HiFi Rose is a company that is part of Citech, a South Korean company that has been building custom hardware and software products for over 50 years. Being that one of the head executives of Citech is a music lover, he set out to start a division of the company that focused on high-end audio with fun, easy-to-use products to wring out all the performance from digital audio. In 2017, HiFi Rose was born to tackle this very task.

Packaging & Build Quality

When we first unpacked the RS130, it was apparent that HiFi Rose takes their perceived quality seriously. The box felt sturdy and well-packed. There was a nice protective cover over the component to protect the finish. Unboxing was easy, and the unit looked perfect. Included accessories are the remote, power cord, batteries, manual, Bluetooth dongle, and a copper RJ45 transceiver module.

The RS130 looks great out of the box. The casework and finish show that HiFi Rose wanted to show their design chops with the RS130. From the 15.4” screen and crystal function buttons to the HiFi Rose logo milled into the top of the case, they upped the game with this one. It's nice to see high-end audio products that aren’t just black boxes!

The back panel looked equally impressive, with high-quality jacks and good markings to tell you the jack's purpose. There is even a chart to help you configure your I2S output jack to connect to your DAC.

Features & Technology

When HiFi Rose decided to design the RS130, they wanted to build a streamer/transport that produced a clean signal to any given DAC that would have the lowest noise floor and the most vivid sonic image possible. Part of the way they can do this is to take advantage of current technologies in computer networking. For many years, fiber optic cables have been used to transmit data for long distances with zero loss. For audio, the main characteristic of fiber optic is that it transmits only light, meaning the typical issues with copper ethernet cables are abolished. EMI, RFI, and other types of noise and distortions just simply aren’t picked up and transmitted. This connection is also safer as it will not let any electrical surges or spikes through the optical cable and into the RS130. Not only does the RS130 have fiber ethernet, but it also has fiber USB! So, whether you are connecting long runs or want the noise-canceling effects of transmitting your digital music in its purest form, the RS130 has you covered.

One thing worth noting is while the RS130 has the jacks in the back for both fiber ethernet and fiber USB, it will take the purchase of additional hardware that is not included with the RS130. These items are generally low-cost and easily found online. Our team of experts at Audio Advice specializes in these types of setups and can steer you in the right direction.

For those who still have copper ethernet and USB in your setup, HiFI Rose also has you covered. That is one of the best parts about the RS130. HiFi Rose took the time to think of any conceivable situation where this product could see itself. From the optical and copper network and USB input connections, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, USB 3.0, USB DAC, I2S with multiple pin configuration, optical, coax, AES/EBU, and an HDMI 2.0 port specifically for 4K video output.

In high-end audio, the power supply is an often overlooked component that significantly affects the resulting sound quality of a piece of gear. HiFi Rose took a very close look into this and, as a result, went with a traditional overbuilt linear power supply with a twist. The large power transformer sends its power to what HiFi Rose calls a supercapacitor. When this capacitor is charged, it will send the power to the other sections of the RS130, much like that of a battery. This capacitor stage in the power supply gives the benefit of a lower power supply noise reaching the components in the RS130, thus giving it a cleaner and more natural sound quality.

The RS130 is a flagship high-end hub for digital streaming and local files. This music information has to be able to reach your DAC in its purest form but must also be timed correctly to reduce jitter. HiFi Rose decided to include an OCXO clock. Most crystal clocks are very accurate with one exception: Temperature. As the temperature changes, the crystal will drift off its desired center frequency, changing its oscillating performance and effect timing. The oven-controlled part of an OCXO controls the temperature the crystal sees, allowing it to work at its best. This Oven-Control Crystal Oscillator is well-known as the most accurate clock used in audio and allows the RS130 to output a jitter-free signal to your DAC.

While having an excellent internal clock system vastly improves the signal coming out of the RS130, having the ability to sync the clocks between the RS130 and your DAC will take jitter reduction to a supreme level. Having this option is a first for HiFi Rose, and if your DAC is compatible with clock synchronization, the results can be stunning! Think of this like you would a timing chain of an engine; if this chain is not in place, the timing of the valves would be out of time with the pistons, and the engine wouldn’t run well! This timing chain allows the engine's moving parts to stay in time, making a perfectly timed engine. This is an analogy as the RS130 will work and sound great without the master clock input used. However, having your source component timed with your DAC allows a perfectly timed delivery of data for your DAC to decode into analog. This perfect timing has a significant impact on sound quality and music enjoyment. If you have any questions on this technology or if your DAC is compatible, please call us here at Audio Advice, and we can help.

As a company, HiFi Rose cherishes allowing people to use touchscreens as a more intuitive way to interact with their designs. Like the human interface screens that their parent company is known for, HiFi Rose makes digital easier.

Having a 15.4-inch high-definition touch-screen allows people to physically interact with the RS130 if they choose to do so. The screen has all the options and settings the app has, so you have choices in how you control the RS130.

Most people will choose to interact and control the RS130 through the Rose Connect Application. This application is available on macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS. This gives users options on how to control the RS130, whether they like to control the device through their phone or prefer to use a laptop or tablet with a larger screen. The streaming services supported here are Tidal, Qobuz, Apple Music, and Bugs. The RS130 is Roon Ready and has Spotify Connect. HiFi Rose also has curated music and video streaming services with Rose Internet Radio, Rose Tube, and Rose Podcast.

Having a 4k HDMI port means playing video is fully supported, so if you have video content in any of the major formats used today, the RS130 will play it in top quality using the app to control the content. Using the Rose Tube service through the app, you can watch YouTube music videos in the best quality available. Also, if you are a movie buff but like things left in 2-channel, you can watch your movies through the RS130 for ultimate quality. This is not something seen on many streamers, but HiFI Rose wanted an all-in-one solution for any content you want to play.

If you have a CD collection and want access to them, HiFi Rose has you covered with CD Ripping. Using a CD drive like HiFi Roses own RSA780, you can do that with the RS130 and have all of your music instantly available. To save your music, you must add an external USB hard drive or an SSD to the bay at the bottom of the unit.

A 256 GB SSD is already built-in but serves another purpose in the RS130. All music played from a connected USB flash drive, hard drive, or network streaming is first cached into the inboard hard drive. This eliminates any worry about issues with noise from a spinning external drive or delay errors accruing during network streaming. If you have ever heard the stuttering and stumbling of a network stream when having issues, you know how annoying this can be, and we can thank HiFi Rose for helping eliminate this issue.

Performance

We paired the RS130 with the brand-new McIntosh MCD12000 reference DAC CD/SACD player and Sonus Faber Amati speakers. This reference-level system was the best way to see if HiFi Rose truly delivered with the RS130. The Rose Connect app was straightforward to navigate, and once we learned the screens, we flew around the app playing music.

Hayley Williams's 2020 album “Petals For Honer” has great studio work and mastering. The song “Dead Horse” is a favorite of ours and can show the ability of a system with soundstage width and depth while keeping bass tight and highs smooth and detailed. The RS130 delivered a flawless performance streamed from Qobuz and showed us how much difference a flagship streamer can make. Compared to lesser streamers, the RS130 could showcase all of the detail in this album without any of the harshness or grain of lesser products.

Produced in 2013, Sound City's “Real to Reel” is an album with a cool backstory about an old 70’s studio and a mixing console. This album also has outstanding studio work and a few legend-status musicians on the bill. “From Can to Can’t” is a favorite on this album, and the legendary singer Corey Taylor takes the helm as lead singer. This song starts in a slow melodic way, and with the RS130 feeding the data, this part came through with all the detail while keeping the tense emotion alive within the mix. When the song builds and enters the chorus parts, it is in full drive while staying musical. Having the ability to deliver this much detail to your DAC, all while keeping the music all day smooth and comfortable, is no easy task for a streamer/network transport to do. If you have the DAC that meets this high bar, the RS130 will give it all it needs to be its best.

Overall Recommendation

After spending time with the RS130, we can say with absolute assurance that it absolutely delivers. At $5,195, it is not cheap as far as streamers go, but it does so much more than most streamers can. It can stream, handle network stored files, Roon, Spotify Connect, and even stream video from YouTube or any stored video or movies. With the Rose Connect app, you control everything with your input. To put it bluntly, The RS130 feels like the future to us and how digital music delivery should be done. If you have a DAC that can fully resolve what the RS130 can deliver, then with the HiFi Rose RS130, you will have the ultimate digital music platform. If you want to discuss the tech inside the RS130 further or have decided to take your digital music life to the next level, please call our knowledgeable staff here at Audio Advice.