I hope my enjoyment of the Linear Tube Audio Aero converter came across as strongly as I felt it. This is not a DAC for everybody. It won't do gut-socking bass or ultimate 3D holography. If that's your poison, look elsewhere. The Aero excels at flow and tonal realism while providing more than enough transparency and dynamics to never make you feel short-changed. It excels on superb acoustic recordings while never turning offensive with older threadbare digital masters. If you own a collection of older DDD discs, it will elevate their enjoyment significantly and give them a new lease on life.

The Aero isn't cheap and omits many of the 'latest' features like +192kHz support and DSD. The latter I missed since I suspect that hearing my high-quality tape transfers in DSD through this DAC would have been delightful. It doesn't do any of those things. And yet… if you hog the sweet spot of its target audience; if you mean for your digital system to render acoustic music as real and lifelike as possible; if you love to venture beyond just the sound of instruments to connect with the musical inspiration of the players… then the Aero is not only for you but I've heard nothing near its price that betters it. If you are at the point of your audio journey where you want to replicate the magic of your analogue rig in digital form, the Aero will be hard to beat. That's the choice to make. You could acquire a great DAC from the likes of Denafrips, Holo or Laiv that is cheaper, more extensively featured and a technically superb performer. But if you desire ultimate intimacy and the insights that come from that; if you want a DAC which, somehow, conjures up life-sounding instruments in your room… then the Aero could easily be your end-of-the-road converter.