RD160 Experience

ROSE Products RD160
#1

I recently bought an RD160.
The first problem I encountered was that I couldn’t find the asio driver for RD160 on the official website. After asking on the forum, ROSE staff replied that the driver for RD160 was the same as that for RS150.
But at first the asio driver for RS150 on the official website did not work for RD160. I reported it to ROSE, but it turned out that they did not update the driver version on the official website. It was still the older version 5.0.
After the download site is updated, the 5.68 version of the asio driver can be used on the RD160.
But soon a new problem arose. When the RD160 played DSD files via USB connection, the left and right channels were opposite, but it was normal when using the built-in DSD upsampling function.
I reported this to ROSE again, but they said they couldn’t reproduce the situation where the left and right channels were opposite when playing DSD, and wanted me to provide them with music files for testing.

I feel very frustrated throughout this whole process.
Sound-wise I think it’s pretty good, but this feels like a rushed product that still needs more testing.
After all, they even forget to update the driver version on the official website.

#2

The issue of playing DSD files is also present in the RS130. When playing DSD files stored on my RS130, which is connected to my DAC via I2S, the left and right channels are incorrectly swapped. I need to manually change the I2S pin configuration on my DAC to resolve this problem.

I also have to manually switch back to the correct I2S pin configuration when playing DSD files from my computer (connected to a DDC via USB and then coax to the DAC) or SACDs from my player (connected to the DAC via I2S). This is very troublesome.

#3

I think this kind of issue should never happen to a product at this price.

#4

I completely agree. I am also a user of the RSA720. Like many other RSA720 users, I have encountered compatibility issues between the RSA720 and my DAC when the RS130 is connected to the RSA270 via the SFP port. Despite extensive communication on the forum and through emails, this incompatibility issue has remained unresolved for over a year. I hope the DSD issue can be addressed soon.

I listened to the RD160 in a local showroom, and I liked the sound. However, my frustrating experiences with ROSE products, along with those of other users, make me hesitant to purchase another potentially premature ROSE product.

#5

Speaking of premature product, the built-in upsampling function of the RD160 is also the worst I have seen in similar products. It can only convert into PCM 44.1KHz, DSD 64, or PCM706.8KHz.
Most DACs with upsampling functions now allow you to freely choose various sampling rates, but the RD160 only has three.
Make it a useless function.

#6

The official product webpage claims that for upsampling in the RD160, PCM supports up to 768 kHz and DSD supports up to DSD512. In your case, it appears that a firmware update is needed to fulfill this claim.

#7

The description on the official webpage may be confusing: “The RD160 offers various options. For upsampling, it provides four modes: BYPASS, TO PCM, TO DSD, and UPSAMPLING. PCM supports up to 32bit/768kHz, while DSD supports up to DSD512.” My local distributor clarifies that RD160 supports playback of DSD512 files but upsampling to DSD128.

#8

I think I may have figured out how it works, the conversion is to the corresponding input sampling rate, and the upsampling is to increase it by a fixed multiple.
If the input signal is PCM, To DSD will convert PCM 44.1/48/96/192 to DSD64/128/256/512. To PCM will do the opposite.
For upscaling, PCM44.1/48 will be converted to 706.4/768, and DSD64/128 will be converted to DSD256/512.

There is no mention of this in the manual and it is not practical.
For example, I would like to select To DSD512, and then all input signals would be converted to DSD512.

#9

Thank you for your explanation. It makes perfect sense that upsampling is done by a fixed multiple. Your suggested feature would make the settings much more convenient, and it would be nice to have it in the upcoming firmware update.