Add External DAC or Upgrade to a New Streamer / DAC?

I too am considering either a HiFi Rose or an Eversolo, but only for the streamer portion. I would use an external DAC with either of these boxes.

I had a borrowed RS250 inhouse for a few weeks and loved some things about its GUI, especially the HDMI out, which lets you stream YouTube or display the streamer’s menus on a TV. Given that my "serious" stereo system also supports the front speakers of a multichannel home theater, that functionality is pretty handy.  And unlike some DACs's HDMI ARC implementations, it transmits video to a TV, not just audio.

Has anybody had the chance to compare the two interfaces in depth? Enough of a difference to warrant a multi-kilobuck price difference?

Postscript for blisshifi:

Your first post here denigrates the HiFi Rose units b/c of build quality.

Despite leaning toward a HiFi Rose purchase, I can't argue with that.  I ultimately returned my open-box unit within its refund windoow b/c of a hardware failure.

Yeah, sure, the standard deviation of one sample is infinity -- but so far, that's all the first-hand data I have to work with.

I say, if you buy HiFi Rose, only consider purchasing a new unit from a dealer with excellent return policies.

blisshifi: Thanks for the link. A little bit of useful information there.

Despite the controversy here, I think a HiFi Rose streamer may be the best choice for me. But understand that my application differs from that of most other posters, who don’t care if a streamer can display video & its menu system on a big-screen TV.. That’s a solid selling point for my family when they’d be using the streamer in the home theater, and for me when I use it for "critical" stereo listening, seated 10-12 feet from the equipment rack.

As for the HFR DAC, well, I actually did have an RS250A inhouse for a month and found it bug-free, and to be more detailed & transparent, and to have a more holographic soundstage than my existing DACs. But the bar was low. I’m only just starting to move from physical media to streaming, so my current DACs are pretty old and mid-fi -- think Oppo BDP-105. So I can’t say anything intelligent about the HFR DAC, except that I could live with it if there were no other options.

But I do know computer interfaces, after 40 years in the industry.

I’ve asked for streamer-UI opinions several times on Audiogon and other forums but have never received an educated response based on first-hand comparisons. So unless somebody can suggest an interface that’s more flexible and easier to use than that of even the $2700 "budget" HFR RS250A, I think one of the Rose streamers would be hard to beat.

At least in my particular application.

I still, however, hate paying for a DAC I’ll never use. But also I’m not sure that I can justify paying $5200 for the HFR RS130 DAC-free transport.