Company & Product Overview

HiFi Rose is a new, exciting high-performance audio brand from Seoul, South Korea. They recently dropped a line of versatile, performance network media players for audiophiles who are passionate about sound quality and who want to have control of their multimedia services in one component. They also have an innovative integrated amp that looks as cool as it sounds!

HiFi Rose has a pretty cool backstory. Its parent company, Citech, was founded in 1954 when they first started making set-top boxes for television sets in Korea. They have been manufacturing custom hardware and advanced software products for over 50 years.

Interestingly, one of the executives at Citech was an audiophile, so he created a division within the company for audio. In 2017, an idea that started from the passion for premium components, ideal circuitry, and beautiful hardware with the best user experience available became a reality, and HiFi Rose was born.

Their experience specializing in touch interface software for consumer-facing internet kiosks found its way into the network media players & integrated amplifiers in this overview.

Today, all HiFi Rose products are designed and assembled in-house in Seoul, South Korea.

In this series, we will cover the RA180 reference-grade integrated amplifier, plus three network media players, and a high-performance, nearly silent CD drive that can pair with each player. In this overview, we’ll look at the design philosophy behind this new brand, and then we will get into the models to explain their features.

Design & Build Quality

While there are some fantastic network media players out right now that will make your streaming music sound great, not all audio companies have the technology nor the resources to create user experiences that are easy, and enjoyable to use.

Since a streaming DAC frequently accesses very large libraries of music from a network-attached storage (NAS) device or even the Internet, the user interface is very important. Most high-performance network DAC/streamers rely on a separate companion app you install on a phone or a tablet to access a library of hi-res music. Touch interfaces rely on software engineers & user interface designers to create custom software. Capacitive touch displays and the silicone to run the software are typically sourced with the scalability of big tech companies.

HiFi Rose placed significant research and development to make the user experience enjoyable. Since its parent company designs touch interface software and assembles all of its internet kiosk products in-house, HiFi Rose has the resources of a larger tech company. Even with a very small company of only about 24 employees—about 70% of them are engineers.

Interestingly, if we think about how internet kiosks are designed, the hardware & software benefits make a lot of sense for high-performance streaming media players:

• Internet kiosks are used in high-traffic public places, such as airports.
• Their software has to be user-friendly and easy to understand.
• They are always connected to the internet, so they need to have custom hardware that is physically robust and software that is reliable and easy to update.

We can see all of these design elements trickle down into the entire HiFi Rose line. For the hardware, each model has a chassis processed from high-quality aluminum and a wide-view touch display that dominates the front panels for a truly modern look. The flagship models are machined from a solid block of high-purity aluminum to minimize the assembly area, which reduces vibrations that can affect the sound quality.

Internally, all of the network players in the HiFi Rose lineup have high-performance 32-bit ESS DACs with low-jitter high-precision Femto clocks, letting you access just about every hi-res music format under the sun—including MQA—for the highest fidelity. If you’re into Tidal, you will appreciate having full MQA decoding up to 384kHz across all of the network streaming models.

From the rear panels, there are a whole host of inputs & outputs for connecting storage devices such as SD cards or external USB hard drives for large collections of music and video files. Underneath each chassis, there’s even a bay for a 7mm SSD hard drive for up to 4TB of internal storage, so you can add storage, and use any of the network players as a personal music server.

If you want to rip your CDs and store them internally, HiFi Rose offers an optional RSA780 CD Drive that will add CD playback & CD ripping features over an isolated USB-type B connection. HiFi Rose even implemented an electrically isolated design into its solidly built and nearly silent CD drive to eliminate noise from the USB connection. Super cool!

So, now that we’ve covered the key design philosophies that make the HiFi Rose line unique, let’s quickly talk about the intuitive features and technologies each model shares.

Features & Technology

First, all three DAC/Streamer models in the lineup have wide-view multi-touch panels that go up in size. The entry-point RS201E & RS250 models both start you out with a generous 8.8-inch touch capacitive display. When you step up to the flagship RS150 model, you get a super-wide 14.9-inch HD IPS touchscreen LCD!

From the front panels of all three models, you can see the album artwork displayed with a wide-viewing angle, which made swiping through albums in our library intuitive. You can even watch music videos in Ultra HD 4K quality right on these front panels!

And this is why all of the DAC/streamers have a GPU built-in. Internally, there are multi-core ARM 64-bit processors with 4GB RAM—running a custom HiFi Rose version of the Android operating system. So, the systems are completely updateable as HiFi Rose constantly adds new features.

When you first power on any of the streamers, you are greeted with a horizontal stream of familiar icons on the display—Music, Video, Qobuz, Tidal, Clock, Settings, In-Out Setting—plus some others that are less obvious, such as—Bugs, RoseFM, RosePodcast, RoseRadio, RoseStore, RoseTube, CD Play, & CD Ripping.

Tapping the “Settings” icon allows you to make adjustments to the display brightness, the format of the clock display, the appearance of VU meters that can appear when music is playing, and rearrange the order of apps. You also have the ability to add or remove apps from the main menu, so you can keep the ones you use and sort them just like you would on an iPad/tablet. There’s also a built-in Rose App Store where you can keep the apps always updated to their latest versions.

There’s a really cool custom app called “RoseTube” that will let you swipe through a curated list of YouTube videos with the highest resolution and audio stream available plus all the advertising removed. There are a ton of classical performances in this app, and we really enjoyed the selections. You can also search and watch any video that is available on YouTube. HiFi Rose DAC/Streamers are high-end two-channel audio devices that happen to have 4K video capability, so fans of Tidal’s exclusive video content will love this feature!

There’s also an “In-Out Setting” icon that will let you choose things like setting the digital or analog external inputs to “Internal,” setting up where they default, and then choosing a digital or analog output. When you select the analog outputs, you can even choose from several FIR Interpolation reconstruction filters, select the variable output level or one of the fixed output levels, resample the incoming digital data or not, invert polarity, and apply correction for the bottom 8 bits with 32-bit audio sources! Super cool!

While the LCDs on all three DAC/streamers look amazing, we have to hand it to the RS150’s 14.9-inch touchscreen. Its extra-wide capacitive touch display totally dominates the entire front panel to show more albums for you to swipe through. The responsiveness and crisp image quality was similar to what you would expect on a tablet or an iPad.

Watching music videos in Ultra HD 4K quality with the built-in Rose Tube app from a front panel display nearly 15-inches wide was also pretty cool! When seated away from the streamer, we were still able to clearly see all of the information and album artwork with crisp details from its ultra-wide front panel.

The Rose Connect app also worked extremely well and this is where HiFi Rose really excelled. You can access everything that can be accessed from the front panels, but with all the control from your seating position. The layout of the companion app is similar to other programs where you browse by artist, album, and genre, and scroll through the list, alphabetically.

The Rose Connect app user experience is extremely Roon-like with a built-in search that can access multiple sources from Qobuz, Tidal, and even your local server to return the artist, album name, and song title as reliably as the metadata that was imported into your database.

For you Roon users out there, you will be happy to know all of the DAC/streamers are Roon Certified Endpoints, so they are Roon Ready to boot! They also all support wireless audio over Bluetooth, Airplay2, Spotify Connect, full MQA decoding with Tidal, Qobuz, Internet Radio, Podcasts, DLNA, and more.

Now that we’ve covered most of the features and tech they share, let’s dive into each one and see what you get as you step up to each model in the line.

HiFi Rose RS201E Professional Integrated Amp & Network Streamer

The RS201E is the entry-point model in the HiFi Rose lineup that starts out with a generous 8.8-inch touch capacitive display that will show high-definition album cover info and video playback at 60 FPS. This one is both a network media player and an integrated two-channel amplifier for connecting up a pair of passive speakers (50W x 2 into 4Ω)—all rolled into one single, versatile component.

The front-top plate features high-quality anodized aluminum, a volume knob with a “joy stick”-style control, a power button, and a very wide-view touch screen for a nice, modern look and feel. The body of the unit spans almost 11-inches wide, 8-inches across, and stands 3-inches tall. The RS201E weighs about 5 lbs and this one is available in a silver finish, only.

The RS201E can also be used as a pure DAC/streamer with a fixed-level analog output so you can connect it with a separate integrated amp, preamp, or a powered soundbar. Should you need more power, a pair of unbalanced stereo RCA sockets labeled “PreAmp Output” will let you use the RS201E as just a music streamer with a separate vacuum tube amp, or a reference-grade amplifier, such as the HiFi Rose RA180 integrated amp.

For the digital section, the RS201E has a built-in high-performance ESS ES9018 K2M 32bit DAC that will support most of the popular hi-res audio formats up to 384kHz—(MQA, WAV, FLAC, WMA, MP3, APE, DFF, DSF, AAC, CDA, AMR, APE, EC3, E-EC3, MID, MPL, MP2, MPC, MPGA, M4A, PCM, DSD).

If you already have an external DAC, you can bypass it using the USB 2.0 audio output. If you have a collection of hi-res music & 4K videos stored on an external hard drive, the USB 3.0 type-A DAC input or the SD card reader will let you experience all of it right from the 8.8-inch front panel display! You can even install an internal SSD in an under-chassis bay.

Connecting the audio coming from external A/V sources, such as a CD player, DVD player, or Blu-ray Player to your TV is done through the RS201E’s optical Toslink input or the other pair of unbalanced stereo RCA sockets labeled “Line Input.” Finally, there’s an optical output for connecting the RS201E to a soundbar, and one HDMI 2.0 port that will let you send audio and 4K video coming from the RS201E to a TV or a projector.

As an integrated amp, streamer, DAC, preamp, and Roon Endpoint, the RS201E is designed to enhance TV watching & two-channel music listening. There’s also a headphone jack on the front panel that will accept a 3.5mm stereo miniplug connection! With plenty of expansion options, this is the model that will be best suited for a media room, a bonus room, or even a living room as an all-in-one streaming multimedia unit.

HiFi Rose RS250 High-Performance Network DAC/Streamer

The RS250 is a streamer and a preamp that comes with the same sized 8.8-inch touch capacitive display and the same dimensional form factor as the RS201E, but this model steps up the build quality inside and out for a greater emphasis on sound quality. For starters, stepping up to the RS250 will get you a higher-performance 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC chip.

The ES9038 Q2M DAC is ESS’s extremely quiet 2-channel DAC that features a minimum-phase slow roll-off filter with ultra-low noise for a smoother, more natural, resolute sound. In terms of audio file playback, the RS250 can handle more hi-res audio formats compared to the RS201E—up to 32-bit/768KHz (MQA, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, DFF, DSF, AAC, CDA, AMR, APE, EC3, E-EC3, MID, MPL, MP2, MPC, MPGA, M4A, AIFF, PCM, DSD).

The rear panel has similar inputs & outputs as the RS201E for connecting devices and other gear, but in lieu of speaker outputs, there is a pair of single-ended analog outputs for connecting a power amp or a pair of active speakers, plus three digital audio outputs, including—coaxial, optical Toslink, one USB Type-A audio output, and one HDMI 2.0 port that will output video with a resolution up to 3840 × 2160 at 60Hz.

For connecting with sources, there’s a pair of single-ended RCA analog inputs plus all the digital inputs, including — coaxial, optical Toslink, one USB Type-B audio input that will let you connect a computer or a laptop, plus another U SB 3.0 Type-A port for connecting USB storage devices, and an Ethernet port to connect it over WIFI. The RS250 will also do Airplay, DLNA, Roon, Spotify Connect, Tidal, Qobuz, and more.

If you have a legacy DAC that you just love the sound of with only S/PDIF inputs, then the RS250 could act as a network bridge. Or, use the RS250 as a DAC/preamp with a variable output, which is ideal for a power amp. You could also connect a phono preamp to the RS250’s analog inputs and use it with a turntable.

If you don’t need a built-in integrated amp inside your streaming DAC with, stepping up from the RS201E to the RS250 will give you ESS’s flagship single stereo DAC for the best sound reproduction on 2-channel music. As a streaming DAC, preamplifier, and Roon Endpoint, it’s designed to be an all-in-one hub for a high-end 2-channel audio system.

HiFi Rose RS150 Reference Network DAC/Streamer

Everything about the RS150 is a big step up in build quality, circuitry, and high-end aesthetics to provide audiophiles the best sound reproduction and user experience available from a single, elegant component.

Stepping up to the RS-150 gets you a high-definition LCD touch display nearly 15-inches wide that just totally dominates the front panel. There are no physical buttons on the front panel, which gives the RS150 the most modern look of all the streamers in the lineup. HiFi Rose had to design a sophisticated user interface that takes full advantage of the ultra-wide touch capacitive screen—and we have to say, the super-wide touch display created an immersive & engaging user experience that drew us deeper into our music collections.

Inside the chassis, there is a linear power system designed to further eliminate electrical noise by shielding the power supply away from the audio output circuits. This circuitry minimizes distortion, and when this ideal circuit design is blended with its first-class build quality, the RS150 is able to deliver a clear, musical sound profile with an ultra-low-noise floor. It’s a huge part of the RS150’s reference-grade sound quality.

But, for the RS150, the engineers added even more premium upgrades. HiFi Rose selected ESS’s flagship 8-channel DAC—designed for professional recording studio consoles and audiophile equipment. The ES9038PRO DAC is a very high-performance 32-bit DAC that delivers ultra-high-resolution sound with ultra-low noise, low distortion, and a fully-programmable FIR filter with 7 presets that you can select right from the front panel display to dial in the perfect sound signature. It will support PCM up to 768kHz/32-bit, DSD up to DSD512PCM—(MQA, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, DFF, DSF, AAC, CDA, AMR, APE, EC3, E-EC3, MID, MPL, MP2, MPC, MPGA, M4A, AIFF, PCM, DSD).

On the rear panel, there is a pair of unbalanced analog outputs and a pair of fully balanced XLR preamp outputs for connecting a power amp. Or, use the RS150 as a DAC/preamp with a variable output, which is ideal for a power amp or a pair of active speakers. There are also six digital audio output connection types, including—coaxial, optical Toslink, AES/EBU over digital XLR, a 12S DVI output, and 12S RJ-45 output—plus one HDMI port that will output Ultra HD 4K video to the HDMI port on your TV up to 3840 x 2160 at 60Hz.

For the inputs, there is a pair of unbalanced analog RCA input jacks with variable output levels. For connecting digital sources, there are four digital inputs, including—coaxial, optical Toslink, a USB-Type B audio input, AES/EBU over digital XLR, and one HDMI ARC input.

You can also install an internal 7mm SSD hard drive up to 4TB in an under-chassis bay, up to 400GB on a Micro SD card in the rear panel, and up to 10TB of external storage such as a NAS or USB drive via either of the two USB 3.0 ports. You could also use one of the two USB 3.0 ports to connect a HiFi Rose RSA780E CD drive to play and rip CDs directly to the internal storage.

As a high-performance DAC/streamer, the RS150 is an extremely flexible high-end audio multimedia hub that will satisfy even the most hard-to-please audiophiles. If you are in the market for a streaming DAC with or without preamp capabilities, we strongly recommend the HiFi Rose RS150B.

HiFi Rose RSA780 High-Performance CD-Drive

The HiFi Rose RSA780 is a high-performance, nearly silent, and solidly-built CD drive for HiFi Rose network media players. It connects over an isolated USB connection and offers both CD playback & CD-ripping features for HiFi Rose RS150B, RS250, & RS201E media players.

Use the RSA780 to play your CDs or rip hi-res audio files to any of the compatible streaming players, and then save them in various formats using a plethora of storage options—transforming any of the HiFi Rose Network Players into a personal music server! You can also use the companion Rose Connect app on your iPad, iPhone or Android tablet to manage your personal library of hi-res audio files.

HiFi Rose RA180 Reference Integrated Amp & Preamplifier

The HiFi Rose RA180 is a reference-grade integrated amplifier with 800 watts of Class D amplification that will pair with any of the HiFi Rose DAC/streamers in this lineup. It has a similar high-purity aluminum silver finish as HiFi Rose’s top-of-the-line DAC/streamers. However, the RA180 uses a next-gen advanced Class D design developed in-house to take the acoustic performance of traditional Class D amps to a higher level.

Class D has a higher efficiency, and output with lower noise and ultra-low distortion compared to traditional Class AB designs. Over the years, some Class D amps have received a bad reputation for having a sound that doesn’t come across naturally due to limitations in the digital circuitry. However, HiFi Rose’s Advanced Class D design resolves these problems with new, innovative materials.

On the steampunk-looking front panel, there are a host of traditional tone controls powered by an op-amp instead of passive components that will let you control the treble, bass, and balance. There are also variable EQ rotary controls that will let you tune the low-frequency turnover and high-frequency roll-off of the built-in MM/MC phono stage—plus, a plethora of switches for toggling between various modes are also accessible from the front panel.

At Audio Advice, our favorite feature in the user experience was remote controlling the geared volume rotary and source selector dials to physically turn right from our seating position with the HiFi Rose app on our tablet or with the Bluetooth remote control. Super cool!

On the rear panel, there is one balanced XLR input, three unbalanced RCA Line-in inputs plus one unbalanced RCA input for the built-in phono stage. There is also a subwoofer output, a trigger connection, two grounding points, and 16 speaker output terminals, so you can connect and A/B test two pairs of stereo speakers. HiFi Rose also developed a special stable power supply exclusively for the RA180 that responds to the power demands of the system, so the amp always sounds as clean and as natural as possible.

The RA180 is also a sophisticated bi-amplification system. It has two 200W amplifier modules per channel with one amp that is optimized to deliver stable mid-bass and balance, while the other is designed to deliver smooth, clean power to the higher frequencies—up into the “super tweeter” area beyond 20kHz.

When the two modules per channel are connected separately to a speaker’s high and low-frequency input, the signal to the speaker will be clean, controlled, and absent of interference. The two amplifier modules per channel can also be set to a Bridge Tied Loads mode (BTL), which allows you to connect a single pair of speaker cables to each speaker and still benefit from 400W of balanced sound.

The RA180’s front panel doesn’t look like any other integrated amp out today. At Audio Advice, we love the analog-style left & right speaker level meters! The industrial appearance reminds us of the cool, retro all-silver Japanese receivers from the 1980s or even something out of a steampunk novel by Jules Verne or H.G Wells!

Seeing this next to a very modern-looking piece such as an RS150 DAC/streamer with its super-wide touch capacity display was a striking match. We were blown away by the side-by-side aesthetic—especially when we stacked the RA180 integrated amp underneath an RS150 DAC/streamer. Even though the contrast was starkly different—clearly, these two pieces belong together.

HiFi Rose RA280 Reference Integrated Amplifier

While the RA180 had an attractive but busy front panel with more options than most integrated amplifiers out today, the RA280 keeps things simple with a front panel. The back panel of the RA280 is just as simple, with a well-labeled and straightforward choice of inputs and connections. There are 3 RCA auxiliary inputs for things like CD players, DACs, or legacy sources like reel-to-reel decks. There is also a moving magnet phono input and 1 set of balanced inputs for flexibility. There are trigger-in and trigger-out jacks, a phono ground, and a chassis ground. In addition, there is one set of high-quality speaker terminals per channel for outputs and one mono full-range RCA subwoofer output.

The power supply inside the RA280 is specifically designed to stay efficient and high speed even under complex loads. HiFi Rose used silicon carbide FETs instead of the standard Silicon FETs in other power supplies. These high-tech devices have high voltage and heat resistance, allowing the power supply to supply maximum power while remaining efficient and cool. This well-designed power supply also applies a 2.5kW power factor correction circuit with a high-capacity condenser to maintain top performance at all loads while keeping stable and reliable.

The RA280 uses a next-gen advanced Class D design developed in-house to take the acoustic performance of traditional Class D amps to a higher level. HiFi Rose calls this tech Class AD. Class D amps are considered much more efficient than traditional Class AB amps, but most have a pretty harsh and edgy sound. HiFi Rose’s Advanced Class AD design resolves these problems with new, innovative materials. The switching output devices are the enemy of sound quality in these high-efficiency designs. Dead time and a slower switching speed can cause noise and distortions to the audio and were responsible for the noise and gritty-sounding nature of early class D designs. Using GaN over traditional silicon transistors allows the switching speed to be much faster, allowing a dead time of 1/10 of silicon transistors. This gives these new class D amplifiers a linear response, allowing them to have a natural, smooth sound quality that aligns more with class A amplifier designs.

Those who wrote off class D designs years ago due to their bright, hard treble, and unforgiving nature must listen to these new Class AD GaN FET designs. Galium Nitride transistors have changed the game regarding the sound quality attainable in class D today.

The class AD GaN FET amplifier section of the RA280 is comprised of two modules that work more like mono-block amplifiers in one chassis. These modules were specifically designed to give the RA280 a pure, analog type of sound more known with pure class-A amplifiers with efficiencies of class D. HiFi Rose applies a two-stage filtering network with -1dB in the frequency band up to 65kHz and -3dB at 85kHz. These two filters reduce carrier noise inherent in class D amplifiers, allowing the RA280 to produce clean and clear audio at all audio bands. Output is 250 watts into 4 or 8 ohms, more than enough power for almost any speaker with headroom to spare.

Overall Recommendation

Regardless of which one you choose, you really cannot go wrong with these high-end DAC/streamers. They share many of the same features and tech with a few key differences as you step up the line.

As the entry-point model in the HiFi Rose line, the RS201E delivers a lot of value with plenty of options to expand it. This is the model to get for anyone wanting a network media player and an integrated two-channel amplifier—all rolled into one easy-to-use component that also looks super cool with an 8.8-inch front panel touch display!

For anyone with a collection of hi-res music & 4K video files stored on an external hard drive or an SD card, this one delivers a very convenient solution to experience it all without breaking the bank. We like that you can pair this one with the HiFi Rose RSA780 CD drive and rip a CD collection right to the unit!

The upper-end models will deliver even better performance for those who care about having the best musical sound quality possible—but as a multimedia all-in-one for rooms where space is limited—HiFi Rose RS201E packs in most of the key features all of the models share with good sound & video and this one offers one the best user interfaces we have ever seen from a DAC/streamer at this price-point.

If you don’t need a streaming DAC with a built-in integrated amplifier, then stepping up to the RS250 will give you a higher-performance DAC for better sound reproduction. The RS250 is a streamer with a preamp built-in and it comes with the same sized 8.8-inch touch capacitive display and form factor as its little brother, but this model steps up the build quality inside and out for a greater emphasis on sound quality. If you are looking for a streaming DAC/preamp that is also a Roon Endpoint, the high-performance ESS Sabre DAC chip inside the RS250 will be a fantastic upgrade for a high-end 2-channel audio system.

The RS150 is the most flexible high-end audio multimedia hub in the lineup of DAC/streamers. The sound it presented satisfied even the hardest to please audiophiles at Audio Advice! While it is so cool that this unit is Roon Ready/Roon endpoint—for the pricepoint—it would have been an even bigger pro if HiFi Rose had tapped into that powerful CPU and made this one into a Roon Core.

It’s not a huge deal—since most Roon users will still use a computer as their core—but it would have really kicked it up a notch if it were made to be a Core. Having said that, as a Roon Endpoint, or a self-contained music server for hi-res audio & 4K video, we strongly recommend the HiFi Rose RS150. If you are in the market for a top-of-the-line streaming DAC with or without preamp capabilities, the HiFi Rose RS150 has one of the best user experiences available, and its sound quality is first-class.

Pairing the RS150 with HiFi Rose’s reference-grade RA180 integrated amp are powerful statement pieces that will let people know how serious you are about sound quality and innovative design. Seeing these two very modern-looking pieces together in a room was a striking match. Everyone who came over was blown away by the side-by-side comparison—especially when we stacked them together! After seeing them and hearing them, it's clear these two statement pieces belong together.

You really cannot go wrong with any of HiFi Rose products as they all have fantastic sound, but we can say, as you move up, you will get even better sound quality. The decision really comes down to the need for amplification, inputs & outputs, and how you plan to integrate a DAC/streamer into your 2-channel setup.

As a tech company made by audiophiles for audiophiles, HiFi Rose products are focused on making premium components with custom build qualities that go well beyond traditional methods. If you have any questions about HiFi Rose and want advice on which one to choose, be sure to give us a call, chat with us on audioadvice.com, or stop into one of our award-winning showrooms. We will be happy to help you out!

If you have any questions, call 888.899.8776, chat with us, or stop by our award-winning showrooms. At Audio Advice, we've been designing and installing high-performance home theaters & smart home systems for our customers in North Carolina and the surrounding areas for decades. In fact, we've delivered more custom theaters than anyone in the Southeast! We are now offering Home Theater Design no matter where you live in the United States! If you are interested in a custom home theater or upgrading your current system, give us a call at 888.899.8776, chat with us, or stop by our award-winning showrooms.