You have a Bluetooth speaker to entertain your guests, but you want something a bit more. You want a true audio setup, and you’re looking for the best solutions out there. Well, you’ll want a quality audio streamer to act as a central hub for your music. One of the best audio streamers on the market just dropped, and it doubles as a DAC. Let us introduce you to the HiFi Rose RS151.
HiFi Rose makes several high-quality audio streamers, DACs, and amplifiers. Being a luxury brand, it’s not as well-known as more average consumer-focused companies. This hidden gem of a company builds audio streamers with notably large front displays that give you a detailed view of the company’s in-house software interface.
One example of its network-connected audio streamers is the HiFi Rose RS250A. It has an 8.8-inch display, and it comes with all of the goodies you’d expect from a streamer that costs $2,695.
However, the star of the show now is the HiFi Rose RS151
The company’s newest flagship audio streamer is now available, and it redefines what a network-connected audio streamer can do. It brings all the goodies you’d expect from a professional-grade audio streamer and adds to them. Obviously, a device this grand will run you back several grand. It costs $4,995 (£4,299/AU$8,154).
Back in 2021, the company released the RS150, so this new version is the direct successor to that streamer. As such, it brings notable improvements in this iteration of the device. The improvements start with the new processor.
The HiFi Rose RS151 comes with the ROSE DPC (Digital Processing Core). This new processing unit is well-optimized to process the audio perfectly. It minimizes jitter while maximizing the signal quality. HiFi Rose states that all of the processing blocks are designed to maintain the highest level of signal accuracy. The result is audio output that sounds crisp and clear.
This device has the benefit of coming with a built-in DAC. For those who don’t know, the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) is the device that converts a digital signal into a raw electrical signal. So, the quality of the DAC will dictate the quality of the music as a whole.
HiFi Rose used top-of-the-line technology with its DAC, which is a surprise to no one. It’s able to properly convert the signal while eliminating as much digital noise as possible.
Improvements over its predecessor
So, how much can a device improve in the span of four years? While 2021’s HiFi Rose RS150 was a technical marvel, HiFi Rose was able to bring a much-improved experience this time around. For starters, the HiFi Rose RS151 is notably more powerful than its predecessor.
The HiFi Rose RS150 used the ARM Cortex-A53 CPU to do the processing. It gave some good performance, but this year’s iteration uses the 8-core RK3588 to power it. This chip delivers 4x the CPU performance and 8x the GPU performance. That’s nothing to sneeze at. This means that you’ll have buttery-smooth performance.
The improvements don’t stop there, as the new chip brings double the DRAM, taking it from 4GB to 8GB. You can store audio tracks on these devices. While the 8GB on the HiFi Rose RS150 was decent, the HiFi Rose RS151 brings a whopping 32GB. This means that you can store thousands upon thousands of tracks on this device.
The screen
One of the defining features of HiFi Rose’s devices is the large display on the front of them. While most streamers are fitted with a small calculator screen, the HiFi Rose RS151 has a large 15.4-inch display on the front that displays the company’s Rose OS. This is the interface that you’ll use to control your entire audio experience.
Just like the processor and storage, HiFi Rose brought a notable improvement over the device’s predecessor. For starters, it’s 10% larger than the 14.9-inch display on the HiFi Rose RS151. Not only that, but the display got a boost from a 720p resolution to 1080p.
This means that the screen will be sharper, and you’ll be better able to interact with the interface.
Top of the top
With its feature set and top-quality audio, the HiFi Rose RS151 is one of the best audio streamers that you can buy, and it’s worth every penny. If you’re looking to push your audio to the next level, then this is the device to get!
Specs
- Input Sensetivity: 0dBF 1kHz(Digital), 2Vrms (Analog)
- Output Impedance: 2.84 Ω
- Output Level: 9.0Vrms(XLR), 4.5Vrms (RCA),
- THD + N: 0.0002%(XLR), 0.0003% (RCA) (1kHz, OdBF)
- Signal to Noise Ratio: 131dB(XLR), 124dB(RCA)
- Dynamic Range: Max 150dB (CCITT filter)
- Stereo Crosstalk: Max -143dB (20Hz-20kHz)
- Frequency Response: 20Hz – 75kHz (+/-0.5dB)
Sample Rate
- PCM: 44.1kHz – 768kHz(8/16/24/32bit per Sample)
- DSD: DSD64(2.8MHz) / DSD128(5.6MHz) /DSD256(11.2MHz) / DSD512(22.6MHz)
Supported File Formats
- Audio: WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, WMA, OGG, APE, DFF, DSF, CDA, M4A, MP3, AAC, AMR, EC3, E-EC3, MID, MPL, MP2, MPC, MPGA
- Video: ASF, AVI, MKV, MP4, WMVMPEG-1/2/4, H.263, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VC-1, VP8/9, MVCH.264/AVC (Base/Main/High/High10, Level 5.1) : Up to [email protected]/HEVC (Main/Main10, Level 5.1 High-tier) : Up to 4Kx2K@60fpsVP9/H.264/H.265: Up to 4Kx2K@60fps
H.264/MVC/VP8 Encoding: Up to 1080p@30fps
Technical
- PSU: Toroidal Linear Power Supply
- CPU: Octa-core RK3588
- RAM: LPDDR4X 8GB
- GPU: ARM Mali-G610 MC4 (OpenGL, Vulkan, OpenCL)
- DAC: ES9039 PRO(ESS)
- Oscillator: Highly Precise Femto Clock
Inputs
- Digital
USB 2.0: PCM 32bit/768kHz,
Type-B: DSD512(22.6MHz)Coaxial: PCM 24bit/384kHz,
DSD128(5.6MHz) (only DoP)Optical: PCM 24bit/192kHz,
DSD64(2.8MHz) (only DoP)AES/EBU: PCM 24bit/384kHz,
DSD128(5.6MHz) (only DoP)HDMI eARC: PCM 24bit/192kHz
eARC - Analog: Line In
- Service: USB 3.0 Type-C
- Trigger: DC 3.3V-12V
Outputs
- Digital
USB 3.0: PCM 32bit/768kHz,
Type-A: DSD512(22.6MHz)Coaxial: PCM 24bit/384kHz,
DSD128(5.6MHz) (only DoP)Optical: PCM 24bit/192kHz,
DSD64(2.8MHz) (only DoP)AES/EBU: PCM 24bit/384kHz,
DSD128(5.6MHz) (only DoP)I²S-HDMI: PCM 32bit/768kHz,
DSD512(22.6MHz) - Analog: Unbalanced, Balanced
- Video: HDMI 2.0 (4K UHD / 60Hz)
- Trigger: DC 12V
Network
- Connectivity
Ethernet: 10/100/1000 BASE-T (1Port)WiFi: USB DongleBluetooth: 5.4 aptX (A2DP1.4, Sink, AVRCP v1.6.2) - Streaming Protocol: Bluetooth, Airplay, DLNA/UPnP, Roon Ready, Spotify Connect
- Storage: SMB
Storage
- Internal: eMMC Flash 32GB (System Use Only)
- External: 3 x USB 3.0 Type-A
1 x 2.5″ SSD (SATA 3.0, NTFS, exFAT)
Feature
- CD Ripping: Support (By external USB CD Drive)
Power
- Input Voltage: AC 110-120V, 220-240V, 50/60Hz
- Power Consumption
Standby: 0.3W
Idle: 5W
Playback: 55W - Protection: 6A Thermal Circuit Breaker
- Display: 15.4″ TFT LCD & Capacitive Touch Screen (FHD, eDP)
- Dimension: 430(W) X 319(D) X 125(H) mm
- Weight: 11kg
- Material: Aluminum / Rust-proof Steel
- Finish: Silver, Black
- IR: 38kHz IR Receiver
