“A streaming tour de pressure” is how Audiolab’s is framing its newest product: the 9000N streaming DAC is designed as a companion piece to the UK firm’s 9000CDT CD transport and 9000A built-in amplifier (however it can after all perform as supposed with any loudspeaker amplifier).
From the highest: the 9000N’s Linux-based streaming system runs on an ARM Cortex-A53 processor to assist Roon Prepared, Spotify Join, Tidal Join, Apple AirPlay 2 in addition to its personal UPnP-based app, which hearsay has it was developed in collaboration with high-end streaming pioneers Lumin. The multi-source playlist creation is a useless giveaway! Streaming may be executed over wi-fi or Ethernet.
Hello-res assist within the 9000N goes all the way in which out to 32bit/768kHz for PCM and DSD512 for DSD with choices for 352.8kHz or 384kHz upsampling and 5 DAC filters (2x linear section, 2x minimal section, 1x hybrid). MQA can also be supported regardless of its deprecated standing on Tidal’s ‘Hifi Plus’ tier.
The interior DAC is constructed across the higher-quality ESS 9030PRO chip (and never the Q2M) with its eight decoder channels break up 4 per aspect. Nonetheless, the press launch fairly rightly stresses the way it’s not solely the chip that makes or breaks the sound of a D/A converter however its implementation:
“Though all the time technically wonderful, Sabre DAC chips are difficult to implement to most impact and should be built-in right into a product’s circuit design with care to extract their full sonic potential. The post-DAC lively filter is a essential factor and Audiolab has developed a brand new Class A circuit for its 9000 Sequence parts that’s completely tailor-made to benefit from the ES9038PRO.”
One such tailoring is the DAC part’s devoted energy provide that makes use of “a number of discrete ultra-low-noise regulators to supply energy individually to the left and proper channels for every stage of the digital-to-analogue conversion course of”.
Audiolab’s engineering group has additionally paid consideration to the post-DAC analogue stage which is a balanced design that goals to take down noise and distortion earlier than exiting through XLR sockets on the rear panel. Single-ended RCA outputs are additionally obtainable and each units of analogue outputs may be attenuated by the entrance panel quantity management.
While we’re speaking connectivity, the 9000N sports activities a USB-A port to stream from a instantly hooked up storage machine (utilizing the aforementioned provided app) and a USB-B port for hooking up a Mac, PC or Pi. Coaxial and TOSLINK outputs current for these already in possession of an outboard DAC.
Again on the entrance, two rotaries – ‘choose’ and ‘quantity’ – assist management the settings displayed on the 9000N’s 4.3inch IPS LCD display. That’s the identical display sort we discover on the 9000A and 9000CDT however right here it’s used to show, amongst different issues, cowl artwork, pattern fee, bit fee, quantity and a progress bar.
The 9000N shall be obtainable through Audiolab’s supplier community later this month and can promote for £2499 within the UK, US$3499 within the USA and €2799 within the EU. Your alternative of black or silver.
Additional info: Audiolab
