Antelope Audio DACS

[n_maher]

Nate, he is the Antelope rep, he sells their stuff.

Ok, we'll make sure he's properly tagged as a MOT so we know who we're talking to moving forward.

[Clybourne]

lol, yes I'm Marcel with Antelope. I read some of the comments and there seems to be some confusion about the clocks and dacs and wanted to make myself available. Sorry, I'd posted that in an earlier post, which the mods removed.

Regards,

Marcel

[deepak]

lol, yes I'm Marcel with Antelope. I read some of the comments and there seems to be some confusion about the clocks and dacs and wanted to make myself available. Sorry, I'd posted that in an earlier post, which the mods removed.

Regards,

Marcel

In that deleted post you did mention the clocks. You did not say you were a representative of the company.

I restored the post, thanks for letting us know who you are.

Edited April 11, 2010 by deepak

[CD44hi]

Yeah, it was removed because it had a strong spam smell... And there was no such info of who you are (Acting as MOT) there, as you claim.

[CD44hi]

Ah deepak beat me to it!

[Eric5676]

Thread necromancy.

Antelope Audio

The Plus unit is trickling out. Sweetwater has a listing but out of stock still and these guys apparently do have it in stock:

Zodiac + from audioMIDI.com $2500

I'd have to say, all told, something like this might be on my short list although it's not cheap. The Gold is going to be even more insane at around $3500. I think that's due out around December if I read correctly.

I did read over this thread before necrobumping it.

Are all of these using those same Burr Browns? I know Igor Levin himself has a good reputation and by most accounts whatever went wrong at Aardvark Audio was not his fault.

On paper (key phrase) I have to say I'm awfully tantalized. I wish I knew more about what the Gold was going to have for an extra grand over this beastly Plus unit.

What do you all make of this?

[Hopstretch]

The clock is housed in a shielded container where the temperature is kept constant, therefore bringing significant benefits to the detail, dynamics and stereo placement of the audio.

I like my wine and my music around 62 degrees please.

[Eric5676]

6moons audio reviews: Antelope Audio Zodiac+

For whatever it's worth.

There's a few things about these pieces at these price points that I'm just not sure about, even past all the market-ese and such.

For these kinds of prices I have to have zero doubts in mind and I can't say that's the case at present when I look at this product line. But that's just me...

[Nebby]

OVEN CONTROLLED CLOCK

Since it's an "oven controlled clock", it stands to reason that it has no cooling unit....so what they really mean is that they're artificially keeping the clock at a higher temperature than ambient for stability's sake?

Woah, it's $2,500? I guess they must be using an audiophile heating element.

[Eric5676]

Since it's an "oven controlled clock", it stands to reason that it has no cooling unit....so what they really mean is that they're artificially keeping the clock at a higher temperature than ambient for stability's sake?

LOL, exactly. That's the kind of thing that makes me take pause.

I'm not sure if this means anything but these units weigh

2kg, 4.4 lb

According to Antelope's own website and literature. Is it just me or does that seem a little light weight?

[Voltron]

I'd surely be more comfortable with an Antelope dac than anything from Audio-gd.

[Eric5676]

I'd surely be more comfortable with an Antelope dac than anything from Audio-gd.

That comment just answered a question I had in another thread. Is Audio-GD the latest Head-Fi FOTM? Because the forums are just overrun with threads about them. I'm guessing the answer is "yes" if folks like yourself are making these kinds of comments.

I suspect if I had to choose between the two I would do the same thing as you.

[Nebby]

I'm not sure if this means anything but these units weigh According to Antelope's own website and literature. Is it just me or does that seem a little light weight?

DAC's by their nature normally don't require any heatsinking so they aren't heavy by themselves. Nice audiophile quality cases are generally heavy due to thick panels and such but that has little bearing on the quality of the components inside (aside from transformers...but even then the current draw of a DAC isn't that large).

I'd surely be more comfortable with an Antelope dac than anything from Audio-gd.

I totally agree, actually. I'm mostly just curious about this oven controlled clock feature, as what I'm picturing in my mind as a temperature controlled clock certainly wouldn't fit in the case that they have.

[Eric5676]

DAC's by their nature normally don't require any heatsinking so they aren't heavy by themselves. Nice audiophile quality cases are generally heavy due to thick panels and such but that has little bearing on the quality of the components inside (aside from transformers...but even then the current draw of a DAC isn't that large).

Fair enough.

From 6 Moons:

What turns a Plus into a Gold? "The standard Zodiac does up to 96Khz via optical and USB and 192Khz via S/PDIF. The Gold does up to 384Khz via USB and has a stepped attenuator with gold relays and a cool remote control. BurrBrown's 1792-A chip is applied across all three models and the Gold's circuitry differs from the Plus primarily in the analogue domain." To source software that was actually recorded at 384kHz and is made available to consumers at that data density seems quite futuristic still but remote control and purist attenuation certainly do cater to audiophiles.

That is tantalizing.

[Pars]

DAC's by their nature normally don't require any heatsinking so they aren't heavy by themselves. Nice audiophile quality cases are generally heavy due to thick panels and such but that has little bearing on the quality of the components inside (aside from transformers...but even then the current draw of a DAC isn't that large).

I totally agree, actually. I'm mostly just curious about this oven controlled clock feature, as what I'm picturing in my mind as a temperature controlled clock certainly wouldn't fit in the case that they have.

PSUs though can and do weigh a bit, or at least the transformers for said PSUs. The DAC chip itself may not need much current, but a good discrete output stage can. Switching PSUs tend to be pretty light; hope that isn't what is being used here, or if it is, that it is well designed to deal with noise.

Oven controlled clocks are useless for jitter as the temp control is for long term stability; jitter is short term stability.

[Nebby]

In this case though, the DAC has a DC in and uses a "DC Power Supply" (their words) so no heavy transformers in the DAC itself. Hopefully it's not a switching power supply, but I'm going to guess it doesn't have a super nice chassis like the DAC does, otherwise it'd be in the photos as well. I did forget to consider consider the output stage power draw, good point.

[Voltron]

That comment just answered a question I had in another thread. Is Audio-GD the latest Head-Fi FOTM? Because the forums are just overrun with threads about them. I'm guessing the answer is "yes" if folks like yourself are making these kinds of comments.

I suspect if I had to choose between the two I would do the same thing as you.

It's worse than a FOTM, it is base shilling on the part of a core group of HF douche-bags who are getting special treatment, favors, and probably free gear from Audio-gd. It is utter bullshit and indicative of the level of deterioration at HF that they can dominate the source scene without real question.

[Nebby]

It's worse than a FOTM, it is base shilling on the part of a core group of HF douche-bags who are getting special treatment, favors, and probably free gear from Audio-gd. It is utter bullshit and indicative of the level of deterioration at HF that they can dominate the source scene without real question.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that; I suspected as much but wasn't sure if anyone else saw it the same way. There were a few times where I read a post that was so salesmant-talk heavy that I looked at the screen name expecting to see a MoT tag.

[Eric5676]

It's worse than a FOTM, it is base shilling on the part of a core group of HF douche-bags who are getting special treatment, favors, and probably free gear from Audio-gd. It is utter bullshit and indicative of the level of deterioration at HF that they can dominate the source scene without real question.

No kidding.

I can't say I'm surprised by any of that.

That more than confirms any instinct I had on the subject.

A number of you are far more privy to that sort of thing around those parts but it's really been unsubtle how wall to wall the Audio-Gd coverage is all over Head-Fi.

I continue to be more and more grateful for this place with each passing day.

[Salt Peanuts]

.

[screaming oranges]

When is the Gold version rumored to be released?

EDIT: nevermind, got my answer, and frankly, I'd settle for the plus version anyway.

[Eric5676]

I tell you what: I'm lost. I'm suffering from bad information overload at this point. Maybe I should just stand hard by my 840c even if I have to pay to get it repaired. I can't make heads or tails of this DAC scene. I see lots of good products and I see lots of not so good products up and down the price spectrum. I'm concerned that I'd make nothing but a glorified lateral move or even a downward move if I made the wrong choice.

[Dusty Chalk]

Or, you could just buy stuff.

...I mean, for home audition, and then return it (if within the return period), or sell it off (otherwise). Really, sometimes, that's what it takes to decide on something as subtle as source/DACses. Buy it (preferably used, at a price that you can resell it for later), then give it a decent amount of listening time.

Or you could just throw them in the closet and forget you had them later.

[Eric5676]

Or, you could just buy stuff.

...I mean, for home audition, and then return it (if within the return period), or sell it off (otherwise). Really, sometimes, that's what it takes to decide on something as subtle as source/DACses. Buy it (preferably used, at a price that you can resell it for later), then give it a decent amount of listening time.

That's where I'm going to have to get to. Figure out my short list, finalize it, look at my budget, and I guess get cracking.

I try to be careful with this. I don't want to screw over some retailer by "renting" the hardware and flipping it back on them in 30 days. It's a nice courtesy from dealers that I really don't want to abuse. There's a balance here I'll have to watch.

Or you could just throw them in the closet and forget you had them later.

LOL

[NekoAudio]

You could also try contacting Marcel (of Antelope) to ask some questions. He has an account over at HF. I'm not sure about on here though.