prefer the Voltikus The champagne finish (think Conrad-Johnson) is understated but likely won't match anything in the black/silver dominated hifi scene of today.

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