I currently have the RS 520 and I don’t know what’s going on there, but it sounds very harsh. If I stand further away from the speakers, it sounds ok, but if I stand about a meter in front of a speaker, it sounds as if it were clipping.
The mids and the bass too, but you notice it most in the treble and I didn’t hear it loud.
The volume was on about 50/100. But this harsh clipping could also be heard at a lower volume.
My old Class D amp sounds smooth and very clear without being harsh. No clipping or anything like that. The difference was really very clear and noticeable for everyoneMy first device arrived defective.
They were defective opamps. This time it has to be the opamps too or the sound is just that bad. If you stand in the stereo triangle, further away from both speakers, you won’t hear it. It’s not noticeable, but you can’t miss it directly in front of a speaker.
Clipping at low volume. That’s actually not possible.
This is actually a very good product but not mature. It has too many errors and unfortunately I will have to return it.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused during use.
I have a few questions for you.
- In which country did you purchase the RS520?
- Which speaker is generating noise?
Thank you
Hi,
- I’ve bought the RS 520 in Germany.
- It’s a pair of B&W 804 D3
The first RS520 I got had defective opamps.
I was told that the issue is known. There was a batch with defective opamps. I only had hiss on the right channel.
The second RS520 arrived with a defective wifi antenna. This was exchanged.
I tested the RS 520 and then stood directly in front of a loudspeaker. I heard a very rough sound. The sound was unclean, like clipping and at low volume. A lot of distortion. It sounded as if I had turned the RS 520 all the way up and the speakers started clipping and as I said, the whole thing was only at 50% of the volume. room volume.
I then connected my Buchardt I150 and it was completely different.
The sound was clean with no clipping.Normally I would also want to exchange it, but the seller then thinks I’m crazy too, a weirdo.
I think it’s a shame and I’m super disappointed, but I can’t accept the sound like that.
I don’t know if it’s a bug or if it’s supposed to be. If I stand in the stereo triangle, it is not noticeable. Only directly in front of the speaker, but still, that can’t be high end.
The distortion is on both channels!
Ask for a new exchange. Don’t hesitate. It seems that there was a batch of defective rs520 sold in europe, there are other complaints in this forum. Mine seems ok, but I’m going to test it thoroughly just in case. It’s an almost 4.000€ device
That is it. It’s a 4000€ product and I already have the second defective amp.
How often should I replace it and how long does it last?
The first arrived with a broken channel. The second with a defective antenna and this harsh sound like clipping.
OK, I found part of the problem.
Song: Melanie Martinez - Carousel.
Her voice sounds very nice at the beginning and then from 0:40 the bass kicks in and everything is distorted. Awful.
The EQ was on. Turned the EQ off and it sounds good again. No distortion or clipping. What’s wrong with the EQ? What do I have to pay attention to with the device?
My opinion is most negative comments are due to lack of knowledge on how to set up a sophisticated product… Read and study the manual before criticizing…
Is the EQ set to increase bass (well, could be any band, really, but probably more pronounced there)? If it is one of those modern recording where everything is compressed and too loud to begin with, adding to bass on top of what it already is will push it to the maximum value (because it can’t go over the max, of course) for a while and it will clip even on the digital side. Simple math, really.
If you are doing EQ, ,rather than increasing the bands you want more of, decrease the others. There is also the “Main” slider on the EQ screen that you’d probably want to pull down a bit.
If you look at the preset EQ settings (I imagine they are the same in 520 and my 250… Have been waiting for 520 to arrive since December 
) on all the presets the Main slider is pulled down.
I still love the look and the sound of the RS 520 but I never had a so user unfriendly product like the Hifi Rose RS 520!
I am 44 now and I never had to read a manual.
classic argument in an men’s world 
it’s mostly RTFM
To be fair at least my manual predates the introduction of the EQ, so there’s not much for that there.
On the other hand, manuals are written for a reason…
That‘s why a Iphone or a Galaxy has a big, thick manual in the box! Do you have a manual for your car or hairdryer? I need a manual fro a lot of things but not for an amp, smartphone or streamer.
I like the RS 520 a lot and I would love to have it again but I won‘t buy this product. The user experience was bad, not tragic but bad and I don‘t think, the RS520 will last for a long time! My first RS520 came already broken!
Some people do think that they know everything and don’t need no stinking manuals.
There are products designed for the willfully ignorant. Rose just isn’t one of them.
Please, do try not to insult anyone. We all are users or ex-users of Rose products, we all have different expectations from our devices and use them with different levels of expertise. For me, my rs520 is more than enough, I never dreamed of a machine so capable and with such a warm and clear sound. I don’t want to spend my time learning by trial-error how to fine tune it, because of a very deficient manual and a total lack of usability. I just want to enjoy the most my scarce moments with my it. That’s all.
I strongly agree that! It is the user own responsibility not to know well about what they are using before critizing any products. I’m a guy always like to read through manual beforehand. Yet you may use it with trouble free if don’t look at the manual. But you may at the same time missing something you never know about, just like using a phone! People can use their smartphone smoothly without any problem but, you’d never know those shortcut tweak until you read your manual! There is no any relation for what age you are. I’m more than 50 and still like to digging out the most from my every product😁
The build quality of rose is amazing but the software ist garbage. I know, as a rose fan or user it is hard to believe but it is the truth.