In this article, we’re diving into the brand-new HiFi Rose RS151 network streamer.

HiFi Rose is a relatively new name in the performance audio world, but they’ve quickly made a big impression with their innovative products. The new RS151 is designed to deliver an incredible Hi-Res Audio experience, replacing one of Audio Advice’s streamers, the RS150B. While the new model may look similar to its predecessor, it brings some significant upgrades—many of which were inspired by feedback from RS150B users. We’ll walk you through these improvements and everything else you need to know in this article.

HiFi Rose Network Streamers & Integrated Amps Overview

For those of you just getting into Hi-Res Audio, let’s first explain how a product like this new RS151 works. This is a DAC and music streamer that is all inside one box. Music streamers like this can pull in music from the internet or use locally stored music files. At that point, the music is all still in the digital domain and you have to convert it to analog to be played back on a stereo system.

That is the role of the DAC, or Digital to Analog Converter. The quality of the DAC can make all the difference in good or bad sound. After the internal DAC converts your music to analog, you hear it by connecting the RS151 or other music streamer to your existing audio system via an analog input. Or some people would just connect the RS151 to a power amp and pair of speakers or even simply a great pair of powered speakers. The earlier RS150B nailed it in terms of its audio quality, and HiFi Rose upgraded both the audio performance of the RS150B and some of its functionality to make this new RS151. And best yet, as of January 30th, 2025, the price is the same!

What is a DAC and How Does it Work?

Design & Build Quality

Let’s take a look at the upgrades they’ve implemented into this new RS151.

First, they’ve increased the size of the touchscreen on the front from 14.9” to 15.4” diagonal and increased the resolution so you have a screen that you can easily interact with and clearly see even across the room. To some, this screen is a big deal, and we’re happy to see that they’ve taken time to improve it. It’s no secret that there are plenty of music streamers like this on the market, but we haven’t really seen any with screens as big and beautiful as HiFi Rose offers, as well as a user-friendly and intuitive user interface. And, of course, without a great user interface, accessing your music can be confusing and frustrating. So, just because a piece of gear sounds good doesn’t mean that it will be a joy to use, like HiFi Rose streamers are.

To keep with the super sleek look of the front panel display, the RS151 is milled from a solid block of aluminum. This helps reduce internal vibrations but, best of all, gives the unit a look that totally matches its price. You can get the RS151 in black or silver, and its full audio size at 17” wide to match other components in a rack. They have also added physical mute, power, and volume up and down buttons on the top of the unit.

Features & Technology

The next upgrade is for those of you with huge downloaded or ripped libraries. The new RS151 can now manage up to 1 million songs, a big increase over the 150B. Just like the 150, you can use the CD ripping app and connect an external CD drive to play them directly or rip them in audio files onto your unit.

All of the rest of the cool features of the RS150B remain, including the curated list of YouTube videos they’ve put together and their Rose Radio and RoseTube apps. That is another difference in the HiFi Rose over most streamer/DAC’s is it has video out for YouTube and can display what is playing on your TV.

It still runs on an Android operating system, which also means HiFi Rose can improve things at no charge to you over time. As a matter of fact, AirPlay was not originally present on HiFi Rose products, but it was added later with an update. And just like a smartphone, you can rearrange or delete apps to set things up to your liking. You get access to Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, Apple Music, and even RoseTube, which is essentially just their version of YouTube, and so much more. It’s also Roon Ready. Plus, an Audio Advice favorite is how you can change the screen to be just a cool display to match other components you have in your system.

This is truly a full-featured digital control center where all you need is a power amp and speakers or an awesome pair of powered speakers. When you look at the back of both of these units, you can see just how much they’ve added to the RS151 and totally remapped the back to fit everything there. You can connect it up to your amp or speakers using either RCA or balanced XLR outs, and the connectors on the rear are much nicer and as solid as they come. You can select variable or fixed output to allow it to be a preamp with variable out or as a source in an audio system with fixed out. You’ll have plenty of options for digital inputs, such as USB, Optical, Coax, AES/EBU, and HDMI eARC instead of ARC, which was in the RS150B. With the upgrade to eARC, the HDMI input now supports up to 24bit 192K high-res audio from an HDMI source, which is great to see and was another big user request. HDMI eARC is super cool in itself as it lets music lovers use their great audio system to improve their TV sound without compressing your audio like ARC does. eARC allows the TV remote control to turn on the HiFi Rose and adjust its volume if it is set to variable, so you can easily get TV sound to play through your better speakers pretty much seamlessly.

Next, the RS151 also now officially supports PCM 24bit/384kHz and DSD128 formats via the coax and AES/EBU inputs. The other inputs vary in the type of signal they can handle, which you can see in the chart below, but suffice it to say, they are all at pretty much the extreme of what you can get these days. There is even an analog input should you wish to attach a legacy analog source but bear in mind that the signal will be converted to digital.

There are also more digital outputs on the RS151 than you typically see. You have USB, Coaxial, Optical, AES/EBU, and I²S-HDMI. We see these being used by people with a very good external DAC who love the user experience the RS151 offers as a streamer. In addition, HiFi Rose has added a much requested feature, which is a trigger out. If you are using the RS151 as an all digital preamp, this will let you send a signal to almost any modern power amp that will power it on and off in sync with the RS151. Another great add is upgraded Bluetooth which almost seemed like an afterthought on the older RS150B with its external dongle. The RS151 now has an antenna module on the rear and has moved up to aptX and Bluetooth 5.4, both offering better audio quality should you choose to use Bluetooth.

As we mentioned earlier, the DAC plays a huge role in the sound of a unit and the DAC inside the RS151 is probably the most major upgrade. The RS151 uses the latest ESS ES9039PRO. This 8-channel DAC is the best-sounding one in their lineup and is the main reason the new model outperforms the prior one. ESS has put a lot of new tech into this DAC, including Hyperstream, to further reduce jitter and distortion, allowing those tiny, subtle musical expressions to come through better. In our initial listening, comparing it to the RS150B, we found it warmer, and it pulled us closer to the music. A lot of this is due to the better ESS DAC, which any other brand could also include in their product, but how you support a DAC and the circuitry around it can make or break the sound that reaches your ears. This is where the RS151 really stands out.

First, they use a sophisticated toroidal linear power supply to minimize noise and provide perfect power to all of the critical components. They also totally isolate the audio path from the power supply. In the RS151, they have added even more improvements to their already great design. The resistors are now high-end, specific for audio MELF resistors, while the caps are now from WIMA, a brand you see used in uber high-end audio gear. To enhance the stability of the power supply, they have changed from standard decoupling capacitors to a low ESR and high ripple decoupling type. And the ground has been upgraded from a standard plane ground to a single-point ground. While all of this might seem pretty technical, the end result is lower noise and distortion. As a matter of fact, the signal-to-noise ratio went from what was already very good at 121dB to an astounding 131.4 dB.

There are still a few more upgrades to the RS151. It uses a new Rose NRA Filter, which stands for Noise Reduction Analog. This new tech enables flat frequency response down to almost 10Hz, which is quite impressive too. Plus, with computer processing power always improving, we expected to see a faster processor in the RS151, which we certainly get with a new 8 Core CPU that runs even faster and offers even more seamless playback of Hi-Res Audio. And finally, for those of you who love the sound of DSD or are curious about it, the RS151 can upconvert PCM to DSD512 so you can hear why so many people like the sound of DSD.

Underneath the unit, you can still install an internal SSD hard drive of up to 4TB for additional storage on the unit. They did remove the microSD on the back though. But you can also attach up to 10TB of external storage, such as a NAS or USB drive via either of the USB 3.0 ports on the rear of the unit. If you have a collection of hi-res music & 4K videos stored on an external hard drive, you could use one of RS151’s USB inputs and experience all of it right from the unit’s 15-inch-wide front panel display or make the connection with your TV and see it on the big screen! As a high-performance DAC/streamer, the RS151 is an extremely flexible high-end audio multimedia hub.

Performance & Testing

When we fired it up for the first time, the display lit up with a familiar lineup of icons—Music, Video, Qobuz, Tidal, Clock, Settings, and In-Out Setting—along with a handful of Rose-specific options like Bugs, RoseFM, RosePodcast, RoseRadio, RoseStore, RoseTube, CD Play, and CD Ripping. Tapping into Settings gives you control over things like display brightness, clock format, and the look of the VU meters. Then there’s the "In-Out Setting" icon, where you can configure digital or analog external inputs to "Internal," decide where they default, and choose between digital or analog outputs. If you go with analog, you get even more fine-tuned control—selecting from multiple FIR filters, adjusting the output level (variable or fixed), resampling digital audio if needed, inverting polarity, and even correcting the bottom 8 bits when dealing with 32-bit audio sources.

When we first tested the RS150, we streamed everything from funk and rock to classical, EDM, and jazz, and it delivered an incredible listening experience. The DAC in that unit had a way of pulling out harmonics in instruments that made everything, from the audio in 4K videos to hi-res tracks, sound more natural, almost like a live concert was unfolding right in the room. We found myself constantly going back to hi-res versions of classic American rock hits, and on a great pair of speakers, the RS150’s DAC separated details in a way that made the music come alive. The lead guitar in "Black Magic Woman" by Santana had a rhythmic flow that just felt right, with a pacing that got my feet tapping. The bongos and organs floated outside the speakers with a holographic realism that was almost eerie in how lifelike it sounded. And when we played the live version of "Guinevere" from Crosby, Stills & Nash’s 2012 performance, the tiny harmonics of the plucked acoustic guitar resonated like a concert hall, sending chills down my spine. The RS150 captured all those fine details, the kind that make you feel closer to the performance.

With the new RS151, we decided to put it to the test using the exact same tracks to hear how it compared. Right away, the upgraded DAC stood out. The sound was warmer, more organic, and undeniably more analog-like, almost as if a layer of digital sheen had been stripped away, leaving behind something richer and more natural. The lead guitar in "Black Magic Woman" had even better tonal depth, with a silkier sustain that made the notes feel more expressive. The bongos had more texture, and the way they extended beyond the speakers felt even more three-dimensional. That same live version of "Guinevere" still gave us chills, but this time, the plucked guitar strings had an even more lifelike resonance, as if we could feel the vibrations in the air. The DAC upgrade, along with the other refinements in the RS151, made a noticeable difference, bringing out even more of the depth, warmth, and natural harmonics that make music feel truly alive.

Overall Thoughts

Now, we know many people will be wondering if this new RS151 is worth the upgrade if you own the RS150. Most of the time, when a company releases an updated version with what seems like a few upgrades, we typically don’t recommend moving up unless there is a very specific feature that you want in the new one. This isn’t the case with the new RS151. If you own the RS150 and are looking for a better overall sound and experience, you have our go-ahead to upgrade to this new RS151. We were just that impressed with it. If you are looking at a music streamer in the $5,000 range, this is probably going to be our top pick. If you can go above that, our next options would be to look at HiFi Roses RS130 streamer or the NAD M66. Each will have its pros and cons, so if you’re unsure, you should reach out to our experts, who can evaluate which would be the best for you.

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