Audiolab Omnia – The Lifestyle All-in-One Multifunctional System

With the new Audiolab Omnia, Audiolab now wants to present an all-in-one system that is supposed to cover all the needs of a modern hi-fi chain in a single compact device. From streaming and a D/A converter to a CD player and amplifier, everything is combined in one solution.

Audiolab Omnia, this new system is described by Audiolab as nothing less than the all-embracing audio solution, a product that breaks down the boundaries between hi-fi and lifestyle and convinces with flexibility, comfort and high quality. The Audiolab Omnia is an all-in-one system that is aimed at a wide range of customers.

With its elegant design, high-quality materials and careful selection of components, its user-friendliness and equipped with all relevant functions, it is intended to be the elegant, practical and easy-to-use heart of an uncompromising home audio system.

Audiolab Omnia – Elegant, compact design

Of course, the first thing that really stands out is the compact housing with a very appealing design promised by the manufacturer. The new Audiolab Omnia measures no more than 440 mm in width, 327 mm in depth and 156 mm in height and weighs 9.1 kg.

The metal housing has an aluminium front with rounded edges, and the design concept is such that the actual unit seems to float elegantly. Comparatively generous feet and a slightly inwardly offset base create this impression.

Reduced to the essentials

The front is adorned by a very generously dimensioned display, an IPS LC colour display with 4.3 inches and 800 x 480 pixels, which functions as the central control element and provides all relevant information with various display options, but also nice graphic elements such as VU meters.

The display is flanked on the left by the narrow tray of the CD drive, and on the right by some buttons for direct playback control and the main switch.

The rear panel is much more densely populated, as it offers numerous interfaces.

Numerous sources are available

As already described, the new Audiolab Omnia is designed for flexibility, starting with the fact that a wide variety of external sources can be connected. Numerous analogue and digital interfaces are available.

There are three analogue inputs in the form of RCA sockets, a separate phono input, an input marked as a power amplifier for bypassing the preamplifier and thus for implementation in a home cinema system, as well as a preamplifier output.

For digital signals, two optical and two coaxial S/PDIF interfaces are available as inputs, and one optical and one coaxial S/PDIF interface each as outputs. A USB port type B as well as type A must not be missing.

To conclude the list of interfaces, the Audiolab Omnia naturally has an integrated headphone amplifier, which is available via a 6.3 mm jack directly on the front, the speaker systems are connected to the system via solid screw terminals, and the Audiolab Omnia has a 12 V trigger connection for central control in conjunction with other systems.

It should also be mentioned that for streaming – be it Bluetooth 5.0 or WiFi according to IEEE 802.11ac – external antennas are used to guarantee the best possible reception. Of course, the system can also be integrated into the network via an RJ45 Ethernet interface.

Integrated phono preamplifier

First of all, the already mentioned phono preamplifier should be mentioned, which the Audiolab Omnia has ready. This is designed for drives equipped with MM cartridges and is supposed to be based directly on a circuit that was developed for the Audiolab 6000 Series.

The manufacturer promises exact signal processing with precise RIAA equalisation, free of noise.

High-performance CD Drive

The Audiolab Omnia also features an integrated CD drive from the Audiolab 6000 Series. The same CD transport is used as in the Audiolab 6000CDT, and the manufacturer once again promises a particularly precise read-out of the data by means of a read-ahead digital buffer.

Networked Audio Playback – DTS Play-Fi as the Basis for Streaming

The central component of the new Audiolab Omnia is, of course, its integrated streaming client. As with other Audiolab solutions, such as the Audiolab 6000N Play, the company relies on the DTS Play-Fi platform.

For a while, DTS Play-Fi was considered a very important platform, especially in the USA. Numerous manufacturers relied on this solution, which on the one hand allows streaming in various formats of their own content, but also access to various online offers.

The manufacturer lists Amazon Music, Spotify, TIDAL, Napster, Pandora, Qobuz, Deezer and many more, which can be accessed directly with the DTS Play-Fi app for Apple iOS, Google Android, Amazon FireOS and Microsoft Windows. Internet radio can also be used with it.

DTS Play-Fi also allows integration into multi-room audio streaming systems, provided that other solutions based on this platform are available.

Roon Tested and Roon Ready

We would like to point out that the new Audiolab Omnia is Roon-tested and Roon-ready, i.e. you can integrate this solution directly into the software from Roon Labs LLC.

Bluetooth 5.0

As we have already mentioned, the Audiolab Omnia can of course also use smartphones and tablets directly as a source via Bluetooth 5.0, whereby the codecs aptX and aptX LL are supported in addition to SBC and AAC.

Outstanding D/A converter

Whether for streaming via network or Bluetooth, whether audio signals from the integrated CD transport or via the numerous digital inputs, the central signal processing is of course taken over by a D/A converter, whereby an excellent ES9038Q2M 32-bit DAC from the specialist ESS Technology Inc. is used. The 32-bit HypersStream II architecture from ESS Technology Inc. and the so-called Time Domain Jitter Eliminator are supposed to ensure extremely low noise and a high dynamic range.

It is able to process signals in Linear PCM with up to 32 bits and 768 kHz as well as DSD including DSD512, and content encoded in MQA is also supported. The Audiolab Omnia should be able to access content via TIDAL in MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) in the best possible way via MQA decoding.

The full potential of the DAC is, of course, only available when streaming over a network or directly connected to a PC or Mac via USB.

The other digital interfaces – optical and coaxial S/PDIF – are limited to Linear PCM at 24 bit and 192 kHz.

Class AB amplifier

The crowning glory of the Audiolab Omnia’s signal processing is an amplifier in Class AB, which provides an output of 50 watts twice for speaker systems with an impedance of 8 ohms and 75 watts twice for speakers with 4 ohms.

According to the manufacturer, the output stage of the discrete power amplifier circuits uses a so-called CFB topology (Complementary Feedback), which is supposed to guarantee an outstanding linearity and excellent thermal stability, since the quiescent current is kept independent of the temperature of the output transistors.

A 200 VA toroidal transformer combined with a capacitor bank of 4 × 15,000 uF, giving a total of an impressive 60,000uF, is said to ensure that the amplifier has excellent dynamic range.

Black or silver

The new Audiolab Omnia is available in either black or silver. Of course, a matching infrared remote control is included in the delivery.

This new all-in-one will be available in December 2021, the retail price will be € 1,799.

Getting to the point

According to Audiolab, the new Audiolab Omnia is an all-in-one system that meets all the requirements of a modern hi-fi system as an elegant lifestyle solution. A streaming client, a CD player, a DAC and a stereo integrated amplifier are combined in a compact, elegant form, whereby apparently none of the numerous functions have to be compromised in favour of the all-in-one design.