Audiolab

9000N Streamer

£2,499

Meet Audiolab's brand new flagship streamer, part of the company's premium 9000 range, which also includes a CD transport and integrated amplifier. Available in black or silver, it's the fruit of over three years of intensive research and development with the luminaries at Lumin.

It's a clean-looking design that's controlled via an app from a smartphone or tablet, so the front panel is simple with just a couple of rotary knobs (a selector and volume control) and a high-quality 4.2-inch colour display. It's Spotify, TIDAL, and Qobuz compatible, Roon-ready and supports Plex.

The 9000N crunches PCM at up to 32-bit/768kHz and native DSD at up to 22.5MHz (DSD512) via Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or USB. It handles FLAC, Apple Lossless (ALAC), WAV, and AIFF, alongside native DSD in DSF and DIFF form, plus DoP (DSD over PCM). MQA is also well supported, with full decoding/upsampling to the format's highest 384kHz specification.

Lower resolution PCM audio can be upsampled to 352.8kHz or 384kHz, with five filter settings to tune the sound to suit the source material. The built-in DAC is an ESS ES9038PRO chip, an upgraded version of the 32-bit Hyperstream DAC with Time Domain Jitter Eliminator. The Pro designation indicates it's an eight-channel device intended for high-end applications. Audiolab uses all of these here in a balanced stereo configuration to reduce noise and distortion – four each for the left and right channels.

Connectivity is good but not great. The 9000N sports a USB-B input plus a USB-A socket for firmware updates. Coaxial and optical S/PDIF digital outputs are fitted, but there are no such digital inputs. Given that Audiolab makes a matching CD transport – the 9000CDT – I found this omission disappointing. Audiolab sees the latter being partnered by the DAC in the 9000A amp (as pictured above). Doing this should deliver better sound quality due to a shorter analogue signal path rather than using the DAC in the 9000N. Maybe, but having a coaxial digital in would still have been useful.

Interestingly, there's no Bluetooth or Chromecast connectivity either, although Apple Airplay 2 is offered. Audiolab believes that the former's performance limitations make it inappropriate for a premium-quality streamer such as the 9000N. For analogue outputs, there is a choice of single-ended RCA phono sockets or balanced XLRs. I chose the latter, as this delivers better sound.

Build quality and finish are superb for the money. The 9000N has an attractively understated appearance that looks classy. It feels more substantial than many streamers, in no small way thanks to its 6.2kg kerb weight. It proved straightforward to set up, and the instructions are helpful with the inclusion of diagrams and illustrations. The 4.2-inch screen is excellent and superior even to my reference Auralic Altair G2.1, which is half as expensive again as the 9000N. Information is displayed in large, easy-to-see letters with bright colours. The volume control goes from 0dB (2.05V maximum output) to -72dB in 1dB steps. The Audiolab app is fine, but not quite up to that of the pricier Auralic.

The Audiolab offers a choice of five anti-aliasing filters, comprising Linear Phase (fast roll-off), Linear Phase (slow roll-off), Minimum Phase (fast roll-off), Minimum Phase (slow roll-off) and Hybrid (slow roll-off). The default setting is Linear Phase (fast roll-off), but the fourth filter, Minimum Phase (slow roll-off), gives the crispest and most focused sound to my ears. Broadly speaking, the sound grows increasingly immediate as you scroll through the filters from top to bottom. The two Linear Phase variants and Hybrid are smoother and less sharp than my preferred one, the fourth. As with all such filters, it's ultimately down to personal taste and the system you're using.

THE LISTENING

The 9000N sounds exceptionally natural and true, as though you're hearing music with nothing added or taken away. It really is very clean sounding, with a welcome lack of tonal hardness and glare. Using the Minimum Phase (slow roll-off) filter offers a potent mix of kick-ass immediacy and subtle delicacy – the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, if you please. Results were impressively purposeful, the sound being solid and taut, with a firm sense of focus. Yet it was refined, sweet, and beguiling, too.

For example, playing Charlotte Hu's Liszt recital on Pentatone, the piano was full-bodied and crisp. The first piece, The Fountains at the Villa d'Este, suggests splashing water with lots of trills. Accordingly, the 9000N delivered a bright and clear sparkling piano tone, one that was crisp, articulate and flowing. Valentin Silvestrov's Postludium for piano and orchestra on Naxos demonstrated how firm and solid this streamer can be, with impressive authority. Those crashing bass drum rolls had imposing depth and sonority, while the piano sounded limpid and pure. With Bach's Cantata 131 Aus der Tieffen, directed by Philippe Pierlot on Mirare, solo voices had a natural timbre that sounded authentic. Clarity and separation were so good that I assumed it must be a hi-res stream, but it proved to be good old 16-bit 44.1kHz.

The 9000N was capable of holding its own against my Auralic Altair G2.1 reference despite the considerable price gap. Indeed, it was often slightly superior regarding clarity and separation between individual instruments and voices. However, the sonic differences between both streamers seemed less pronounced using Audiolab's filters 1, 2, 3 and 5. I tried Auralic's selection of filters, hoping one might sound like the Audiolab on filter 4. My usual filter choice is Smooth, but there's also Balance, Dynamic, and Precise. Yet no matter which Auralic filter I tried, the 9000N was slightly more focused and organic, with cleaner separation and crisper dynamics. Acoustic instruments such as violins enjoyed a sweet, open, woody timbre.

The 9000N adds very little digital grunge of its own and sounds clean and refined – as if less tainted by electronic glare. Of course, bowed string instruments can be grainy and edgy in real life, but any roughness you hear live has a different quality to the fuzziness imparted by electronics. An instrument which really highlights this is the harpsichord. It produces lots of overtones and third harmonics, which can create a sense of roughness and congestion, especially on dense chords. Yet the Audiolab was exceptionally clean on harpsichord recordings, which are a real litmus test.

I heard similar clarity playing older rock and pop recordings, which resulted in less congestion, roughness, smearing, and coarseness. The first track, Watch That Man, from David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album – the 2013 remaster in 24-bit/196kHz – illustrated this perfectly. While some tracks on this album sound good, the opener is a stinker. Compressed and clogged, it has no space around voices and instruments. Bowie's vocals are backwardly mixed, and lashings of harmonic distortion from fuzzy guitars create a muddy sound.

I bought Aladdin Sane on vinyl way back in 1973 and immediately judged Watch That Man to be the worst recording I had ever heard. But from this coarse, foggy, sonic pea-souper, the 9000N delivered surprising clarity and order without adding any nasties of its own. Reduced congestion made it easier to follow the individual parts and savour more of Mick Ronson's stellar guitar work. The Audiolab seemed to improve clarity without increasing harshness. My reference Auralic also sounded good but not quite as clean.

Playing Frank Sinatra underscored the 9000N's excellent reproduction of vocals, which sounded rich, smooth and fluid. His voice was clearly defined, yet it was also easy to follow backing vocals and instruments. And Then Again by the Bill Charlap Trio on Blue Note has abrupt, snappy timing and explosive piano, bass, and drums dynamics. This sounded terrific and was another 16/44 stream that fooled me into thinking it was hi-res. Outstanding transient attack gave the drums a thrilling immediacy. Cymbals shimmered with a clean, crisp strike as wood touched metal. The piano had a tactile, crystalline brilliance.

All this poise and detail is very addictive, but this streamer's greatest strength is how it finds musical narratives while conveying changing moods and emotions. It engages your feelings and draws you into the music. Its absence of annoying nasties lets you sit back, relax, and enjoy the music. It is informative yet always easy on the ear. Its combination of crisp attack, smooth-flowing mellifluousness, and lack of congestion ensures you're both soothed and stimulated.

THE VERDICT

Audiolab's new flagship 9000N streamer is a real class act, then. It boasts excellent functionality and decent connectivity – although I'd have loved a coaxial digital input – plus excellent sound that's as good as or better than any streamer I've heard at or near its price. The app is good, too, although it can't quite match the brilliance of the Auralics – few can, in my view.

Overall, this new product is a great argument for people to take up streaming if they haven't already. Many prospective purchasers considering this product will already have Audiolab separates, so it's a perfect machine for them—but it's also ideal for those seeking a high-quality standalone design. This new Audiolab really is rather special, and I would call it a game-changer at the price.

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