HiFi Rose RS250 Network Streamer

[digitalnomad]

Might want to take a look at the Samsung EVO 870

 

[]eep]

Tnx. That's a top tier disk. But rather expensive. I just bought the Crucial MX500 2TB that got top rankings. I had the bx in my basket for €115 thinking I don't need top speed, but then suddenly the discount vanished (>€300, no fun). So I chose this fast one instead at only €150.

I reckon it will be faster with initializing, indexing and searching.

 

[]eep]

Quick update: I just got both my cd/DVD slot in writer from Ali and Crucial ssd. That's quick.

I know that Hifi Rose sell a cd drive for the streamer RSA780. I don't know how quiet it is, but at €400 it's a bit expensive, even though it looks nice and is supposedly quiet. I am playing my €20 slot-in usb cd drive now. It looks very sleek too and it works just fine. The only thing is that is not completely quiet. And it's a bit flimsy. But that is not a problem for ripping.

And the sound quality?
Just fine. I think it sounds better than my Shanling cd player over the Ares II dac via coax which sounds rather soft and rounded. Only the swoosh sound is noticeable in very quiet parts.

What is also nice compared to an old fashioned cd-player that it fetches the meta data and coverart. Very nice Rose!

So I installed the SSD in the bottom. Easy access. Put all the cables back in except the usb-HD. Go to options>storage>ssd and it asks you 'format ssd?'. It even warns you to disconnect your USB disc. Done in a few seconds really. And it's ready for use.

I glued the usb cd-Rom with nanotape to the rack and inserted a disk (came with the lp ) and started ripping. Easy peesy. I think it looks nice and unobtrusive this way. The only disadvantage of the RS250 is that it only has 1 usb input for HD and CD so you have to plug it over.

 

[tomwoo]

Quick update: I just got both my cd/DVD slot in writer from Ali and Crucial ssd. That's quick.

I know that Hifi Rose sell a cd drive for the streamer RSA780. I don't know how quiet it is, but at €400 it's a bit expensive, even though it looks nice and is supposedly quiet. I am playing my €20 slot-in usb cd drive now. It looks very sleek too and it works just fine. The only thing is that is not completely quiet. And it's a bit flimsy. But that is not a problem for ripping.

And the sound quality?
Just fine. I think it sounds better than my Shanling cd player over the Ares II dac via coax which sounds rather soft and rounded. Only the swoosh sound is noticeable in very quiet parts.

What is also nice compared to an old fashioned cd-player that it fetches the meta data and coverart. Very nice Rose!

So I installed the SSD in the bottom. Easy access. Put all the cables back in except the usb-HD. Go to options>storage>ssd and it asks you 'format ssd?'. It even warns you to disconnect your USB disc. Done in a few seconds really. And it's ready for use.

I glued the usb cd-Rom with nanotape to the rack and inserted a disk (came with the lp ) and started ripping. Easy peesy. I think it looks nice and unobtrusive this way. The only disadvantage of the RS250 is that it only has 1 usb input for HD and CD so you have to plug it over.

Have you compared the sound quality of playing physical CD and the ripped files?

 

[]eep]

Yes, I did loosely. It sounds fine through CD better than my old option as I wrote.. But it's like I have the kettle on in the kitchen. My preference is ripping the CD and not having to look it up ever again. I don't like to play cd's. Only as physical backup.

From the ssd it sounds the same, only without the background noise. Or annoying skipping. Which was the whole point of buying a streamer.

I have noticed an improvement from the internal dac from new. The dealer attended me to this burn-in although don't really care.

If I want the best experience for attentive listening I lay on an lp. That still gives a more emotional connection. But it's not always convenient. It's an expensive medium but I have a collection of around 10k so... Worth investing in good hardware.

I also got the network function working now. Finally I can directly access my USB HD from my phone. And organize ripped folders on the ssd from my phone. Not fast but it works.

 

[]eep]

I finally have all cables hooked up. Now I'm using USB to connect to my dac. This depends on the dac partly, but I think it is the best way to connect to an external dac. It sounds even better.

I had a good usb cable, only it was 1" short. And so stiff it was a pain to even get the first plug in (where the 2nd never made it) and the hdmi to the TV was so short I had no leeway. So I ordered some proper and longer ones from China. A high quality 2m cable with can get quite expensive. Mine is €30 and has a nice braided cable and metal plugs. And works great.

So I have finally have everything working. Now just exploring all the possibilities it has.

What I'm really enjoying is a bit unexpected, but watching my YouTube favorites without annoying adds... So relaxing.

 

[tomwoo]

I finally have all cables hooked up. Now I'm using USB to connect to my dac. This depends on the dac partly, but I think it is the best way to connect to an external dac. It sounds even better.

I had a good usb cable, only it was 1" short. And so stiff it was a pain to even get the first plug in (where the 2nd never made it) and the hdmi to the TV was so short I had no leeway. So I ordered some proper and longer ones from China. A high quality 2m cable with can get quite expensive. Mine is €30 and has a nice braided cable and metal plugs. And works great.

So I have finally have everything working. Now just exploring all the possibilities it has.

What I'm really enjoying is a bit unexpected, but watching my YouTube favorites without annoying adds... So relaxing.

Rosetube is way better than YouTube (with Ads)

 

[]eep]

So true. Brain relaxing without the intermittent brainwashing.

I also joined the rose forum to help others. I don't really have any real questions yet.

What is clear that the RS250 is now sold out about everywhere. In favor of the RS250a, the new and improved model. It's also more expensive.

I understand the better clock and output stage with discrete opamps, but i don't understand the ES9028 pro dac they chose. Isn't that just an older model of the top model ES9038 pro? Where the RS250 's ES9038q2m is the same, only 2 channel instead of 8. Weird choice when the new topmodel 9039 is just out. A mystery to look into.

 

[ABuilder]

I'm considering one of these and was wondering about Rosetube. How is the sound quality and availability? It has less availability than YouTube right? It is basically a big network of content HiFi Rose have the rights to from my understanding. Seems cool, but really depends on what is available.

 

[]eep]

I'm considering one of these and was wondering about Rosetube. How is the sound quality and availability? It has less availability than YouTube right? It is basically a big network of content HiFi Rose have the rights to from my understanding. Seems cool, but really depends on what is available.

It is a different application but you can access all YouTube videos through it. You can import YouTube into it, just type your name and password and under the YouTube tab you can play it without adds.

It helps though if you have subscribed to channels. It makes it easier to find and play. The interface is a bit different on the app so suggestions are less conveniently accessed.

The sound quality is better I think. Compared to my android TV which resample everything to 48kHz, usb out to my dac sounds better.

 

[tomwoo]

So true. Brain relaxing without the intermittent brainwashing.

I also joined the rose forum to help others. I don't really have any real questions yet.

What is clear that the RS250 is now sold out about everywhere. In favor of the RS250a, the new and improved model. It's also more expensive.

I understand the better clock and output stage with discrete opamps, but i don't understand the ES9028 pro dac they chose. Isn't that just an older model of the top model ES9038 pro? Where the RS250 's ES9038q2m is the same, only 2 channel instead of 8. Weird choice when the new topmodel 9039 is just out. A mystery to look into.

The chance is they started the development before the newest DAC came out.
The new DAC doesn't matter to me because I don't use the DAC inside RS250 Lol.

 

[]eep]

Same here. It's a bit of a pity that it raises the ante for beginners that they decided to improve the internal dac. Now the cost shifts further to the part that most people don't need. Or want.

I understand that they are a startup as far as Hifi is concerned so I don't see a range of components split out in functionality in the near future.

For now it looks like they limit their attention to an affordable midi line of a streamer/dac and an all in one streamer/amplifier and the high end streamer/dac and digital amplifier. That's a nice focussed group. It could do with a downscaled GaN amplifier though, half the RA180 so to speak.

Seperating the streamer/dac to seperate dac and streamer would get them in a fiercely competitive dac market. Bad idea for a startup.

 

[Loose-Leaf]

I brought a used Rose 250 home from a dealer after a store demo I wanted more time with it , it’s good sounding and a little quirky to use I still might buy it .

 

[]eep]

Do you know what was 'quirky'? My first time 386 pc with DOS. My first try to do something on a Mac. It wasn't my laptop so I withheld the urge to smash it and toss it out the window. My first encounter with Linux was a lot easier. What I am trying to say is every new complex system takes a while to get used to. With the app on your phone it is not that hard and incredibly versatile.

It's not a video platform by definition but i played a high res 4k HDR (10bit) movie and I had a blast. Watching my YouTube channels is so relaxing without the adds. But more importantly, with my external dac (or even it's own) it sounds very good.

For my own collection of flacs it plays as good as any solution I used so far. Only foobar on my PC made it easier to tag and categorize my files. This is more 'out of control', like what I don't like about Apple. But I like to do things my own way.

If you don't buy it now it will probably cost you a lot more later.

 

[Loose-Leaf]

Jeep I found the Rose a little quirky / a little confusing navigating , the Rose blog is full of questions from owners with a whole host of complaints and frustration . This being a fairly new product on the market like most any software based components it’ll get sorted out , there’s a team of people behind it .
What has my interest I watched some fabulous concerts having that option for video built in is fantastic, sometimes we music lovers get bored staring at a wall .
Secondly I like the option of bypassing the internal dac if I want to kick it up a bit , a Weiss dac did just that. Finally overall sound quality is darn good as is.