Blurring the lines that generally differentiate hi-fi and lifestyle, Omnia brings all of the pedigree that helps make audiolab electronics the connoisseur’s choice. Yet, indulgence in design, material aesthetics, and useability mean it has all of the functionality to make it a sleek, convenient and easy-to-use center-piece, for an uncompromising home audio system.
Extremely robust and reliable; the Omnia’s CD drive builds on the class-leading 6000CDT CD transport with a read-ahead digital buffer to reduce disc-reading failures. Such is the performance of this CD mechanism, Omnia is able to play scratched and damaged CDs that are unreadable by conventional mechanisms.
Utilising high-quality analogue preamp circuitry, akin to the acclaimed audiolab 6000 series, coupled to line-level RCA inputs to connect analogue sources, the preamp circuitry is kept as simple as possible. Using high-quality components to maintain signal purity, with line input signals passing to a precision analogue volume stage, Omnia is an outstanding pre-amp, in its own right.
A dedicated MM phono input means a turntable can be directly connected to Omnia via a high-quality, low-noise, phono stage with precise RIAA equalisation. This phono stage is continue evolution on the award winning 6000 series – engineered to make the most of the music nestling within an LP’s grooves.
For networked audio playback, the audiolab Omnia is equipped with an ethernet port, lending itself to a wired connection and the wider bandwidth requirements of high-resolution digital audio.
For the most convenient access to wireless music playback, Omnia offers Bluetooth connectivity with high-quality, low latency, with the Bluetooth aptX standard.
The Omnia’s Wi-Fi networking is powered by DTS Play-Fi: an app-controlled platform enabling high-quality, whole-home wireless audio, capable of streaming hi-res music up to 24-bit/192kHz and supported by a greater range of established audio brands than any other wireless platform.
The USB DAC section is based upon audiolab’s long-term partner, and multi-award-winning, pedigree. The new ESS9038 Q2M SABRE 32 Reference DAC performs D/A conversion, utilising ESS Technology’s 32-bit HypersStream II architecture and Time Domain Jitter Eliminator to deliver ultra-low noise and high dynamic range.
No company knows more about making the most of this technically excellent, but challenging, DAC technology than audiolab; the universally acclaimed M-DAC was one of the first home audio components to incorporate an ESS chip back in 2011, and the company has been honing its implementation ever since.
Via the USB DAC section, the audiolab Omnia also offers full decoding of MQA (Master Quality Authenticated). MQA is an award-winning British technology that delivers the sound of the original master recording. The Omnia includes MQA decoder technology, which enables you to play back MQA audio files and streams – received via the USB input – at the original file’s full resolution and passes the signal through its DAC and preamp stages. MQA files are available via subscription to TIDAL’s ‘HiFi’ tier (among other sources).
Firmly planting itself as a very useable piece of high-tech equipment, the audiolab Omnia makes use of a colour IPS LCD display, offering a higher clarity of colour and lower power consumption than TFT displays. Via the captivating display, the audiolab Omnia offers a simplified general user interface and a graphical integration with your music source and playback formats. It also uses a brand new protocol for a real-time VU meter display, adding a touch of hi-fi finesse to the very functional, equally good-looking, display interface.
Further to this, the audiolab Omnia is also Roon tested, thus opening up to the world of Roon. Roon’s fundamental goal is to provide a consistently stellar user experience. This goal doesn’t stop at the software… the experience extends all the way down to the audio playback hardware, regardless of manufacturer. As a Roon Tested partner, audiolab has provided equipment to Roon for testing with a variety of different operating systems and computers and shared information about its design and capabilities. We have a direct relationship with Roon and in many cases, the Roon support team has our devices on hand, so you can confidently choose to use audiolab hardware with Roon.
Roon transforms the experience of browsing music. Artist photos, credits, bios, reviews, lyrics, tour dates, and composers are located automatically, then interconnected by links to build a surfable, searchable digital magazine about your collection.
And Roon finds all the same links between your personal files and the millions of tracks available on TIDAL, so you can start with the music you know, then explore and discover new music from the world beyond your collection.
In addition to music browsing, Roon is a multi-room, multi-user networked audio platform built to the exacting standards of audiophiles. It offers features like bit-perfect playback, DSD and PCM upsampling, multichannel playback, and signal path display.
The Omnia incorporates a dedicated headphone amp with current-feedback circuitry. Its gain bandwidth and high slew rate ensure a dynamic, detailed and engaging performance with all manner of headphone types – more boxes ticked for this most all-in-one of all-in-one systems!
Powering your speakers is a doddle with zero complexity, in terms of configuration. Simply connect your passive speakers to the audiolab Omnia and you have access to a world of audio sources with impeccable playback.
The discrete Class AB power amp stage delivers 50W per channel into 8 ohms, with a maximum current delivery of 9 Amps, into difficult loads. The output stage of the discrete power amp circuits uses a CFB (Complementary Feedback) topology, ensuring superior linearity and excellent thermal stability, as the idle current is kept independent of the temperature of the output transistors. A substantial 200VA toroidal transformer, followed by 4×15,000uF reservoir capacity (60,000uF in total), helps the amp to maintain firm control of the music whilst enabling excellent dynamic range. More than just a class-leader, the Omnia is a class-beater in terms of amplifier performance!
