Streamers — HiFi Rose RS451

The RS451 is a Korean network player from HiFi Rose of Seoul that also contains a DAC and a headphone stage. HiFi Rose presented it at the 2025 Munich High End show, and it reached the UK in September 2025 at GBP 2,699, with a US price of USD 3,295. Parts of its platform, including the processor, come down from the RS151. The aluminium chassis is aimed at desktop and nearfield use and two colours, silver and black, are listed.

Key specs that matter

Two ESS ES9027PRO converters are fitted, one feeding the line outputs and the other the headphone stage, and each is a 32-bit 8-channel chip. PCM runs from 8 to 32 bit and 8 kHz to 768 kHz, and DSD is native from DSD64 to DSD512. HiFi Rose quotes THD+N of 0.00025%. Digital inputs are USB Type-B, optical, coaxial rated to 32-bit 384 kHz and DSD128, and HDMI eARC, plus an RCA line input. Analogue line outputs come as XLR and RCA pairs, and the front carries XLR, 4.4 mm and 6.35 mm headphone sockets. Coaxial and optical digital outputs and three USB 3.0 Type-A ports complete the rear. The 22.4 cm IPS touchscreen sits in a case of 430 x 337 x 92 mm weighing 7 kg.

Engineering and use context

The ROSE DPC digital processing core works with a femto clock to limit jitter, and ROSE NRA circuitry lowers analogue noise. Four individually driven amplifiers make up the headphone section, and a toroidal linear supply delivers independent power to each channel, guarded by a 3 A thermal breaker. Computing is handled by a quad-core Cortex-A76 plus quad-core Cortex-A55 processor with a Mali-G610 MC4 GPU and 8 GB of LPDDR4X memory, running an Android 12 based ROSE OS. A bay accepts one 2.5-inch SATA SSD for a local library, and an HDMI 2.0 output passes 4K video at 60 Hz. Networking covers gigabit Ethernet, dual-band Wi-Fi through a USB dongle and Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX. Supported services and protocols include AirPlay, DLNA, Roon Ready, Audirvana, Spotify Connect, TIDAL, Qobuz, Apple Music, RoseTube and internet radio, and the unit can play and rip CDs from a connected drive.

Pairing

With variable balanced and RCA outputs, the RS451 can connect straight to powered monitors or a power amplifier, or feed an integrated amplifier as a fixed source. A television connects through HDMI eARC, and an existing CD transport can plug into the coaxial or optical socket. Several digital filters can be selected. Control comes from the ROSE Connect app for Android, iOS and PC, an IR remote or a Bluetooth remote.

Alternatives

The HiFi Rose RS150B is a larger streamer from the same maker, with a quad-balanced ES9038PRO DAC, a 37.8 cm touchscreen and a 13 kg aluminium chassis.