If you’re in the market for a streamer, you’ve got to put the new RS520 all-in-one network streamer from the South Korean brand HiFi Rose on your radar, thanks to its robust feature set and the premium tech inside. What Hi-Fi? hasn’t reviewed the RS520 just yet, so stay tuned for that, but on paper, the RS520 looks to be a strong competitor.
Combining the features of HiFi Rose’s RS150 network streamer and RA180 integrated amplifier, the RS520 manages to offer up the best of both worlds, bringing the functionality of a network streamer, integrated amp, and DAC together in one device to provide an all-in-one ‘just add speakers’ experience.
The RS520 isn’t just feature-rich, either. Thanks to RoseOS, you’ve got an intuitive UX, too, that offers up local and network playback, 4K video support, CD playback and ripping support, streaming service integration (including Spotify Connect and Roon as well as MQA support), and hi-res audio playback alongside access to RoseTube for HD videos and Rose Radio for music from around the world.
Plus, you’re also getting premium performance with the RS520, according to HiFi Rose. Thanks to this streamer’s architecture, HiFi Rose promises it’s able to deliver “pure audio data to a DAC without loss” and realise an “advanced high fidelity audio service” thanks to Rose Audio Server’s caching tech, DSD and PCM audio decoder, and “bit-perfect transmission” of data.
Beyond its streaming architecture, the class-AD amp inside the RS520 uses a new gallium nitride (GaN) FET over a silicon FET in order to “dramatically reduce the ‘dead time’ by ⅓ to maximize linearity.” Altogether, on paper, the RS520 is primed to offer up solid features, intuitive operation, and premium performance, so if you’re in the market for a streamer, check out HiFi Rose’s new RS520 network streamer that’s shipping now.
