Hapa Aero Review
Sorry for the delay getting this review posted. Thanks to Jason and Sebastien for my prolonged listening session!
Before I start let me say I think all components including cables are system, room, and listener dependent.
I’ve had this cable for some time now and enjoyed listening through it in my system. Right up front I’ll say this cable gets out of the way and provides excellent frequency response and an ease that makes forgetting it is there easy to do. The Aero is well built and beautiful to look at.
My system:
Router to Cat6 to
English Electric Ethernet switch to
Network Acoustics ENO Ethernet filter to
Innuos Zenith MK3 to
Network Acoustics USB cable to
Mojo Audio Mystique EVO B4B with upgrades to
McCormack LD-2 with SMc Audio Gold Special upgrade to
SMc Audio GT-21 with outboard SMc Audio Power Block.
Interconnects are DIY Helix using Neotech PC-OCC bare solid core copper in larger diameter Teflon tubes for positive and larger gauge Neotech PC-OCC in Teflon for negative With KLE RCAs.
Speaker cables are Neotech PC-OCC bare solid core copper in larger diameter Teflon tubes for positive and mil-spec wire for negative with Furutech Rhodium spades.
Power cords are built the same as speaker cable with various Oyaide connectors.
P.I. Audio Uberbuss for conditioning.
Speakers are Tekton Audio Ulfberht with DIY upgraded outboard crossovers.
Music I used for comparison:
Dirty Loops, “Hit Me”
Billie Eilish, “everything i wanted”
Donald Fagen, “Miss Marlene”
Dua Lipa, “Don’t Start Now”
Loreena McKennitt, “Caravanserai”
Donald Fagen, “Security Joan”
Sarah Jarosz, “Orange and Blue”
Steely Dan, “Gaslighting Abbie”
I had a chance to compare the Aero with some other cables. First was a Supra USB 2.0. No contest here. The Supra sells for about $50 and it shows against the Aero. I want to say that the Supra doesn’t suck and was my first USB purchase. While not up to the Aero standards, I was able to listen to it with no problems while trying other cables.
Second cable was an Audiocadabra Xtrimus Solid-Silver SuperQuiet. Still no contest but the Audiocadabra is a major bang for the buck. At $139 it did not embarrass itself. If I had a modest system and wanted a very good USB cable, the Audiocadabra would be my pick. Once you have major bucks tied up in a system, the Aero will show you what it can do.
Third cable was a Network Acoustics ENO USB. Now the competition gets tougher. This cable when I bought it was slightly north of $800. I had been listening to the ENO in my system for about six months and was very used to it. Wide frequency response, dynamic, spatial, smooth, and with an ease that made listening very comfortable. When I replaced it with the Aero I heard all the same qualities with subtle differences. I took me a while to sort out the differences between them. A quick A/B didn’t do the trick. The differences were small but in a revealing system over a period of time, they showed themselves and became important differences. The ENO cable was ever so slightly better at imaging, mainly in the midrange where vocals and instruments had a bit more distance front to back and side to side. When I say slightly, I had to listen for hours to catch on. On the other hand, the Aero was a little more coherent from top to bottom with tighter bass and silkier highs. I’m very sensitive to sibilance and the Aero was better. Bass had a bit more punch with the Aero and seemed to go a bit deeper. In terms of ease, the Aero pulled ahead I think because of its smoother coherence from top to bottom.
There you have it! The Aero is a tip top USB cable that should be on your short list.