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First a word of praise for the stability of this Wifi implementation. During the entire review period we experienced not one dropout. Zerosita. La Rosita’s proprietary buffering worked like a charm and completely covered for any retransmission needs without audible interrupts. The plugin sports a very useful network monitoring facility to display the network’s quality based on number of retransmits. Even when we manipulated the reception at the La Rosita Beta location to deliberately lower network quality to just 50%, there still was no glitch to demonstrate just how solid the wireless handshake between transmitter and receiver really was. Respect!.
As mentioned the La Rosita Beta sports an Ethernet port as part of the Apple Airport Express which can be used as an input too. So we switched off the Mac's Wifi after connecting the La Rosita Beta into the wired part of our home network. Recognition was instant and when the first track started in iTunes, the music played instantly whist the network monitor displayed a healthy 100%. That 100% however was not all that was at max. The home network's capacity too was maxed out whereby the highly efficient La Rosita plugin took over the network completely. Thus all other network uses like TV and Internet connectivity were starved. With Wifi the sharing of available bandwidth and channels was very democratic. No issues. Aside from network access hogging however, La Rosita in cabled mode was prone to glitches too whereby the music would sometimes stop for a few seconds before resuming at the point where it had paused. We knew La Rosita was meant primarily for Wifi use but since the wired option was present, we couldn't resist trying it.
On to the sound. Here all findings are based on the superior Wifi connection. Music from 16-bit 44.1kHz to 24/96 elicited no hiccups. It was literally point and click in iTunes and music started instantly. We listened to the Beta’s analog output through its built-in DAC and its digital output. In either case the signal processing from source to output was fast and accurate. Compared to CD playback there was so much more life available no matter what CD player we used. The analog output was neither sterile nor colored. What we perceived was a presentation that let the timbres shine. Against a completely quiet backdrop attacks appeared out of nowhere and decayed beautifully without abrupt stops. In these decays the almost tactile timbres of instruments gave recordings a sense of truthfulness even though we still dealt with an aural illusion. From crashing cymbals at realistic SPLs to the softest ppp each and every instrument remained itself throughout a piece. Listening for hours with an appropriate playlist caused no listening fatigue and even encouraged the composition of musical adventures with track-specific playlists instead of whole albums.
Ultimately the La Rosita Beta DAC was not as neutral as the DAC in our Devialet D-Premier with V5 software. Both shared the quietness of ultra-low distortion and dynamics even at the lowest levels but the Beta had just a touch more roundness overall. We listened to a wide variety of musical styles, some in RedBook format, some in hi-res. None were a problem. The roughest hard rock was processed just as easily as elaborate classical with a full orchestra plus big choir.
During our review period we appreciated the simplicity of use which came down to switching the thing on and waiting for the blinking yellow LED to turn stable green. Using iTunes itself is a complete no-brainer of course. The biggest issue there is to load the iTunes library with music to play. Now to the competition. There are the usual suspects of Naim NDX and Linn Klimax. These Brits offer a whole boatload of inputs and outputs but lack the unique iTunes plugin/player and in case of the Linn nearly quadruple the price tag. We think the real competition comes from the streamer's own homeland of France. That would be Devialet’s latest model 110. Granted, we haven't yet listened to it but if the same genes drive it as the D-Premier we own, it'll be a very solid competitor. Both the 110 and Beta offer a proprietary iTunes plugin which only runs iTunes for music library sorting and access. Both offer a dedicated network and buffering solution and both embed a high-quality DAC. On price they are in the same league but the Devialet 110 kicks a full 110wpc @ 6Ω stereo amplifier into the bargain. When one is merely looking for a streamer rather than fully integrated solution, the La Rosita belongs on the top of a music lovers’ shortlist. It's no fuss with a truly musical performance.
Condition of component received: Excellent. Reusability of packing: Many times over. Website comments: Not the easiest to navigate or find the desired information. Completeness of delivery: Perfect. Includes USB stick with software. Pricing: Really fair for the offering. Human interactions: The Dutch distributor acted as an example for many with almost instant replies to our e-mail questions whilst technical solutions in cooperation with France were equally prompt. Final remarks: Registered customers receive software updates and warnings about OSX or iTunes related issues by e-mail. The La Rosita iTunes plugin was originally priced at €495 but is now included for free. Options are a €790 built-in preamplifier and a €790 Lundahl-based true balanced output.
