arnolfini

Sorry for the typo typo I meant ES9016 is 30$ and ES9018 is 60$

I think that it is interesting for us that you have explained the different coexisting elements which need to be optimised in your design with a care for technical measurements and listening sessions. And the fact that the dac chip itself is just one of many factors. However it seems that the price difference between the chip themselves (ES9016:30$ and ES9010:60$) is a small quatity compared to the price of the product. Are you saying that the correct implementation of ES9018 is much more expensive than the other one? Regards Lorenzo

This DAC uses an ESS sabre chip, would it be possible to know which one?

My Zodiac drastically opened up after 2034h of dry listening but I was seing a psychologist by then so it is not totally objective. Just kidding!

The 840C is a fantastic machine and I would really take nobody's world that so and so give you better sound. I agree with Ted, without an audition, it is a shot in the dark. Time to take time to give time to rest time to move and sometime to move on ...

Many thanks for explaining what your system and your goals are; everything makes very much sense now. For your purpose, it is a pity that the Zodiac not does offer world clock out like the Weiss Dac202 does. I guess it is quite obvious that Antelope does not want the Zodiac unit to compete with their own clocks... I am interested in this unit only for high res computer playback only with speakers/headphones so will see if I can manage to arrange a home demo and if it is a significant step up to the Benchmark dac1... All the best.

I understand that the Lynx card is a recommended way to interface a computer and some dacs and also that an external clock can be beneficial. However Antelope are well known to make accurate clock and the one in the Zodiac seems very good. They claim that they can get great sound quality from the optical of a mac (which sounds bad from my benchamrk dac1), which would mean that their jitter rejection scheme is excellent. And since they offer USB input, why still use the Lynx card with the external clock? Is it only for experimenting and comparing? Just trying to understand...