LTA Aero verses Holo May KTE

I have may kte. I use i2s connection with PLL off. No delay. Sounds awesome. But, There's a trick to May that LTA nor other dacs in this price range cannot match. Use May NOS mode and feed up-sampled DSD 128 or higher (I use Hqplayer), it sounds as good as any high end DAC. That's where May excels and not sure if others are taking full advantage of that. 

I use the Aero for months.  It is a plug and play dac that  always works flawless and sound good. I let mine 'on' all the time.   Upgrading the stock tube to Ray 6SN7 brings more detail, bass and bigger soundstage.  Feed it with high quality streamer Innuos/Aurender and PCM files through its USB input and you are in business for a long run.

May KTE is a phenomenal DAC. I never had a delay using USB. But now I’m running a 60’ AES cable from my server in the basement to the May. It does take a second to lock when switching bitrates. Not a big issue for me. 
 

I actually prefer the May to Tambaqui and Grimm MU2 DAC. It has more weight and body. Lampizator could be on your list if you don’t mind messing with tubes. 

I didn’t do an exhaustive search based on actual listing, but chose the LTA Aero because it left me wanting nothing more after audition. Over the many years that I’ve been involved in Audio, I’ve come to give more and more weight to both before, and especially after, sale service. I have found LTA customer service to be laudable. 

FWIW, I have heard the LTA in a friend’s system, it was nice, but did not wow me. OTOH, there are a lot of people who have been wow’ed over the years by the May.