Yeah that thread you posted there seems a bit meh to me. That and I think Cambridge Audio would be very surprised the Zero to be better than theirs, I'd be surprised if Compass DAC was better than the DacMagic.
The only good thing I got out of that thread is the mentioning of the DAC7010. That looks interesting.
Alvin's Blog: HI-End DAC7010 <Digital Coaxial, Optical, USB Interface>
Looks very cool with matching pre-amp. DAC is on top.
The DAC7010 is built by Taiwanese if I'm not wrong
Oh ya, I just check out from the thread, the reviewer's ZERO dac was in STOCK form during the comparison