Article: Naim Audio Mu-so Review

[Audio_ELF]

Since thin is CA I should add a few notes or concerns:

 

It will only stream 48kHz over WiFi so if you intend to use UPnP it needs to be hardwired to achieve the 24/192.

It should support over 48kHz, its just not recommended for reliability. Have you actually tried higher or just repeating what Naim say? I think Chris reported 24/192 working via WiFi and I'm sure other people have done the same.

 

This cannot be used as a DAC. The USB is expecting an iPod or a disk with folders and music on it. It does support a wide range of file formats up to 24/192.

There is an optical input which supports up to 24/96.

 

You are correct its 10/100 only ... but there is no need for Gigabit speeds for streaming audio and (I believe) Naim use 10/100 because they feel it is less noisy on the rest of the electronics.

[ipeverywhere]

It should support over 48kHz, its just not recommended for reliability. Have you actually tried higher or just repeating what Naim say?

Just what Naim said. I don't have an UPnP server so not entirely sure how I'd test this right now. You're right though, unless the system just refuses to play the file, if the network was clean and got the file there I'd suspect it would play it.

 

There is an optical input which supports up to 24/96.

DOH! Yes, you're right and I actually tested this before moving the muso away from my computer. Optical works fine with the MBP and plays just fine at 24/96. What I meant to write is that it does not have a USB DAC input which was how I originally intended to use the muso.

 

You are correct its 10/100 only ... but there is no need for Gigabit speeds for streaming audio and (I believe) Naim use 10/100 because they feel it is less noisy on the rest of the electronics.

My theory (and I find this true with real time speech/voice CODECs and the like) is the higher the speed there is less latency, there is a lot lower measurable jitter, there is less congestion at the switch, and the "cleaner" and more predictable the network and application behaves. It also depends on how many other things are on the wired network but I've seen a considerable difference in the responsiveness and behavior of many applications simply going from 100 to 1000 even when the application itself didn't require any additional bandwidth.

 

As far as "less noise" I cannot comment on that as I have no way to measure it. You could very well be right with regard to that and is a good point.

 

I will confirm it does full duplex. My Netgear switch reports 100/full. I've had no problem streaming anything over the wired connection.

 

After a week of listening I've decided separates will get you significantly further. Specifically in the highs, the soundstage, and somewhat in the mids (although sitting in the right spot the mids are great and voices lively). If you've got $1500 to spend on a system there are plenty of great pieces of kit to be put together which would do a much better job of tailoring a sound signature you prefer instead of what naim prefers. But, the convenience of this thing has so much value I'm sticking with it. I pretty much just come into my office, hit play, and get music. Doesn't matter on the source as iTunes (AirPlay), Spotify (Connect), USB (for Hi-Res), all just start playing without any hesitation and I can jump between any of them. The mu-so just jumps to the proper input as soon as you send it the audio. Turn it off. Turn it back on, hit play, and it just resumes whatever playlist from whatever source you had going when you turned it off. It really does work incredibly well.

[kravi4ka]

So Chris, how does the QB compare? If I were to buy one now which one would you recommed?

[Paul R]

So - almost two years later, are you still in love with eh Mu-So? I am seriously considering using one in our new home, which is way smaller than our previous home. (Downsizing y'all! )

 

I would like to use it as the living room music source and as a sound bar for the television. What say you?

 

-Paul

[The Computer Audiophile]

So - almost two years later, are you still in love with eh Mu-So? I am seriously considering using one in our new home, which is way smaller than our previous home. (Downsizing y'all! )

 

I would like to use it as the living room music source and as a sound bar for the television. What say you?

 

-Paul

 

Still have it and am dragging my feet returning. I love it.

[Paul R]

Still have it and am dragging my feet returning. I love it.

 

We spent some time with the Mu-so over the weekend, and we definitely love it. Turned out there were a couple (potential) showstoppers with it for us though. We were looking at it to replace a Sono's PlayBar under the television and to provide higher quality music in the TV room. We purposely did not mount the playbar with the TV as we wanted to play with the sound. Instead, we sat the player under the TV on a couple of the Ikea "Kallas" shelving units. These serve as a nice space for any electronics (err... objects d'art ) that we (Karen) decides to put there, and actually look really good. The 65" television floats over most of one shelf.

 

The absence of large speakers in the room means that we are pleased with the look of the room. But a Playbar, even with the additional sub plugged in behind a couch, just sounds too small and tinny in this space. It strains to fill the space enough to make TV dialog audible, and music just feels dead and uninviting though it.In this space - in our previous home, with very high sloped ceilings and a loft to resonate around in, it sounded great. There is also a 12' wall of bookcases on the other side of the room acting as acoustic treatments as well... That can kind of deaden most any sound!

 

First, we looked at the Mu-so in an Apple store. This is not the best environment but we figured at the cost point, we could take a chance. Plus there is a 14 day return policy.

 

The Apple store did not have the Naim app installed anywhere, and didn't have the Naim on a public network that would allow me to access it. Given that, it was impossible to test streaming any of our music to it. The Apple store guys were shocked we even asked, and told us no-one has ever asked about it before. They apparently sell about 15 of these per month, so I was even more surprised than they were. That wasn't a total showstopper though.

 

Not being able to ensure we could turn off the front light was. That light was bright, and in a darkened room watching television, it would have been glaring. The manual said one could *dim* the light, but never gave specifics on exactly how dim.

 

Secondly, the case was gorgeous, but we had thought it was black. The silver would have shown up like a spotlight on the black shelves under the black TV. That was actually "the" showstopper for us.

 

We went with our #2 choice, which is a Bowers and Wilkens Panorama 2 Soundbar. Sound wise, there is not doubt the Naim was better, but in terms of a visible fit into the target environment, the B&W worked much better. Sound wise, the B&W lacks deep bass and has some soundstage limitations, but if you are in front of the device playing music, it sounds very good indeed. What bass is there is tangible, clean, and precise in our room. It is not muddled at all by whatever property it is that often makes the frequency of a bass signal difficult to hear. (100hz hump type of thing...)

 

Amazingly, the B&W will take the DSD signal over HDMI from our BRP when we play SACD disks. It also properly decodes multi-channel audio from DVD-A and BluRay audio disks.

 

Does it sound as good as the full system? Nope. But then, with a list price of $2,200, and a street price of $1200, who would expect it to?

 

It doesn't have any streaming capability at all, so I hooked up a Sono's Connect to the optical input. That sounds very good, better than streaming Apple Music through the Apple TV. That 48hz conversion the ATV forces does something unpleasant to the music. And of course, with Sonos, we get Apple Music, our local library, internet radio, Spotify, and dozens of other services. No hi-res streaming, though we have hopes of encouraging the BRP to that.

 

All in all, musically, we would have been happier with the Naim Mu-so - there is absolutely no doubt it sounds superior. But the esthetics were what caused us to rule it out. On the other hand, my office has a space that would be just perfect for one, and father's day is coming up soon...

 

-Paul

[The Computer Audiophile]

We spent some time with the Mu-so over the weekend, and we definitely love it. Turned out there were a couple (potential) showstoppers with it for us though. We were looking at it to replace a Sono's PlayBar under the television and to provide higher quality music in the TV room. We purposely did not mount the playbar with the TV as we wanted to play with the sound. Instead, we sat the player under the TV on a couple of the Ikea "Kallas" shelving units. These serve as a nice space for any electronics (err... objects d'art ) that we (Karen) decides to put there, and actually look really good. The 65" television floats over most of one shelf.

 

The absence of large speakers in the room means that we are pleased with the look of the room. But a Playbar, even with the additional sub plugged in behind a couch, just sounds too small and tinny in this space. It strains to fill the space enough to make TV dialog audible, and music just feels dead and uninviting though it.In this space - in our previous home, with very high sloped ceilings and a loft to resonate around in, it sounded great. There is also a 12' wall of bookcases on the other side of the room acting as acoustic treatments as well... That can kind of deaden most any sound!

 

First, we looked at the Mu-so in an Apple store. This is not the best environment but we figured at the cost point, we could take a chance. Plus there is a 14 day return policy.

 

The Apple store did not have the Naim app installed anywhere, and didn't have the Naim on a public network that would allow me to access it. Given that, it was impossible to test streaming any of our music to it. The Apple store guys were shocked we even asked, and told us no-one has ever asked about it before. They apparently sell about 15 of these per month, so I was even more surprised than they were. That wasn't a total showstopper though.

 

Not being able to ensure we could turn off the front light was. That light was bright, and in a darkened room watching television, it would have been glaring. The manual said one could *dim* the light, but never gave specifics on exactly how dim.

 

Secondly, the case was gorgeous, but we had thought it was black. The silver would have shown up like a spotlight on the black shelves under the black TV. That was actually "the" showstopper for us.

 

We went with our #2 choice, which is a Bowers and Wilkens Panorama 2 Soundbar. Sound wise, there is not doubt the Naim was better, but in terms of a visible fit into the target environment, the B&W worked much better. Sound wise, the B&W lacks deep bass and has some soundstage limitations, but if you are in front of the device playing music, it sounds very good indeed. What bass is there is tangible, clean, and precise in our room. It is not muddled at all by whatever property it is that often makes the frequency of a bass signal difficult to hear. (100hz hump type of thing...)

 

Amazingly, the B&W will take the DSD signal over HDMI from our BRP when we play SACD disks. It also properly decodes multi-channel audio from DVD-A and BluRay audio disks.

 

Does it sound as good as the full system? Nope. But then, with a list price of $2,200, and a street price of $1200, who would expect it to?

 

It doesn't have any streaming capability at all, so I hooked up a Sono's Connect to the optical input. That sounds very good, better than streaming Apple Music through the Apple TV. That 48hz conversion the ATV forces does something unpleasant to the music. And of course, with Sonos, we get Apple Music, our local library, internet radio, Spotify, and dozens of other services. No hi-res streaming, though we have hopes of encouraging the BRP to that.

 

All in all, musically, we would have been happier with the Naim Mu-so - there is absolutely no doubt it sounds superior. But the esthetics were what caused us to rule it out. On the other hand, my office has a space that would be just perfect for one, and father's day is coming up soon...

 

-Paul

Thanks so much for the detailed info Paul. This can really help people make purchasing decisions.

[Aboulfad]

One year later  I got one few weeks ago, you pay for the name, styling and some good performance, but overall it’s a very nicely built unit with decent sound in its category and for an office. I use Audirvana Plus from my Mac mini to stream over Ethernet Tidal HiFi (including MQA), and must admit it’s one of the nicest sounding single unit.

 

Cons:

- Wifi is only 2.4Ghz b/g, so a definite nono for wireless streaming

- Eth limited to 10/100Mbps but ok for HiFi streaming

- Faint noise floor, even when no music playing and volume set to min