Review on Linear Tube Audio Aero DAC

For those Dacs utilizing 6SN7 tubes, I highly recommend Linlai Elite 6SN7s which IMHO, beats most NOS tubes...

Wig

@mitch2 

I just got my Merason DAC1 mk2 so I'm interested in the comparison with the LTA Aero as well. 

@mitch2

I would be curious to hear your impressions on how the LTA compare to Merason in regards to creating ambiance and spatial space. This is why I chose Merason over my $7K+ Tube SW1X III+ DHT R2R Dac; Merason matched it in every area but the airy details just added another level of dimensionality and realness...

Wig 🎶🎵

@teajay  - Thanks for bringing the Linear Tube Audio Aero DAC to our attention.  I have just started the process of comparing five different DACs I have here in the $4K to $10K price range, with the Aero being the least expensive.  I am also using a lower priced Benchmark DAC3 HGC to calibrate the others against a DAC that was designed around measuring well.  My goal is not to select a "best" but rather to compare traits and narrow the field to two or three that I enjoy most, as well as  figuring out which sonic traits are most desirable to me.  All five of them clearly sound different, even though two of them are from the same manufacturer.  Another observation I can share now is that, however this shakes out, you are absolutely correct about the LTA Aero performing well above its price range.

@soix  Thank you for your post!  As always, I truly appreciate your help 

@oddiofyl 

Thank you for sharing the link to the Teac review.  It was great reading about this transport especially seeing that it was used into the LTA Aero Dac!

Best wishes,

Don

@lancelock 

Congrats on the new Aero Dac!  I'm excited to hear that you are loving it!

I'd love to know what you are using for a transport?

Best wishes,

Don

I've had the Aero for about a month, and it is more than I could have hoped for. At first, I was a little concerned about the limitations, but I only listen to PCM, and it sounds great with a USB cable. It's almost unbelievable how good this thing is. Beautiful harmonics, pristine images, deep, tuneful bass, and that Berning clarity.

So, I'm thinking if I bought an all in one box CD/SACD player I could utilize its internal SACD dac via the analog outputs directly into my line stage and then just output the redbook signal via coax into the Aero.

@no_regrets Unless SACDs are a large portion of your library I think this approach could make sense.  If that’s the case maybe get a nice Marantz player for SACDs and run its digital out to a DDC like a Denafrips Hermes into the LTA — the DDC will turn the Marantz into a much better transport.  Just one thought. 

I just bought the Teac VRDS 701t Transport and it is a great machine. I’m using it with a LAB 12 DAC 1 Reference and it is a great sounding combo.

Herb Reichert used the LTA with the 701t and here’s the link

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-88-teac-vrds-701t-cd-transport

@soix 

Hello and thank you for your post!

Can you or maybe others from this fine community help me understand something, as like I had mentioned, I am still trying to learn and understand the digital side of things?

I'm still trying to understand what the Aero Dac can and cannot accept as far as digital signals and what that actually means to me when searching for a possible new and upgraded transport to use.

So a thought was to find a CD/SACD all in one unit to use as the transport into the Aero via coax connections.  I wasn't sure if the Aero would be able to maximize the SACD sound quality though, so I wrote LTA about my question and they responded saying... "The Aero can accept PCM signals from a transport up to 24/192k but cannot decode SACD or DSD. I'm not sure most transports will output SACD anyway."

So, I'm thinking if I bought an all in one box CD/SACD player I could utilize its internal SACD dac via the analog outputs directly into my line stage and then just output the redbook signal via coax into the Aero. Hopefully thinking the all in one CD/SACD player would be a better transport than just using my vintage Rotel 955AX and also gaining SACD capability, albeit having to use it's internal dac for that medium.

The other thing that I noticed is that with both the Jay's Audio CDT3 MK3 and also with the CEC TL-2N is that on their back panel they have a switch at can upsample redbook cd to 176.4khz  (and via remote on the Jay's Audio CDT2 MK3).

So, I am wondering if because the Aero Dac can accept up to 24/192khz would that make my normal redbook cd's sound better than just having a transport that only output 44khz?  And if so, would I be better off getting either one of the Jay's or CEC truly dedicated transports and forgetting all about SACD as I would have to start that collection from scratch?

Any thoughts?

Thank you for sharing!

Best wishes,

Don

From what I understand, it currently is quite difficult to get one at this time though. So, right now I'm looking at one of the Jay's Audio transports or maybe the CEC TL-2N dual belt drive transport. I'm just in the very beginning stages right now, so I am remaining very open to ideas

@no_regrets There have been several here who’ve had problems with the Pro-Ject transport, and when there’s an excellent option from Jay’s I see no reason to deal with that.  The new TEAC transport has gotten excellent reviews as well but no idea of its reliability.  Personally I’d go with Jay’s no question.  Hope this helps. 

@wig 

Awesome!  I hear Charles1Dad rave about the RS2T CD Transport quite often and from what I've read from reviewers, it is quite a nice transport.

From what I understand, it currently is quite difficult to get one at this time though. So, right now I'm looking at one of the Jay's Audio transports or maybe the CEC TL-2N dual belt drive transport. I'm just in the very beginning stages right now, so I am remaining very open to ideas 

Best wishes,

Don

@no_regrets

I have a Pro Ject RS2T CD Transport and it also has I2S.

Wig

@wig Can you remind which transport you are using?  

Also, is it common for various cd transport to have one digital output to be more optimized than the other outputs on their machine?

I apologize if the above sounds like a stupid question... I've been a vinyl guy for roughly 50 years and am just now trying to optimize my digital system, so I guess I've been living under a rock for a while, lol.

Thank you and best wishes to you all,

Don

@mitch2 Congrats on the new LTA Aero!  I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts and comments about how it sounds compared to the other dacs you have experience with!

I have one on order, probable about 3 weeks out before receiving though.

When talking to the very fine folks at LTA, they gave me the impression that they didn't expect the Aero to sound any different no matter which input you use on their dac.  Although, I wonder if some transports or digital sources themselves may be better optimized via their certain output connections?

I'm very happy to hear that it was packed very well and shipped very safely! Also glad to hear it's sounding good right out of the box.  I can only imagine that their "pre"-burn in process prior to shipment only helps in that matter!

Best wishes,

Don

@mitch2

Awesome and fun times ahead.

Wig 😊

Thanks for the heads up @wig 

The LTA Aero has been burning in for a couple of days and, after a frustrating week of dealing with customs, the Merason is scheduled to be delivered this afternoon.  By running the USB output from my Sonore Signature Rendu SE Optical into a Singxer DDC, I have a variety of outputs I can simultaneously use from the DDC to feed the DACs I am comparing, so it will be easy to try the Merason with AES/EBU.

@mitch2 

Curious to hear your impressions after burn-in of both Merason and LTA. My CD transport is optimized for AES/EBU and sounds much better than SPDIF on my Merason Dac1 MKII. 

Wig

Stereophile review by HR was very positive too however Atkinson tested it and had issues wherein

..."The Linear Tube Audio Aero's measured performance is paradoxical. As I pointed out in my Richard Heyser Memorial lecture at the 131st Audio Engineering Society Convention in 2011, people tend to like the sound of nonoversampling DACs that dispense with the usual reconstruction filter, perhaps due to their accurate time-domain behavior. But the price paid for this benefit is the presence of a large number of aliased products in the audioband with high-level, high-frequency audio data. And although the Aero's distortion signature is dominated by the subjectively benign second harmonic, this probably won't be of concern, at least from the balanced outputs. I was puzzled by the fact that this harmonic was so much higher from the unbalanced outputs, though this discrepancy is mentioned in the Aero's specifications.—John Atkinson 

The LTA Aero arrived today.  Unfortunately, the Merason DAC 1 MkII has been held up in customs only two hours from me for a week now.

The LTA Aero was extremely well-packaged and super easy to set up.  It sounds good right out of the gate.  Very musical and in no way irritating.  I will give it some time before making more specific observations.

I'm curious to hear from owners of this LTA Aero Dac, if any of you....

1.  Are using CD Transports?

2.  Which transports are you using and have you compared various transport with the Aero Dac?

3.  Which input connection have you been using with the Aero?  Have you noticed any difference in sound between the various input connections?

Thank you and best wishes to you,

Don

Hey brbrock,

I know that LTA uses high quality internal parts in all their products. If you want precisely to know what companies parts they use just call Nicholas at LTA and he will give you all that information.

Teajay

Can anyone speak for the quality of the components in the AERO DAC.  I have seen the inside but am not able to tell the quality of components.

Please let us know how it sounds in your system.

@teajay

@soix

@sense63

I just wanted to take a quick moment to say "THANK YOU" to everyone for all of your help by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and guidance with me as I tried to decipher which direction to go and which steps to take in the effort of improving the digital side of my music system.

I had a busy day today! I was able to purchase an Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper 75 Ohm RCA 1.5 meter digital cable. I then went on to purchased a new LTA Aero Dac from Nicholas at LTA! I will start out utilizing my vintage Rotel 955AX CD Player as the transport - Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper via the Coax output into the Aero Dac.

It is my hope that I will hear a tremendous improvement of sound via the Aero Dac over that of the Rotel’s internal multibit dac. If the Rotel proves to be sufficient, then over time, I will continue to save more money to put towards a high end streamer. If the Rotel isn’t allowing the Aero to shine, then I will investigate a better dedicated transport to replace the Rotel; and then do the streamer down the road further.

I would also like to take a quick moment to say that Nicholas from LTA is a true gentleman! I had a very nice email string with him. He replied to each of my emails within minutes! He was very nice and answered all of my questions and was extremely helpful to me. It was a true pleasure corresponding with him and he really made me feel appreciated and valued. A company may have a great product, but if it is without having people who truly care about their customers... then it kinda falls flat with me. I can honestly say that Nicholas at LTA, truly cares and has a passion for what they are doing. That right there pushed me over the top to want to buy the LTA Aero! I can’t wait to receive it and install it into my system to hear what it can do!

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to this forum thread. This is a great community to be associated with

Best wishes to you all,

Don

I think I will just start out with using my Rotel as a transport for the Aero and see how that sounds.  Hopefully it will work well, if not, I will just continue saving until I can afford a dedicated one. 

@no_regrets  Sounds like a good/reasonable plan, and I’m sure your Rotel will sound fine as a transport but just don’t skimp on the digital cable because it makes a big difference (sorry if I’m beating a dead horse here).  Love to hear your thoughts once you get things up and running. 

I truly appreciate everyone sharing there thoughts, experiences and guidance with me!

I think I will just start out with using my Rotel as a transport for the Aero and see how that sounds.  Hopefully it will work well, if not, I will just continue saving until I can afford a dedicated one. 
 

Thanks again,

Don

@wig  I believe that i had read that the Project's output was optimized for AES/EBU. My SimAudio 260DT I discovered via communication with them was as well. As @soix  stated it is a drawback with the LTA not having the other two type outputs as you may not be able to fully maximize the SQ of particular transports

@ soix

My Pro Ject RS2T CD Transport sounds much better with an AES/EBU compared to SPDIF; more transparent, more apparent ambiance/spatial cues with images that are more focused.

Wig

Hey Don,

The Aero sounds great being driven by a Coax/SPDIF cable. Start with your Rotel as a transport with a good SPDIF cable and I'm sure you will be very pleased. Then you could later on add a dedicated transport and better digital cable. Remember, you have a 10 day trial period, as far as I know no one has returned the Aero back to LTA.

Teajay

But how does the LTA Aero sound when using the Coax input vs the other types?

If you’re not going to streaming there’s only SPDIF and optical, so there’s really not much choice there.  Why LTA chose not to add AES or HDMI inputs at this price level is a mystery to me and a significant shortcoming IMHO. 

I'm sorry if I had missed reading this in any earlier posts, etc.  But how does the LTA Aero sound when using the Coax input vs the other types?

I ask as my Rotel only offers a Coax output.  So, if the Aero sounds better using other inputs I would wait on buying an expensive coax cable until I got a better transport and then get the appropriate cable at that time.

Any thoughts???

Best wishes,

Don

@no_regrets 

My pleasure.

On another question you asked regarding the AZ Absolute copper, that's the cable I'm currently using and it is extremely good.  Another cable I also use, is the Empirical Design ED 120 Coaxial 75 Ohm Digital Cable which is extremely good as well and much less money than the AZ.

@sense63 

Thank you for your comments!  It certainly sounds like the Aero is certainly worthy of it's $4K asking price. I appreciate you sharing the comparisons.

Best wishes,

Don

@soix 

I wonder if you or anyone else has had the opportunity to compare the Acoustic Zen MC2 with the Absolute Copper Foil 75 Ohm digital RCA cable?

Is there difference in sound characteristics between using 110 Ohm vs the 75 Ohm RCA cables?

Does anyone like the sound of any other RCA digital cables better than the AZ for similar prices?

Thank you!

Don

@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