LTA Aero MAGICAL DAC!

[@jacobpaternostro9109]

Very, very happy Aero owner. SQ went to another dimension compared to previous R26 and Holo Cyan 2 DACs. And I get the humidity comment. A lot of sounds have this kind of reverby effect going on that sounds kinda wet. But it's not all sounds, and it sounds wonderful. I guess it's in the recording and I'm just hearing things I never heard before.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Thanks for sharing Jacob!

[@abxaudiophiles]

Just dropped the Aero in my system.... Man, that presence and energy are no joke! This thing makes you sit up and pay attention. Great review Steve! Well done sir

[@MyIrenee]

I read a lot of negative comments in here, But I am a happy owner of this new DAC and I totally agree with Steve thoughts about the sound. I am hearing more in the music with a lot more dynamics than before. My other DACs are Benchmark 2 and Digital Amplifier company TL DAC. I also own a Micro Ztol 2 used as a preamp. Great product, I highly recommend.

[@dougg1075]

She’s a beauty. Way too expensive for me but I’m sure someone will love it. I want the Black Ice tube dac

[@jeffreysobczynski7113]

Audiophiliac - I am a huge fan of LTA - my amp and pre-amp are both LTA and I love the sound they provide. Right now I am a purely vinyl listener, but I look forward to the Aero DAC which is my next move for streaming - I listened to it at Axpona and thought it was great sounding. Glad to hear your finely tuned ears with decades of experience agree!

[@s.daniel9224]

Just played that track….. Hell yeah! Love the way it was recorded/produced.

[@RichardDurishin]

Sera una Noche - WOW! What a fantastic recording. Thanks Steve.

[@samuelreggio1611]

"Humidity" is a great word to talk about sound. I love Dayens amps and to me they have a sound I read one reviewer call 'humid'. I also like the word I thought of: ''honied'. Either way, humid or honied, this is definitely a sound I crave in audio playback. LTA is a wonderful company, by the way.

[@mrpmj00]

Yep the LTA is an R2R dac, and I love my two R2R dacs (Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1 for main room, and Ares II 12th for living room). The Denafrips Iris 12th ddc makes sound even better. source=Apple Music lossless

[@stimpy1226]

Great review… What a wonderful system of the day!

[@elgingaragegym]

Happy you beat everyone to the punch in releasing your review first Steve. Thank you! I'm awaiting my Aero as we speak. Happy you're enjoying it. But 4k Aero... To Tambaqui 10-13k? Would love for you to have maybe had a Denafrios R2R DAC to compare.

[@lowdeck2682]

I would love to see the LTA aero compared to the LAIV Harmony DAC. The prices are a bit closer at $3950 to $2700. Would not be surprised if the Harmony DAC is already on it's way to Steve.

[@elgingaragegym]

Lavorgna at Twittering Machines too! Can't wait to hear his thoughts on both.

[@rabit818]

If I had the budget, YES.

[@thinkIndependent2024]

I've had LUCK !! With Heated Tubes on the output of a DAC+ life-size Soundstage from $70-$300 units use clean power heated tubes can be powered by DC voltage.

[@eTannoys]

Steve could hear the humidity in the room...I'm dead

[@SubTroppo]

Maybe the relative humidity is listed on the sleeve notes so he speaks from authority. If it were recorded in an English church Steve would be hearing the dankness, and I would want a switch on my amp to filter THAT out!

[@JRadian]

No tube rolling? Come on, lets roll in some of those magical 6SN7/12SN7 and really see what it can do!

[@rogerdinh]

Hi Steve.. thank you for the awesome review. I have the chance to pick up the Border Patrol DAC for a good deal.. should I just skip and go for the Aero instead? I'm currently using the LS28SE that you liked so much :)

[@jimfarrell4635]

Steve, I'm a big fan, but hearing humidity? That's the power of psychoacoustics, right there. If it was a Californian thrash metal band playing in a basement with a broken aircon unit, pretty sure you wouldn't be getting the humidity vibe coming through.

[@kaneofnfernal]

I just purchased the Z10e and Aero DAC from LTA. I'm looking forward to hearing what they can do when combined with the Stax X9000. Nicholas from LTA was extremely helpful, especially to someone like me who has only been in the hobby for about a year. They seem like a solid young company who is hungry for success. Maybe, I will come back and give an update once I receive my equipment from LTA and put it through its paces. I definitely recommend reaching out to them if you're interested in their products and have questions. Oh, and nice review! Now, I'm even more eager to hear the Z10e and Aero! ~ Michael E

[@justadad2304]

Only a year, and already at the pinnacle of head-fi! Congrats!

[@kaneofnfernal]

I told my wife it only cost a total of $850. I hope she doesn't do any research! 😂😂😂😂

[@xeniavader]

good call. I've spent 20 years of audio before ending up with all LTA gear. Definitely want this DAC!

[@jimfarrell4635]

​@@kaneofnfernalif she asks where the money went, just say you are having an affair. It'll go better for you that way. Believe me. I know.

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Like narrow, long DAC'S 😊 W4S 10th edition DAC2V2SE Discrete class A output stages

[@ptg01]

HUGE fan of David Berning amps !!! Sadly, cost of this DAC is a bit out of my range

[@EskWIRED]

Your hair is looking better and better Steve. Grow it long.

[@simonkenny8924]

Great review 😊

[@jeromewhitmill733]

This made me excited about music!

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

That's nice to hear!

[@danmarjenka6361]

I heard the LTA Aero at AXPONA 2024. It was Excellent.

[@dansisternas9158]

Hello Steve, Thanks for your review. Do you think that the LTA Aero DAC outperform the Merason DAC1 mk2?

[@mpix8302]

David Berning’s ZOTL circuit 👍

[@SuperMcgenius]

As always, great review, I also think dsd and i2s may hurt sales.

[@m_c_8656]

Would be possible to use a digital-to-digital converter that had I-square-S and balanced AES/EBU input and then feed that into the LTA DAC? Could that, in principle work?

[@connorduke4619]

FYI, the word Darko uses to describe what you are after is "density".

[@biketech60]

I would have thought at that price it could include variable output to directly drive basic power amps , especially with the XLR output for lowest noise level .

[@TriAmpHiFi]

. Or it can be thought of this way. Those of us that want less have to pay more. What a rip, huh? Every cheap DAC has a ton of crap features I don't want. Only expensive DACs do ONE thing only. Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊

[@patbarr1351]

A Hana umami blue? ("Umami blue. Umami-mami blue. Umami blue...") Yes I have indeed noticed some early pop recordings with exceptional sound quality. The download of "Lazy Day" by Spanky & Our Gang is one sparkling example.

[@hitchpaprocki2649]

Thanks for the music tips. I wanted more of one artist. Who? I forget. Tidal suggested "Tango Classicos" compilation. Wow. Did you hear the soundtrack to "Frida"? Thanks for a really good enthusiasm enthusiasm

[@AllboroLCD]

I would take an all analog line stage in this design any day, lemme run everything through them damn tubes. Still love my amazon kit preamp with NOS GE Milspec tubes!

[@seanb3303]

I’m surprised we don’t have a bunch of chinese tube DACs…with a tube in circuit there is no more wondering if you hear a difference

[@johnrountree370]

Using a Jay's Audio transport and Denafrips Pontus II DAC with a Hermes re-clocker, I would not even consider a DAC without I2S inputs and outputs. Sound quality is notably better with the more modern connections. I am sure it is a nice piece but it enters the market with a significant disadvantage compared to many other lower costing DACs that have excellent sound qualities.

[@SubTroppo]

Tubes (valves) sticking out of the top reminds me of that video of kitten whack-a-mole on KZbin. ps I watch mostly for the music featured.

[@davidh7959]

Another great video, I never miss one. Where can I send you some of my Hawaiian shirts, you look my size. Maybe do a session on the history of your shirts, how many you own, how many times do you wear, what do yo do with excess, something fun, just a thought.

[@kailisse3267]

I wish it had DSD 512 or even 1024 like the Holo Audio or the T&A DACs.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Right, but I'm just asking, how much music do you have in DSD?

[@kailisse3267]

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac For serious listening - ALL of my music. Having experienced the advantages of an external upsampler, listening without it would be a waste of time for me. It is just so much fun lifting redbook material I know for decades to new quality levels. My sweetspot for now is DSD 256. But with scalable hardware options as cheap as they’re getting, I am curious to find out more. Thanks for asking 👋

[@michabuszynski7326]

Hey, i got Schiit Freya Plus, Adding more Tubes is not "to much of a good thing" ? I'm curious about this design vs Good R2R like Denafrips or Holo. Seeing This Dac Steave would You rather see more tubes in The Dac , Tubes in Freya+ and Solid state Or R2r , Freya and Tube Amp ? What would be the differences in those two approaches ?

[@ericelmore887]

Steve is the LTA DAC going to be your new reference in place of mola mola?

[@dksculpture]

Thanks Steve! I’d love to consider this DAC. Unfortunately, I need my DAC to have a phase inversion switch (panel or through a remote). I wish all DAC manufacturers would include this inexpensive, but critical, for me, feature. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@hassabsaeed9993]

why you need it ?

[@dksculpture]

@@hassabsaeed9993because many recordings have inverted phase and the rest of my system is single ended.

[@dksculpture]

@@hassabsaeed9993Because around half of all recordings have correct absolute polarity and half are inverted.

[@chrish.4067]

Hi Steve, maybe I missed it, the spelling out of the Argentine group and the Noga Arz group. I was having trouble finding those on Qobuz. Maybe Tidal? I really enjoy the music that you share with your viewership. All the best.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Sorry, I don't believe it's streaming anywhere. That's the company's policy, and I know we've gotten used to being able to check things out before we buy them. But back in the day unless it was a hit on the radio, I bought lots of music with fingers crossed.

[@garyalexander5686]

The name of the Argentinian group is Sera una Noche. As far as I know their only album available on Qobuz is "La Segunda". The other is Noga Erez. The album Steve mentions is available on Qobuz.

[@chrish.4067]

​​@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac I bought many albums too back in the day because of a catchy title or a cool album cover. I still have fun playing the Soul Finger album that you recommended Steve! Many other of your recommendations are on my favorite list. I sold my CD transport, yep, keeping my vinyl rig. I'm spoiled by qobuz and Tidal. For me the streaming musical tone is about 95% of CD quality. Steve, I will send you any of my CDs that you like. Ask and I will send a craigslist link. Thank you too Gary Alexander, I got the one song by Una Arez and the other album by Sera Una Noche and of course the Righteous Brothers tune.

[@mikedambrosio1578]

How is it my discontinued $35 Google Chromecast Audio using the built-in dac can make my entire system sound so fantastic?

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Magic!

[@dilbyjones]

Drooling

[@palmal3542]

So...the digital side is identical between your DACs? So the analogue side is adding distortion in the form of EQ lift on your more expensive DAC?

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

The transport remain the same for each comparison, but the "D" of each AC was different.

[@markmcminn5100]

I dropped out at the price....... I'm a sub

[@-syN]

Steve, are those the 4" GIK panels behind you? I'm thinking about the 2" for behind my couch. Do you think that should be enough? Thanks

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Whole wall if possible 😊

[@Harrisongrey19]

@@CarlVanDoren61wrong

[@dougg1075]

That is a cool song. Views

[@carlosbauza1139]

Translation: "It will happen one night", or "It will be one night".

[@vincentwerner4856]

Not only the tubes are nos, so is the AD chip! Hence only max 24/192 PCM.

[@particularlynothing]

Yep. A calculated risk.

[@rap-soldier2185]

Like Linear tube audi Micro ZOTL 2-3 -no copasisters -like David Berning. - The bifrost as a cheap dac goes well -LLA SABRE-ES9038 = BEST DAC CHIP -

[@rmzidann]

$3900, may I suggest a Musical Paradise tube DAC… you can change to Miflex copper caps. It has lots of potential for upgrades and you still will end up spending less than $2K.

[@1christian1sonne1]

The Mola Mola :-)

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

You can also use 5692 and 12SX7........or 6CG7/6FQ7 with an adapter socket . Balanced output ok .............balanced circuit no no , for me SE circuit is more musical , ( No two active devices are dynamicaly totaly identical ) and has lower information loss/deformation , besides that balanced circuits may be more silent than most , BUT a good designed PS and design will be as good . There's no need for two tubes unless one triode is used in each tube .......or the output triode is cathode coupled .( more components = more loss )

[@erichamlin2826]

Good news! The extremely clever topology of the I/V stage produces both inverting and non-inverting signals by its nature (without resorting to an additional DAC chip, digital signal inversion, or any additional processing at all - the AD1865 output undergoes current-to-voltage conversion and both resulting signals for each channel are then routed through the single-ended ZOTL output. None of the typical, cure-worse-than-the-disease processes needed.

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

Mine have thirty years of usage ( 6CG7 nos ...1992-2024 ) ..........no need to change them yet.

[@willmac5642]

a grand more than i can afford sadly.

[@elgingaragegym]

Used 🤣... You can absolutely get one down the road.

[@Ian-wh8ut]

Heavy Air!

[@rhwinner]

My 401K is giving me weird, sideways glances....

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Ha!!

[@jacobpaternostro9109]

🤙🏼

[@yippie6862]

$4000 direct! Has about $600 worth of parts. Add R&D costs. They could sell it and make a profit at $2000.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

If you don't think it's worth it, fine. But your math for the cost of staying in business leaves out little things like renting a factory space, paying your employees a living wage, marketing in the form of audio shows. That adds up to a lot of money. Especially if you want to build it in the USA, and so many of you guys get pissed off when it's made in China! So there you go, lots of DACs on the market, pick one.

[@yippie6862]

​@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac. I just think there is a lot of price gouging going on in high-end audio. I'm not preventing anyone from spending $4,000 on this DAC. It's just my opinion that it seems overpriced.

[@xeniavader]

I agree it's very expensive but when I've dropped down to cheaper DACs I could absolutely hear the difference. I'm talking double blinded to minimize bias. I wanted the cheaper dacs to be as good or better!!!

[@elgingaragegym]

​​@@yippie6862The whole price vs performance debate is truly an exercise of diminishing return. My car goes 0 to 60 and 3 seconds, but if I want one that goes 2.5 seconds I have to spend an extra 50k. Now that doesn't seem worth it to me. But my Gustard R26 with LHY Master Clock is a great sounding R2R DAC and preamp all coming in at around 2k total. I'm absolutely interested in doing an A/B comparison of these two items. But again even if the Arro is better, it's going to cost at least 150% the price of a slightly lower performing DAC. As for my CEN.Gramd DSD Deluxe another 2k above the Aero, and Tambaqui another 5k above that. So my point is 10% bumps in performance or niche features will run you 1.5-2 times premium. I've have around 7 DAC's from $500-12k and absolutely shop within your budget, it's what will ultimately make you the happiest with your purchase, but just like with any technology driven hobby... A little costs a lot and if you have a price point, no amount of performance is going move you enough to change your mind. I had my "OMG" moment going from my Gustard (1.5k) to a Musetec 005 (3.5k), and at that point I realized if I want that noticable level of "wow" factor I'll probably have to spend double that again... And I did... The Cen.Grand Deluxe... And Double that again... Tambaqui. But I do listen with an open mind and wallet 🤣

[@kenwk2283]

This is basic supply and demand. If overpriced then there is no demand. Not everything is about part costs.

[@johnlaser9965]

MQA is a thing of the past now and being dropped by Tidal etc.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

It's not dead, Lenbrook, the Canadian distributor bought MQA. I'm guessing they spent the money because they have away of making a profit, that's how business works.

[@johnlaser9965]

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac Well Tidal dropped it. And it has never really been popular with good FLAC considered to be better.

[@jlo8775]

No DSD…immediately dead in the water.

[@ora600]

Steve, check out the news - MQA is gone, FLAC files is the way to go for Tidal. No more MQA.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Not so fast, Lenbrook bought MQA. So there's a chance it will pop up somewhere, I doubt they would spend the money if they didn't see Future in MQA.

[@ora600]

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac Thanks for your comment, Steve. Tidal stops using MQA starting from 24th of July, so it will take some time for new owner of MQA technology to slide it into some sort of steaming service. The fact that Tidal is offloading MQA damages the brand of MQA technology so much so it will be hard to re-adopt it. IMHO. Steve, I forgot to say - thank you for reviewing LTA DAC - I was wondering what would you think about this new creation by LTA. Cheers!

[@agentred8732]

Only $3950?

[@johnolson4977]

And you can’t here the humidity in the air on the recording 😂😂😂

[@mkwilson38]

Money is all relative to the buyer…. But yes, a DAC of this nice quality for “only” 3950, is pretty good. Context can be, like some with 10k amp, etc, he’s saying it can fit in there and perform well.

[@johnolson4977]

@@mkwilson38 but it can reveal the humid air Steve is talking about in the recording

[@mkwilson38]

@@johnolson4977 the thing is, some of us actually understand his comment there. I knew he was gonna get crap for that line here in the comments, even though lots of seasoned ‘philes know what he’s trying to convey.

[@jondu-sud274]

Fully agree : It's just a word to convey a feeling, I understood what he was feeling through the word he used

[@BunyanAndrew-f9n]

Isaiah Gateway

[@soundhead18]

Tidal got rid of MQA

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Lenbrook, the Canadian distributor bought MQA, I have a feeling MQA will show up somewhere else. We'll see. I personally don't care, never liked MQA.

[@soundhead18]

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac along with the MQA songs changing to FLAC, Tidal is getting rid of 360 Audio and switching fully to Dolby Atmos. The email about the changes was sent out yesterday. I’m just glad I don’t have to worry about a dac the can decode MQA anymore. But now that more options are on the table, it will be harder to choose which one is best for me.

[@johnvincent4048]

I listened to Noga Erez-Kids Against the Machine. I had to listen to Dave Brubeck-Time Out to get my ears straighten out. Noga is not for me.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Hey, at least you tried!

[@johnvincent4048]

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac I did try. When it comes to audio gear and music your opinions and advice are greatly appreciated. I love your videos and watch often.

[@ThomasW.Insall]

What you are basically inferring is that tubes so distort the sound that they mask and change the sound into something acceptable. Be the sound be good or bad digital and there fore it must be said that tubes also distort all sounds to make us believe the sound is better be it good analog or bad analog. Maybe its not the tubes at all but the digital circuits are doing all the heavy lifting to make the sound better and the tubes add just a bit of frosting on top to make the sound palatable to our ears. Either way tubes are distorting the sound.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Everything distorts the sound, I have yet to hear a system that perfectly reproduces the sound of an orchestra, rock band, or jazz group. Not even close to the sound of the real thing, so by your definition they were all distorting the sound. Solid state, tubes, analog, digital. They're all imperfect, we each choose the flavors we like best.

[@davido4872]

A 40 yr. old chip for top dollar. Great value 🙄

[@artyfhartie2269]

No such thing as digital audio. All audio is analogue. Digital is just the processing of audio signals. Audio signals are enhanced to correct clocking and timing errors and converted to analogue sine wave audio signals. The final product is basically enhanced electronic sounds divorced from the original source. Clear, high resolution, crisp, robotic Like processed meat

[@elgingaragegym]

Then what would you analogize to our hearing? Analog sound waves being transduced through air into vibration against organic membrane and conducted through tissues and then infantasmally small cells through sodium and potassium channels as electrical energy potential then transduced through fibrous nervous tissue, only to then be decoded in our large dense brains and processed as sound. It's all a little relative when digital devices now can "make" sounds the same way we hear sound. Electric energy then being transduced and transformed into sound (synthesizer, etc), which then becomes analog, to then go back again. We're not analog or digital is all I'm saying.

[@artyfhartie2269]

@@elgingaragegym The human ears can only hear sound waves. Not binary digits.

[@Atheistic007]

First

[@cgleisberg3355]

I,am sure.. my home theater processor EMOTIVA RMC-1 sound better and decode DOLBY ATMOS.. exterior dac are pure overpriced scam

[@cool3rking]

🙄

[@WhiteRvssian2023]

Too few inputs to be practical. Too limited. The tubes are in the analogue part of the dac, which doesn't make much difference to the sound of the thing.. DAC chip is mweh and the and the price is idiotic for what you get. You mighht as well buy a vinyl turntable or a dog. Or whatever. The only reason people think this kind of gear sounds better, is explained by Festinger in his theory of cognitive dissonance.

[@saint6563]

LOL The analog output of any DAC is what shapes the sound. It's like saying tubes in a preamp are useless.

[@elgingaragegym]

Yeah, changing an analog output does have an audible and measurable difference, the former more important. DAC chip implementation aside, I have numerous ESS sabre DAC and the chip sets are sometimes the same and even in different number and they sound different. Amps and tubes the same. The price/value vs opportunity cost of what else you can do with your money debate is always a subjective one, just like what we as listeners "like" to listen too. Keep an open mind and whenever you can try and return an item I would absolutely encourage you to do so. You might be surprised.

[@davidcarr2216]

DACs are supposed to be completely transparent in the signal path, ie not supposed to do this, and sound like this etc. Stevie needs to go back to school ..... if he ever went.

[@noone-cf2zo]

Hi, can you provide a link for Sera una noche LP?

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Google MA recordings, and then on the site look through their CDs.

[@aiyimaaudio8133]

May we have your contact details, please? We would like to exchange knowledge about amplifiers with you. Like to hear some professional advice from you.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Professional advice is not something I offer