John Darko
The 9000N (€2799) from Audiolab is a full-width hi-fi component that works as a network streamer, DAC and (optionally) digital pre-amplifier. Its name and industrial design put it next to the DAC-loaded 9000A integrated amplifier and drawer-enabled 9000CDT CD transport in Audiolab’s flagship range.
On the back panel, we find a choice of analogue balanced XLR and single-ended RCA outputs; coaxial and TOSLINK outputs for outboard DACs; USB-A to play files directly from USB storage devices; USB-B to decode audio coming from PCs and Macs; coaxial (for CD transports) and TOSLINK (for TV hook-ups). Ethernet or wi-fi juices the 9000N with streamed audio.
Converting incoming digital signals to analogue is a DAC circuit built around an ESS ES9038PRO chip. Would-be chip-spotters note: that DAC circuit’s sound quality will be determined as much – if not more – by the power supply that feeds it and the analogue output stage that follows it.
The 9000N’s 4.3″ colour screen isn’t touch-enabled – so there’s no native Apple Music support on offer – but readers are urged to consider the true value of touchscreens before clicking away / thumping the table. I suspect a touchscreen’s appeal is more emotional than logical. It’s another example of audiophile catnip: a feature that shouts loudly whilst saying very little. File next to DSD and bit-perfect playback, both of which are also supported by the 9000N.
The closest streaming DAC rival to the Audiolab and currently residing with me in Berlin is the Eversolo DMP-A8 (€1980). Both streaming DACs are made in China: Audiolab has been owned and managed by the International Audio Group for the last twenty years. The 9000N is the best made of the two. Its chassis feels more solid in the hand and its volume wheel is more satisfying to turn. And I can tell you right now that the 9000N sounds more refined and fleshier than the Eversolo DMP-A8, just as we might expect when eye-ing the price delta. And I am telling you this right now because I didn’t buy the 9000N to go pixel-peeping on its micro-dynamic avidity, clarity or (ahem) ‘musicality’. My coverage will examine one specific aspect of the Audiolab’s streaming capabilities.
The 9000N lets us stream music via Apple AirPlay 2 (lossy audio alert!), Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Roon Readiness. Qobuz and Tidal support are also baked into the 9000N’s dedicated iOS/Android app but I pity Qobuz users: the app works flawlessly but the quality of its UI is to app design what the 9000N’s IR wand is to physical remote controls: Dad-friendly and functional but free of any visual elegance or flair:
For our purposes today, we need to use the Audiolab app only once: to log in to Plex. The 9000N is the second network streamer in the world to support Plexamp, which was previously the preserve of the more committed Raspberry Pi enthusiast. Lumin then added Plexamp to its D2 streamer before being tapped by Audiolab to port its Linux OS to the 9000N. Plexamp is important because it underpins a $0 alternative to Roon.
We must first distinguish between Plex and Plexamp. Plex is the name of the ecosystem and the server software that 1) manages the music library and 2) streams content to the Plexamp app. Plex’s server software adds cover art and metadata to better organise the music library and make it more readily searchable from within Plexamp. Plexamp is therefore the streaming client and – as we shall see – a remote control. Roon users should look at it this way: Plex behaves like Roon Core and Plexamp does the job of Roon Remote and Roon ARC rolled in a single app.
I have a Western Digital MyCloud NAS device in my kitchen that stores approximately 3TB of FLAC files. I’ve been building this library since 2003. The Plex server software runs on that NAS, scanning it every 24 hours for new music.
We don’t have to use a NAS to host Plex’s server software. Any PC or Mac will do – it’ll even run on a Raspberry Pi – but I choose the MyCloud NAS because of its installable Plex server module. One click and I’m off to the country fair: Plex when paired with Plexamp turns my NAS into my private streaming service.
Let me explain.
A Telekom Electronic Beats YouTube video recently put me onto a terrific 90s ambient techno EP from an artist called Convextion. The EP is called R-CNVX2 but it’s not on any streaming service and has never been issued on CD. Vinyl copies used to sell for funny money on Discogs but a recent reissue has tempered that headache…for now. I bought the FLACs from Bandcamp and dropped them onto my Plex-enabled NAS. Plex then sees this EP as something that can be streamed to Plexamp no matter where I am in the world: when I pop up the road for a coffee or when I’m in Portugal for the winter. I can even minimise mobile data usage by downloading the EP’s four tracks inside the Plexamp app before I leave the house. Plexamp lets us select the data rates for streaming and downloads independently — I opt for 320kbps for mobile streaming but the original quality for downloads.
Now comes the kicker.
We can also use Plexamp at home. One instance of Plexamp can hand off its audio stream to another instance of Plexamp running on the same network – a bit like Spotify Connect. We can go phone to phone, phone to Macbook, phone to iPad, Macbook to phone, iPad to Phone, phone to Audiolab or iPad to Audiolab. Plexamp on my smartphone (or iPad) can request a music stream from the Plex server – the NAS in my kitchen – and then hand off that stream to Plexamp running on the Audiolab 9000N.
Note: the Audiolab version of Plexamp is what we call “headless”. It has no user interface and runs as an invisible Plexamp receiver. We only learn of its existence when listing endpoints inside Plexamp’s Android/iOS app. So, if we pull up our phone (or tablet), fire up Plexamp, hit play and then select the 9000N as the destination device, the music will be handed off to the Audiolab whose display shows us ‘now playing’ information albeit in a chaotic manner: covert art, artist, song, file format and file resolution.
Unlike Apple AirPlay 2, the music keeps playing if we walk the source smartphone out of the house or turn it off. In fact, any instance of Plexamp running on the same network can remotely control the music being sent by the Plex server to the Audiolab 9000N. And unlike Chromecast – now called Google Cast and not supported by the Audiolab – Plexamp playback is gapless. And hi-rezzers rejoice: according to the display screen on the Audiolab 9000N, Plexamp is also bit-perfect: a 16bit/44.1kHz stream arrives as 16bit/44.1kHz and a 24bit/192kHz stream as 24bit/192kHz.
My video about Plexamp and the Audiolab 9000N (among other endpoints) is currently in the planning stages and will drop in the next few weeks.
Further information: Audiolab | Plexamp
