HiFi Rose RS250A

Sweet high-res streaming

After a few minutes experimenting with HiFi Rose's RS250A streamer, you may wonder why more streaming components don't have touchscreens.

HiFi Rose's onboard customized Android™ OS gives the premium streamer/DAC/preamplifier a user-friendliness that will feel intuitive to mobile users in general. Audiophiles will appreciate its authoritative but smooth sound. I also love the cool touchscreen features, like the functional virtual back panel for switching inputs and outputs and the virtual VU meters.

Easy control

I grew up playing vinyl, and then CDs. Streaming was a hard sell, but at this point I see it as an amazing — sometimes overwhelming — and necessary asset. App control across the different platforms isn't always intuitive — it's still the main reason my wife rarely opts for streaming music when she's picking out something to play.

The RS250A feels different. It connects to your internet via Ethernet or built-in Wi-Fi. The interface is user-friendly whether you're using its front-panel touchscreen apps and volume/mute knob, or the free RoseConnect Premium app for Apple® and Android devices. It organizes your different sources — from streaming services including TIDAL, Qobuz, and Spotify, to music files stored in one of its onboard options or your NAS server — in a way that feels almost Roon-like. It will also show up in your player list if you're using Roon (subscription required).

You can also use Apple AirPlay® to control the streamer, or the included Bluetooth remote. Free automatic updates make sure it keeps pace with evolving tech and its expanding capabilities.

Quiet noise-floor makes way for nuanced detail

What I really love about the RS250A is that it stays out of your way. It's true of the interface, and especially true in how it treats audio signals, which it delivers in lifelike clarity with a super-quiet noise floor and very low distortion.

It runs on a snappy hexa-core CPU with a high-performance ESS SABRE DAC capable of 32-bit/768kHz resolution. Also key to its impressive sound is its digital clock, which drastically reduces the distorted edges inherent in digital music transmission by aligning the spaces between the data. The RS250A's femto clock measures time down to the femtosecond — one quadrillionth of a second — for exceptionally smooth, precise audio.

4K video rabbit hole

Endless video digressions await you, thanks to the RS250A's 4K video decoding via its HDMI 2.0 output. The RoseTube app lets you peruse and play YouTube videos that you can watch on the unit's full color screen or — even better — on your TV. And its digital audio inputs let you take advantage of the high-quality built-in DAC for playing sources like a CD player or set-top box.

Exceptional build quality and bountiful connections

You'll notice the attention to detail when you handle the RS250A. From the rigid aluminum-panel construction to the understated style of its beautiful glass touchscreen display, you can feel that it's built to dampen vibration — and to last. Under the hood, its toroidal transformer and shielded circuitry work to minimize unwanted noise.

On the back panel you have ample digital connections, unbalanced analog output for connection to your amplifier, and an RCA stereo analog input. You could connect a USB drive, HiFi Rose RSA780E CD drive, or even a turntable with a phono preamp.

Flexible local storage options

The RS250A has USB connections for local access to external digital music files. And an internal bay on the bottom panel lets you add optional SSD storage. The player will recognize drives up to 4TB, which is much more than you'll probably ever use.