HIFI Rose merely a hobby brand or a serious business, that is the question?

#62

Ryan,

I’ve been an owner for about six months now. I have found that the hardware design and construction are excellent. However, in that time I’ve seen on this board a near unanimous opinion from users of exactly what you are articulating. The design, usability and operability of the software are poor. The decision tree is a Sudoku. There are hints but no clear direction (three dots?). The search function a user would start with is three levels deep. The SQL query imitations are arbitrary and unnecessary.

An easy suggestion would be to take a look at the organization of the better high end streamers’ software. The solution is easy. All it takes is a decision and money. Hence your question. Is HiFi Rose a hobby brand or a serious business. It holds so much promise that it would be a shame to continue to hobble its success with janky software. I could even wait for it to evolve if I could see fundamental progress instead of trimming around the edges. I’d love to hear from Jong-Suh Kim or his representative what the philosophy and future direction of the company will be.

StandardModel

#63

I’m one of those people who hopes that these products are not the owner’s hobby.

They’ve solved a lot of problems along the way. I’m not demeaning their efforts.
I’ve consistently asked questions about their philosophy on user experience.
The reason for that question is because of the special segment of products they have created and will continue to create.

If it’s a knob-type piece of hardware with a heritage and reputation, I’m not wasting my time writing about it, because I’m the one who chose the four-knob chunk, and it’s impossible to change that physical dial to five or three.

They may be uncomfortable with my prediction, but I’m just deploring the hardware-centric thinking of the owners and organization, their kiosk expertise, and their history of acquiring small audio companies.

I don’t see this machine as a hardware product.
Their product is no different than the iPhone and Galaxy, only with a phone and camera.
If this company focuses solely on how it looks and sounds, it will eventually fade into obscurity with a half-assed product in a market it has worked hard to capture.

@StandardModel you are right, it takes determination and investment. I’m hoping to see a major overhaul of RoseOS soon, with user experience experts brought in from the outside - ad hoc usability improvements will only make RoseOS more complicated and tangled.

I’m sorry, but based on the kiosk type reply from the Rose Staff here over the past year, I doubt that’s possible.

2 Likes
#64

The hardware is. great. No issues there. The problem, of course, is that once the hardware is in place it’s a hunk of aluminum without good software. As Apple, Blusound, Eversolo, Wiim and everybody else knows full well.
I haven’t heard a single user defend RoseConnect, the HiFi Rose software, for good reason. Good hardware is necessary but not sufficient for a successful product. Over and over again on this forum it’s either bring the software up to the level of the competition or slowly die. In my opinion, as much as the RS 130 looks to be a great streamer, the money would have been much better spent on bringing RoseConnect up to the level of the competition.

StandardModel

2 Likes
#65

“They may be uncomfortable with my prediction, but I’m just deploring the hardware-centric thinking of the owners and organization, their kiosk expertise, and their history of acquiring small audio companies.”

To the man with Hammer, everything looks like a nail.

StandardModel

#66

I think they should re-program the software from the start
Just keep the current app so people can use their device and meanwhile start developing a brand new app which works like it should do without all the issues it has at this moment.

6 Likes
#67

Wiim Pro is $149.00 on Amazon. They publish their software roadmap: Solution home WiiM Roadmap WiiM Roadmap

WiiM Pro Roadmap[ Print](javascript:print():wink:

Modified on: Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 4:21 PM

What we’re working on …

Welcome to the WiiM Roadmap. We’d like to give you visibility into some of the features we are working on. Our official release notes have the full list of released features. If you would like to make a feature or product request, please post it on our WiiM Forum.

Please note: The dates and features listed below may change or be removed at any time without any notification. Consequently, purchases should not be based on what is listed on the roadmap.

Upcoming Features

Features we’re thinking about in future updates:

  • Multiroom of hi-res audio
  • Favorites section - The user’s favorite tracks, playlists, stations, podcasts, and recently played are listed in the favorites section of the app
  • Support SMB for music sharing
  • Support landscape mode on tablets (Android)
  • New music services such as Idagio, SiriusXM, Nugs.net, KKBox, RadioParadise, etc.
  • Play music from personal cloud storage (Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud, etc.)
  • Users can select the streaming quality in the “Now Play” app UI
  • Improved NAS and DLNA DMS features
  • Cast to Sonos and other 3rd DLNA devices
  • Crossfade
  • Support native Squeezelite client

StandardModel

1 Like
#69

Hi Tylerbayles,

I am sorry to reply your question late. My loudspeakers did survive, they still played music but I cannot tell if they suffered any small un-noticable damage. I will report in a separate post about the progress I made referring my problems with R150.

#70

Hi to all, I would like to update the progress I made.

I sent my R150 back to the local distributor. It took them more than two months to find out the faulty part was the Front Panel Assembly. They said the faulty Front Panel Asssembly messed up the on-off touch sensitive switch and the vloume + and - touch sensitive switch, so that I could not switch the unit on and I could not control the volume properly, hence my problem of having the volume ghostly turned up to +99 by the unit itself.

They waited for a few weeks to get a new Front Panel Assembly from Korea and replaced it. Now I retrieved the unit back home. It is playing music now.

I am thinking a faulty Front Panel Assembly could blow the volume to +99 by itself then damaged my speakers. This is a horrible design bug. The R150 is not safe to be used as a Pre-Amp.

I decide to junk R150 and buy an integrated music streamer + pre-amp with proper volume control such as TEAC UD701n.

1 Like
#72

Sorry, posted in wrong thread. Deleted.

#73

Incredible!
We are in 2025, almost 2 years after duffer5’s post and things are still the same… I can say even worse! I think hi-fi rose doesn’t know an old saying in the market: you fool a customer once, the second time he doesn’t come again!

#74

…and yet, we are all still here, aren’t we?

And why? Because we are held by the sound they create.

HIFI ROSE is a product of the highest quality. The technical execution of the devices is impressive. As a standalone product, it is simply magnificent.

The only real issue is the somewhat underdeveloped control applications. Problems with OS updates are often quickly addressed with near-instant releases.

Moreover, there is remote debugging, which works excellently if you reach out directly via email with your issue. Some problems can even be resolved on an individual basis. Try something similar with EverSolo or Lumin, and you’ll understand what I mean.

I am sure that if ROSE’s software were as good as its hardware, we would be paying a different price…

Don’t forget to be grateful.

1 Like
#75

Sorry, I think you don’t understand what I wrote.
I come from an Aurender and Lumin user and I’m used to other standards regarding a streamer. You probably haven’t tried a real streamer before… I’m sure that after you try it, you’ll change your opinion 180 degrees.
I made the mistake of buying rose hi-fi products 4 months ago and since then I regret that mistake every day!
Try to read the whole thread, or at least duffer5’s posts, and maybe you’ll understand that it’s not just the software that’s the problem…
And no, we are not all here! Some managed to sell their rose hi-fi products, with big losses it’s true, and went to other serious brands!
We just have to accept that we made a mistake, deceived by marketing, and also accept a financial loss.
I also think that you should grow up and stop putting pictures of BMW cars on your profile picture! Tell everything about yourself! :joy: :joy: :joy:

2 Likes
#76

Vic,

Well said. In a sense, the excellence of the hardware is an impediment because it makes the gap in comparison with the software even greater.
Still where else can we get close. Nowhere.

StandardModel

1 Like
#77
#78

It might be much easier, really. Rose started making solid products that had some unique features (albeit with underdeveloped software) at a moderately premium price. But HiFi is a tough business, you need to have either very high volume or very high margin, and Rose, like many others before, discovered that you can easily sell products that require no development effort (130) and serve no practical purpose (130, 720), or just aren’t very good (160) and audiophiles would still gobble them up as long as enough woo-woo words are included in the product description.

How sustainable that business model is remains to be seen, but FraudioQuest, BS Audio and the like have been in business for decades and are doing reasonably well.

#79

Before deciding to buy the RS150B, I had a Lumin X1 for quite a while—a streamer with a separate power supply. It sounded great, but not three times better to justify the price difference with the 150. So, I went with ROSE and have been very happy with it ever since. And no, my world didn’t turn upside down… wait a second—actually, my bank account is still up by 8,000 euros. If that counts as a 180-degree turn, then sure! In a blind test, I couldn’t tell them apart :slight_smile: Plus, the RS150’s display is way more fun than the Lumin’s.

Of course, you screwed up. When you bought the 130, you thought you could outsmart the manufacturer and create a magical combo better than what was originally designed. In the end, your setup sounds pretty much the same as a regular 150 (or, more likely, worse), and now you’re drowning in cables, switches, adapters, and all sorts of junk—desperately convincing yourself that it was all worth it.

I’m so done with his endless posts about how he’s spent a year looking for the FACTORY RESET menu. The simplest way to fix his Tidal streaming issues would’ve been just resetting the damn thing. But no—he flat-out ignores help from the developers. Well, what can I say?

So do something already… Stop whining like a drama queen …

I think you understand as much about car tuning as a reindeer herder understands trigonometry. :rofl: But hey, I’m flattered that you’re obsessively stalking my profile—where, by the way, I can post whatever I want. Dude, just stop dishing out useless advice and try to get a grip on your emotions. Envy can ruin your life. Stay healthy :slight_smile:

3 Likes
#80

Have you listened to the RD160? I have, I was impressed had it for a whole week.

I almost traded my Holo May KTE for it. Ultimately, I liked the combination of HQPE, HQNAA, and Holo May over the RD160/RS130. My RS130 is now mostly collecting dust but would make a great companion for the 160 if anyone is looking for a DAC better than that 150b DAC/Streamer.

#81

Yes. Reminded me of an old Perpetual Technology upsampler/DAC combo I have collecting dust. It sounds quite inoffensive, and at a Topping price would be a decent component, if you like the looks.

Somehow I am not surprised…

You need to qualify it with “someone looking for a less transparent, accurate and resolving DAC than 150.” 150 and 250 are indistinguishable as it is (and I was trying hard to justify getting the 150 for the bigger screen) but at least they are reasonably state of the art transparent. 160 might sound pleasing (not that it sounded greatly different anyway) but it is, objectively, not as good at what is DAC’s primary purpose.

1 Like
#82

Hello VIK,

powerful argument :muscle:t2: .

Anyone who has a little knowledge of electronics and physics (even if it was just school physics) should know that a large number of components in the signal path are counterproductive.

But it sounds better because people then lie to themselves in order to justify all their expensive purchases.

There are enough examples here…e.g.

The SFP module and fiber optic “burn-in” faction. The circle then closes with the power cable and golden fuse community…and the angels come with their harps and sing a song in the moonlight and drop angel dust at the same time.

All of this is then heard…but unfortunately they are not angels…they are sirens (mythology)!!!

The sirens look/call themselves differently today:
Snake oil faction (HiFi & High-End Mafia).

But everyone decides for themselves where they really “burn” their money…

:v:t2:

2 Likes
#83

I found the ESS DAC on the 150 to be similar to my experience with Topping DACs. Clinical, thin, harsh on the top, boring, and just overall less pleasing to my taste. I’m happy you prefer your 150.

I preferred my RME ADI AKM DAC over the 150, the RD160 had a lot more warmth and sounded almost as good as my Holo KTE.

So can we agree in this subjective hobby of ours, that our taste may differ? I have no doubt in the confidence of your convictions, but why are you so certain about them being right and others to be wrong?

“Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one” Voltaire

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.” Bertrand Russell