Network Audio Players/Servers

Serious though it is about the audio engineering of its products, one could never accuse HiFi Rose of being straitlaced – its design team clearly enjoys having fun. There are always features in its range guaranteed to raise a smile, from a choice of clock displays to 'power meters' able to emulate those of a well-known US high-end company. New for the RS520 is a comprehensive graphic equaliser function [inset pic], complete with virtual 'knobs' and 'sliders' operated by touching the screen. These allow a ±10dB adjustment centred around five user-defined frequencies, each with a variable Q factor (sharpness).

Oh, and if all that baffles you, but you still want to have a 'play', then a large virtual rotary control offers a choice of nine genre-specific music algorithms, from heavy metal to classical and jazz, and three more custom presets for you to configure and store. As in so many aspects of this unit, there are hours of harmless fun to be had fiddling and adjusting – but yes, there is another (virtual) switch to turn all this tinkering off!