If you’ve been a hi-fi fan for a while, you know just how many brands are out there competing for your hard-earned cash, so what makes the South Korean newcomer HiFi Rose so special? Well, a few different things.
First up, HiFi Rose isn’t just about premium audio performance, the company aims to provide a premium experience right down to the UX. With HiFi Rose’s media players, thanks to their in-house designed and maintained operating system, RoseOS, there are a ton of different features on offer that are sure to satisfy. Of course, you’ve got your familiar functionality like local music playback and streaming service integration with Tidal, Quobox and Apple Music, but that’s just the beginning of what RoseOS can do.
RoseOS also supports Tidal’s MQA format and extensive music video library alongside hi-res audio. And if streaming service support wasn’t enough, it’s also Roon Ready and has Spotify Connect support. If you attach an exernal CD drive, live CD playback and ripping are possible, too, while you can also play your music or videos off a local storage device. Last, if you’re ever wanting for content, you can check out RoseTube for HD videos or Rose Radio for internet radio channels from around the world.
What about that premium performance? HiFi Rose has that, too. Thanks to the Rose Audio Engine, HiFi Rose can “deliver pure audio data to [the] DAC without loss” and is able to realize “advanced high fidelity audio service by using various signal processing technologies.” Accordingly, HiFi Rose relies on caching tech to process digital inputs without distortion; is able to extract DSD and PCM data as well as decode lossy audio to 32-bit PCM; and even supports the full MQA decoding suite.
HiFi Rose’s amplifier tech is no slouch, either. HiFi Rose’s Class AD amp (found in the RA180 integrated amplifier and RS520 all-in-one streamer), for example, eschews a traditional silicon FET for a new gallium nitride FET to “dramatically reduce the ‘dead time’” of the amp. Then, HiFi Rose’s new OP amp focuses on delivering high open loop gain, low distortion, low noise, low drift, and low offset alongside providing tons of bandwidth and enough power to drive all of these features.
Considering all that’s on offer, HiFi Rose is a brand to keep an eye on, especially if you’re in the market for some new hi-fi kit.
