The one where the operator knows what they're doing.......

Its a subjective question and is most likely apples to apples....green? or red?

Both will do a job. Both will operate at a decent level of quality. Both will depend on the operator for either work flow preferences and needs.

I own a Soundcraft Ghost. I havent used a ZED but I have mixed on A&H consoles.

The Ghost does what I ask it to do and I dont find myself wanting something else in its range, which the ZED might be equal to....I say "might" as its a bit smaller footprint and (though I'm not sure) is likely a 'motherboard' construction whereas the Ghost has individual channel cards. I use the Ghosts pres for a lot of tracks even though I have outboard....The routing is great....The sound is kinda old skool....very analog....there are upgrades for them....I would only trade mine for something bigger and better.

I'm rather with Dave on this as the question you're asking is should I get a Chevy or a Chevelle?

Either one will give you that great UK British flavored history. I generally purchased consoles based upon only 2 criteria. What do I need it to do, first & foremost. What do I want it to sound like. I've purchased some of the cheapest consoles that have the operational features that were necessary. I've purchased others purely for their sound even with their lack of extreme routing capabilities & lack of automation features, to SSL style large frame desks. We know we want things to sound like and we know how best to get there but we all know how to use what's in front of us. It's like what Scotty said in Star Trek, " the right tool for the right job".

And here's a good example of your question in a very real way. I used to work for NBC-TV in Washington DC which also included their flagship WRC TV, Channel 4. In 1995 I was at the AES convention in NYC. I knew that NBC-TV Washington DC was going to go digital. And here I saw this " broadcast version" of their Axiom MT recording studio console. I looked into it as suggested to our director of engineering that he should investigated in more depth. Needless to say, he really didn't last long at the station. I have used these similar consoles. I wasn't extremely intimate with its fundamental design flaws. This should have never happened. We had version 1.0 software. So you know there are already bugs. And since this is not all in a single room it opened up a plethora of extremely bad on air scenarios. This was not a console that had a single on off button on it. The control surface was upstairs in my control room. The CPU & guts were downstairs down the hall from master control. The microphone preempts with their analog to digital converters were positioned in studios. During the 6 PM news & during ratings sweeps week, the console crashed. I brought a fader down and we were supposed to toss to Vance. These motorized faders were also touch sensitive. I brought the microphone fader up for Vance and the fader went back to zero. The board was frozen. Toss to a two minute commercial. The only problem is, it took this console 4 1/2 minutes to boot up. And you had to turn on every piece of external ancillary devices in a certain order. 4 1/2 minutes into commercials, the maintenance guys turned it on wrong and while my faders work, the routing isn't working. So another 4 1/2 minutes of commercials. A total of nine minutes worth of commercials during prime time news! No on air console should never take more than 10-20 seconds to power up, Boot & stabilize. Similar problems happened to this over a period of years until it got to version 3.0. They actually stuck a little analog mixer in the control room after my event. That console was tossed in the trash recently and a quick start CALREC is in the new HD control room. So you don't always want to jump the gun just because somebody reliable came out with something new. I didn't think it was funny when it happened at the time but I remember it with all fondness. Oh, and all of the brand-new Sony 19 inch broadcast monitors all blew up within the first few months of operation due to bad wave soldering. All this usually occurred on-air. And personally when it comes to audio, the more analog it is the better I like it. Although I must admit that newer CALREC does have a warmer quality to it than that 1996 SSL. And of course it works like a broadcast console should. You can unplug and plug in modules while the console is still on. Try that with your computer. This is where women shop for things better than men. We'll get the right color.

I don't pick'em unless I can lick'em. Or so to speak.
Mx. Remy Ann David