Audiolab - streaming

This unit is a very cost effective way to step into the world of streaming audio. The 6000N Play can be connected to any audio system. Utilising the DTS Play-Fi wireless audio platform means the unit is easy to use. Users can stream from anything they have on their wireless network, even in Hi-Resolution, such as from Smartphones, tablets, PC’s & Macs as well as NAS (Network Attached Storage) drives and music servers. This is enabled through the dual-band, dual-antennae Wi-Fi of the 6000N Play. It can also attach to other Play-Fi equipped devices to allow a fully synchronised multi-room system.

The unit provides access to both subscription streaming and internet radio services including; Spotify, Tidal, HDTracks, Deezer, Qobuz, Amazon Music, Napster and TuneIn, amongst others.



This is a great first step into streaming with exceptional sound quality for what is a very reasonable price.

Audiolab 6000N Play

This streamer is part of the brand new 7000 series, which comprises of the 7000A integrated amplifier, the 7000CDT CD Transport and now the 7000N streamer. All designs build upon the class-leading 6000 series and look particularly striking as a stack.

This range has been designed to sit between the 6000 series and the new 9000 series. It has improved build quality over the 6000 series as well as some technical improvements. This series has a smaller size than the 9000 series, which is a level up in size and build.

Audiolab 7000N Play Streamer

This utilises the DTS Play-Fi platform which gives you access to Spotify, Tidal, HD Tracks, Deezer, Amazon Music, Napster, KKBox and Sirius XM, among others. It also gives access to a myriad of internet radio stations and podcasts, or stream from a DNLA equipped home media server. You can also stream from any source on your wireless network, including smartphones, tablets or PCs as well as a NAS Drive.

The 7000N can connect to your system via the RCA analogue outputs, or via the digital outputs to an external DAC, via Coaxial (our preference) or Optical.

This is a step up sonically from the 6000N Play and does offer a fuller, more hologrpahic sound field. The AirPlay 2 functionality is a real plus for those who use it. It has a much more premium feel to the user experience due to the new screen and GUI.

Audiolab 7000N Play Streamer in silver

Audiolab 7000N Play Streamer in black

This unit takes Audiolab streaming to the next level. It has been the result of over three years of development to bring out a stable, high-res capable, wired or wireless, streaming solution. The inclusion of Lumin technology in this product elevates this unit above the other streamers in the Audiolab range, which use lesser internals and use DTS Play-Fi as the streaming engine.

Accessing the system is via the Audiolab 9000N App, available on Apple or Android devices. This app offers immediate access to Qobuz and Tidal, with full access to hi-res and MQA content, as well as Spotify, TuneIn internet radio and UPnP music server systems and digital audio files stored on USB HDD devices.

The build quality of this unit matches that of the accompanying 9000A integrated amp and 9000CDT CD Transport. The build quality of the 9000 Series is significantly above that of the 7000 Series, the latter though is excellent for the price.

Equipped with rotary controls and an absence of buttons (except for the power switch), the 9000N also implements the 4.3in colour screen, as found in the rest of the 9000 series – the perfect window for presentation for your digital music files - including full-colour album artwork. The screen displays a variety of information in a more visually appealing way than most other streaming devices, many of which have traditionally relied upon the accompanying app for operational feedback and user control and interface. The 9000N’s display offers full menu controls, an array of options, and user settings, including multi-language selection and general display options.

The 9000N can offer differing displays which can present; Format data with resolution, full colour album artwork, or can be set to a VU meter in ‘analogue’ or ‘digital’ formats showing real-time decibel levels for the left and right channels. The display can be dimmed, or turned off completely, if preferred.

Unlike comparable technology from other manufacturers, the 9000N offers wireless playback over a Wi-Fi connection, not solely dependent on the albeit sometimes preferable wired /ethernet connection. This, along with the full album artwork and ESS9038Pro DAC chipset integration, represents several advanced features for the 9000N. This unit is also not limited to the Audiolab 9000N app as the 9000N also offers playback via Airplay II as well as Tidal Connect and Spotify Connect for those who prefer the proprietary streaming service app. The 9000N is also Roon Ready.

The hardware is based upon a Quad Arm® Cortex®-A53 core MCU with 1.8 GHz per Core. This powerful ‘brain’ behind the system ensures seamless, rock-steady operation and additional benefits such as album artwork caching; for faster loading of the accompanying artwork files, thus enhancing the user experience and visual aesthetic.

The 9000N incorporates the ES9038PRO – an eight-channel DAC chip representing the pinnacle of ESS Technology’s current Sabre range. This is accompanied by proprietary circuitry to make the most of the chip’s HyperStream II architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator technology for maximum dynamic range and ultra-low distortion. The post-DAC active filter is a critical element, and Audiolab has developed a new circuit that is perfectly tailored to make the most of the ES9038PRO’s architecture.

The 9000N also delivers the complete ‘three unfold’ decoding process for MQA, which is performed internally, as opposed to just the final unfold in the manner of an MQA ‘renderer’. This makes the 9000N an excellent amplifier for subscribers to Tidal’s ‘HiFi Plus’, where Tidal Masters (MQA) content can be found. We have some reservations about MQA as it does not always deliver as it should but this is an MQA issue. Further MQA info (including MQA Pass Through) can be found in the additional info section below.

We will add our impressions from our more-extensive listening tests in due course, but the initial pre-launch listen was very positive.

As a standalone MQA full decoder, it can be used with any amplifier or secondary pre-amp system that offers analogue connections. Further magic is employed through the digital output and option ‘MQA Pass through functionality’. For users who may employ an equally powerful DAC (9000A owners, for instance), the 9000N can stream and throughput an untouched MQA signal (from Tidal or Qobuz, for example) which that secondary DAC can then decode. This offers further functionality and versatility, not to mention a totally unadulterated signal flow – a benefit for the purists.

Audiolab 9000N Play Streamer in silver

Audiolab 9000N Play Streamer in black