Review on Linear Tube Audio Aero DAC

@drvinyl01 Ha ha! +1

I have owned the Merason DAC 1, Mk ll and even though it’s a fine sounding unit, the Aero is a significant step up.  The best way I can describe the difference is the Merason puts you in front of a very good system and the Aero puts you at the live event.  I also own the newest Linn DAC/streamer/preamp (a significant price difference) and the Aero DAC is right there sonically and in some ways does a few things better.  Will I give up my Linn?  Nope, but it’s great to have two wonderful sounding DAC’s at the same time. I do think the Linn has advantages as well, especially with their streamer and preamp built in.  
 

I agree with teajay regarding price vs performance.  The Aero is a home run for the price.

Even Dr Vinyl likes this digital.

Hey soix,

Totally agree with you, if Don likes AZ cables, the AZ MC2 would be a great addition.

Of course CD transports make a difference regarding the performance of the DAC they are driving. I consider myself some what of a connoisseur regarding transports. I do not stream, so all my DACs are driven by CD transports. Here's a list of what I have in my collection of spinners:

1) Mark Levinson 31.5 2) CEC two belt T-3,3) Pro-Ject reference with LTA upgraded power supply, 4) Jays Audio MKIII.

I also just had in for review Bricasti's new 10K transport. So when I suggested to Don that his Rotel would suffice to drive the Aero, I did not mean that it would get the ultimate performance out of it, but good enough to still hear what the Aero has to offer. By the way, the best performance I get in my system, regardless of the DAC, is the combination of the Mark Levinson with Jena Cables reference digital cable.  

@no_regrets  I also have a full loom of AZ cables, and the last one I added was their MC2 digital interconnect, and if you like the AZ house sound this one is a no brainer — read the reviews as they’re pretty spot on.  Here’s a nice one you should be able to get for $300 if it’s still available as it’s been on the market for a while.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649210067-acoustic-zen-mc2-digital-cable/

And while I agree your Rotel will work as a transport, transports matter and make a big difference so at the level of your system I’d look to upgrade that if CDs are important.  You could consider adding a DDC like the Denafrips Hermes that would likely up the Rotel’s performance significantly, or you could go to something like a Jay’s Audio CDT2 Mk3.  If CDs are important and you’re not gonna go to streaming I’d definitely do one or the other because the Rotel will likely be a bottleneck.  Hope this helps, or best of luck. 

@no_regrets 

I've used a Musical Fidelity A-5 as a transport, along with a Cambridge CXC, and currently a Project RS2T.

The Project is simply at a different sonic level. Unfortunately, this Project model has had serious reliability issues. 

My original unit was replaced. My current unit works perfectly as long as I leave it in stand-by. From a full off it can sometimes take a few attempts to power up.

I'm not aware if the glitches have been remedied or not. If they have addressed this the performance compares with units several times it's cost.

Good luck with your decision.

      LP

@lpretiring 

I appreciate your comment. It nice to get different perspectives and opinions!

Which transports would you recommend?

Best wishes,

Don

@no_regrets 

I'm of a different mindset in regard to the Rotel being utilized as a transport.

Would an excellent tonearm-cartridge combo performance be affected by an average turntable?

I feel significant gains will materialize with a transport approaching the Aero level.

@teajay

Thank you for your quick reply! That makes me very happy to hear that you and your friends feel it is a very analog sounding type dac. I was hoping to be able to find something that I could enjoy listening too without breaking the bank.

Vinyl will still be my primary listening source as I have 1000’s of truly mint records that I have collected over the last few decades that simply sound sublime. However, there I am discovering that there is a lot of great music being produced by modern musicians that I cannot get on vinyl and so I want to have digital source that will produce the beautiful tone and harmonic structure of real live music without sounding hard or strident or 2-dimensional.

I’m also happy that you feel that my old vintage Rotel 955ax will work well for a transport.

I will need to buy a coax cable to go from the transport to the Aero’s input. Any recommendations for a great sounding cable for a few hundred to a $1000 whether new or used.

For context, my current cables are Acoustic Zen Absolute Coppers for all interconnects and AZ Satori Shotguns for my speaker cables.

Oh, also... do you happen to know how tall the unit is with the tubes installed?

Thank you for your help and guidance!

Don

Hey Don,

Remember the Aero uses a chip nicknamed the "analog" DAC. Two of my closet friends who are die hard analog listeners, with excellent vinyl rigs, love the LTA Aero because it has an ease, overall warmth, and relaxation often associated with vinyl. 

Yes, I'm sure the Rotel being used as a transport should be up to the task.

Teajay

@teajay and others,

This LTA Aero sounds interesting to me, but I have a couple of questions...

I'm a dye in the wool vinyl guy and have a very nice turntable/arm/cartridge/phonostage, etc. that provides very enjoyable listening sessions.

1)  I'm curious for those of you who also enjoy quality vinyl playback, how does this LTA Aero compare sound wise?

2) Currently, I would have to use an old Rotel 955AX CD Player as a transport into the LTA Aero via coax output.  How well would this work with the Aero?  Is the Rotel a good enough transport to get the sonic goods out of the Aero or would I have to spend big dollars on a better transport?

I appreciate hearing anyone's thoughts on this.

Thank you and best wishes to you all!

Don

@teajay Thanks!

Hey markmuse,

The Rockna is another fine DAC. I reviewed it a few years back. However, it’s more expensive then the LTA Aero, but I would rather have the Aero based on its presentation of music. A virtue of the Rockna is that it's volume control is excellent and the expense of a preamplifier is not necessary.

Teajay

@teajay 

I haven’t seen any mention of the Rockna Wavelight in this thread. Are you familiar enough with it to make a comparison with the Aero? It is another I am considering to replace my DSD Mk2.

With respect to burn in,  I appreciate when a company does that.   Some companies make it part of their overall quality control.  Small companies that do it are wise, really helps to root out any problems before it leaves .   

Another possible reason why he didn’t compare the Merason DAC1 MkII directly with the Aero could be that they were not both in his barn at the same time.

It seems Lavorgna likes the Liav Harmony DAC at its price point but he personally doesn’t care for its NOS mode, which he found boring, while he noted an etched or fatiguing quality when playing it in OS mode, but only in comparison to the more expensive LTA Aero DAC.

The LTA Aero seems more aligned with his sonic tastes, like his Totaldac d-1 unity reference, and wins within its weight class and above, but shows some shortcomings against the 3x more expensive Totaldac. Compared to the Harmony, he found that the Aero sounded "comparatively richer, fuller, and...more involving, making music feel more life-like and less processed." I will be interested to read what he has to say in Part 2 of the Aero review.

To understand his thoughts about the Aero vs. the Merason, it may be necessary to read about how he compared each to his Totaldac, which would put the Merason ahead of the Aero.

@ soix,

I'm just saying it was quite vague as the Merason was noted as nuanced and resolving and the Aero and Laiv, richer/warmer and maybe he didn't want to compare them directly due to that. 

Good Dacs for sure.

Wig

From the way it reads, not at the level of Merason

@wig  Where did you get that from?  He only mentioned the LAiV Harmony and totaldac d1 in the review and no mention of the Merason that I saw.

From the way it reads, not at the level of Merason and seems like the Aero is richer than Laiv but thought he noted that Laiv was rich, warm and soft sounding...

Personal preference I guess.

Wig

Here is Michaels review @TM Part 1.

https://twitteringmachines.com/review-linear-tube-audio-aero-dac-part-1/

I'm also waiting for that review to drop as well and hopefully, there will be some direct comparisons between Merason and the Aero.

Wig

Twittering Machines’ review of the LTA Aero DAC is positive and discusses similar strengths as in the review by @teajay . Apparently Part 2 is yet to come.

The review does not include any comparisons with the previously reviewed Mearson DAC1 MkII.  Both DACs received the TM Favorite Digital recognition.

I appreciate the effort by LTA to burn in the Aero unit at the factory and then verify it performs as advertised/expected.  I believe this is important for a company offering a 14-day audition/return period.  We discussed that I currently own (and previously owned) other well-respected DACs and that the Aero will have to bring something special to the table if I am to keep it.  Therefore, it will be powered up the entire time I have it and I think it is great that LTA are giving it at least an additional week of burn-in.

Regarding Twittering Machines, if you read the reviews, Lavorgna keeps review  gear for an extended period of time so I am confident he understands burn-in and gives the electronics plenty of time to reach their optimal performance.  I find most of his opinions to be believable and without excessive hype.  Therefore, if he chooses to make comparisons regarding the performance of the LTA Aero vs. the Merason DAC 1 MkII, I will pay attention to what he reports.

Is this unusual for a manufacturer to standardly burn-in their units? What about units headed for reviewers?

@lpretiring  In my experience it’s not the norm for a manufacturer to pre burn in their products, but it’s sure nice when they do and good on LTA for going the extra mile (it also has the added benefit of reducing the chance of sending out defective products off the line, which is nice).  When I was reviewing I always knew if a product was new and needed breaking in or not and proceeded accordingly, and any reputable reviewer would do the same.  The value of reviewing a new product not broken in or used in previous reviews is that you can give readers an idea of how long it takes for it to start sounding its best along with the degree and type of change in sound that can be expected, which is nice to know upfront if you’re buying new.  For that reason, in my reviews at the end of the product description section I always included details on the break-in process if applicable.  That said, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if many of the yahoos out there producing video “reviews” on YouTube, etc. pay no mind to it and just fire out their crap regardless of whether a product is broken in or not either because they don’t know any better or don’t care and just wanna crank out reviews as quickly as possible to boost revenue.  Anyway, just my $0.02 FWIW.

"Lead time for new LTA orders is typically about four weeks, which includes a full week of burn-in and play-testing."

Is this unusual for a manufacturer to standardly burn-in their units? What about units headed for reviewers?

For example, that Twittering Machines review of the Harmony and Aero. Was the Harmony right off the production floor, or did it receive some time somehow for more equal footing for evaluation?

With the often very subtle differences in performance, this would appear to be an important consideration

Hey mitch2,

Wish I could help you, but never had any experience listening to the Merason DAC.

Teajay

@teajay - Have you heard the Merason DAC 1 MkI or MkII? If yes, any thoughts compared to the (half the price) LTA Aero?

Michael Lavorgna currently has the LTA Aero DAC in his Barn for review (pending) and has also reviewed the Merason, so I also look forward to any comparisons he chooses to make.

Michael Lavorgna reviewed the LAIV Harmony DAC on his Twittering Machines website.  He said good things about the Harmony DAC in his review, and particularly for the price.  He happened to have the LTA Aero DAC in his Barn for review at the same time (review pending) and said this about the comparison...

"...the LTA Aero DAC ($3950) also sounded comparatively richer, fuller, and to my ears and tastes more involving, making music feel more life-like and less processed."

@tksteingraber The LAIV Harmony, is winning favour as many are getting their chance to Trial a model, using the very generously honoured 30 Day Return Policy.

The comments being read are quite attractive about the Harmony are able to catch ones attention, especially attractive is the SS design as well.

I am a DAC user, which is a Commission Built Bespoke Design that is incorporating Valve Regulated Power Supply and E88CC Tubes in the Circuits Signal Path.

It was this DAC used with a CDT, that finally converted myself to having a Digital Source that was considered to be a very acceptable alternative to the Vinyl Source.

Most recently a Demo' of a Denafrips Venus II with FW Updates got my full attention, as a result of the very good impression made during a comparison session between SS and Valve based Digital Sources.

It would have been great to have had the LAIV H' and LTA A' used as well, at the comparisons being undertaken.    

If anyone interested, LTA Aero DAC available on USAM for $3K.

My comment about the wait was based on my conversation with the owner, Mr. Mark Schneider a little over a week ago. I went ahead and placed my order as soon as we finished our discussion that day. The confirmation email indicated:

"Lead time for new LTA orders is typically about four weeks, which includes a full week of burn-in and play-testing."

@teajay Thanks for the clarification.  Mitch2 had mentioned he was waiting 3 weeks due to LTA waiting on cases to arrive.  

Hey tksteingraber,

LTA has been shipping for close to a couple of months already. The wait time is about two weeks.

Teajay

Is LTA shipping these now or are they taking preorders?  Also, a lot of hype on the Laiv Harmony DAC out there…wonder how the 2 compare🤔

Thanks guys,

 It looks like the LTA aero is a better choice presently and Aqua La Scala is ready for an upgrade.

I had the Aqua La Scala II DAC (not Optologic) in my system for a while some years ago and eventually sent it back. There was nothing specific that I didn’t like about it and I believe my comparison was with the Metrum Pavane, which I kept. I sort of remember at the time that I didn’t want something with tubes in it.  Unfortunately, I was not able to compare it directly against any of my Mojo Audio DACs.  I had forgotten the La Scala used four PCM1704 DAC chips, but they apparently changed that to their current proprietary Optologic D/A conversion system using FPGAs.  I may think about trying the the La Scala again instead of the LTA Aero.

Hey dandion,

I had a brief listening session awhile back with the Aqua Scala DAC, quite good, and yes, the LTA Aero DAC have a lot of musicality and sonic characteristics that are similar. If you like the much more expensive DAC you surely would enjoy the LTA.

Teajay 

LTA tube DAC design seems similar to the great Aqua La scala DAC but at half cost. 

I would be curious if they are similare soundwise? About soundstage, holographic and instrument separation?

Hey mm1tt77,

Yes, I believe that the Coda 07x preamp with the LTA Aero DAC would be one beautiful combo! The 07x is one of my favorite SS preamplifiers and teaming it with the Aero would render a terrific musical presentation.

Teajay

@jake18aa +1 on Nicholas's customer service. He took all the time in the world to talk to me about the questions I had on the LTA MZ3 preamp. In fact as I was ready to end the conversation he mentioned he had a few months old MZ3 trade in for sale that was basically brand new, and I bought it, with a nice discount. To this day if I have any questions he emails me back always on a timely basis.

I've haven't had the chance to hear the NOS 1943 Tung Sol black glass/round plates in my system as my next purchase will be the NOS 1952 Sylvania 6SN7GT Bad Boy. So if anyone ever tries these tubes in you 'new' LTA Aero Dac, I would really enjoy reading that review. But I must say the LTA MZ3 comes with NOS RCA 12SX7GT and NOS Brimar CV4024 tubes or whatever replacements they may have on hand at the time, such as the Genalex E88CC. 

@teajay I landed on the PS Audio MKii by way of trading my pre and a DAC for a Lumin P1, I thought I could potentially achieve a jump up in my system by eliminating having a pre, streamer, DAC.  The dealer I made the trade with was in Canada, also rep’d PS Audio, when I didn’t love the change, he honored a commitment that he’d let me send the Lumin Back for a Lumin U2 mini and a PS MKii.  I then went back on the hunt for a Pre, was between a Coda 07x and PS BHK Pre.  I found a BHK local at a great deal so I ended up with a U2 mini, PS BHK Pre and the Mii with a Krell 300 XD for an amp.  What sounded the best in my system was a CSiB Coda Integrated I used as a Pre only that was fed by a MHDT Pagoda Balanced DAC.  I have been thinking about swapping the BHK and MKii for the Coda 07x and a tube based DAC.  The LTA, based on your review seems to hit my sonic sweet spot.  Do you think the Coda would pair well with LTA DAC?  I have also thought about an LTA pre or Aric Pre.  
 

Thanks for all great reviews and recommendations.  

@tksteingraber - Thanks for linking the tube thread.  Based on my web search, if I decide to keep the DAC, it seems I should be able to find a tested and matched pair of suitable NOS tubes, like SYLVANIA VT231s, for under $300, which seems an acceptable price assuming they improve the sound.  I wish LTA had those DACs in stock and ready to ship as I am looking forward to hearing it.

@mitch2 If you do decide to buy NOS 6sn7 tubes this is a must read.  There are reasonably priced tubes (Sylvania, Rca, Raytheon) that sound fantastic but requires some searching and leaps of faith. Interested in your feedback on the LTA Aero once you get some time with it.  
 

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/shootout-of-nos-6sn7-tubes

Good to hear, on all accounts.  Thanks Teajay.

Hey mitch2,

Of all the 6SN7s I have in my collection the TungSol black glass/round plates have always been my favorites for three reasons: 1) The air and spatiality they create is really very remarkable. 2) The beauty of timbres/colors is very pristine and very close to what I hear in live music. 3) There is an ease/effortlessness that it produces which I experience as the music is just oozing and flowing into my listening space. 

With all that, when I used the TungSols in the Aero it did not produce a qualitative shift (what I believe you would call significant) but a subtle addition of the traits I described above. The DAC sounds absolutely terrific with the GE NOS 12SN7s that it shipped with. Using the NOS TungSol black glass/oval plates 6SN7's is like "the icing on cake". So, if you go through with your purchase of the Aero and love it,, which I think you will, you could treat yourself later with a pair of 6SN7s. 

Finally, you are correct they have become scarcer and more expensive, but you can still score them for relatively reasonable prices. If you get a good pair they tend to be very long lived. The way the LTA Aero uses its tubes they should last a very long time, indeed.

Teajay 

@teajay 

I also used my favorite 6SN7 tube, NOS 1943 TungSol black glass/round plates. Everything in my description of the Aero DAC’s performance with these tubes went even higher.

After reading about how you found the DAC's performance to be even better with NOS 6SN7 tubes, I thought I would look around and maybe purchase a set prior to receiving the DAC, so I could maximize its performance during my 14-day trial period.  Holy crap, I had no idea of where prices have gone on 6SN7 tubes!  It seems $400 to over $1K for a pair is not unusual.  Therefore, leaving the DAC powered up for best sound, as supported by LTA, would be a much more expensive proposition if using NOS tubes.

Can you elaborate on the specific sonic attributes, as well as the relative degree of improvement - i.e., subtle to significant, that you heard when using NOS 6SN7 tubes?  Do you believe 6SN7s in general may sound better than 12SN7s in this DAC?  Thanks for any additional thoughts you can share regarding the impact of the tubes used.

Hey jetter,

Yes, the Pass Labs DAC-1 is about that old. Mine was re-capped by Pass Labs  and is in pristine condition. The only reason that Pass Labs stopped manufacturing the DAC-1 was the unavailability of the great Burr-Brown PCM-(K)63 chips. Pass Labs policy is if they can't have parts to repair a certain model in the future they stop manufacturing it.

The DAC-1 uses four of these chips in a fully balanced configuration. Then add Nelson's brilliance with power supplies and you get a great sounding DAC.

Teajay 

@teajay Great question! You might find it shocking that the Pass Labs DAC-1 performance is quite close to the present day reference level DACs.

Amazing!  What is this like a 27 year old DAC?  

Excellent thank you Teajay. With a 14 day free trial what have a got to lose😁

Hey phill55,

It's been awhile since I reviewed the Audio Mirror Tubadour DAC, which is a wonderful musical sounding DAC. My hunch would be that the LTA Aero will be more dynamic and resolving with more pristine tonality, but not losing the sense of musicality that the Tubadour has. 

Teajay