Can anybody helpout a struggling newbie?

Assuming you would have an IPhone or IPad I would suggest you use a NAS based solution. Advantage is comfort, no noise, always on.

So procedure is relatively simple. Buy a NAS, Qnap is a good solution, others also work. Connect to the router and install a media server on it like Asset, Twonky,....ensure the server has scanned the NAS for the music files. And with the Naim app you are in business.

obviously you would need the music files through ripping or buying them online.

as you present yourself as a newbie - you might want to ask the help from your dealer or an established streaming friend....

I would suggest something a bit different.  

Download a free demo of J.River Media Center.  Use it on your PC to manage your music.  Get it setup like you would be using it on your PC. Then turn on the Media Server capability (this is the uPNP capability). Now you shoukd be able to stream the music from your PC to the Mu-So

i do exactly this to stream from my PC to my UnitiQute. 

Leave your PC on when you want to listen to music. 

I propose a hybrid approach.  Start with Brubacca's suggestion -- get your (or some of your) music on your pc, and get a UPnP server running on your pc.  Once you've got those basics down, you can think about putting your music on a nas and getting a UPnP server running on the nas.  You'll learn a lot in the process (such as, when you get your music being served and realizing you need to learn about editing the metadata).

Yes do this (but slowly) I have a NAS, AND a server (Asset) on a laptop.

NAS came first (WD MyBook with Twonky) and after a few days of getting the Tower PC properly sorted never looked back, I still use it 2 and a half years later! The Laptop/Asset thing is a backup and experiment (SQ thing) 3 networked / linked Naim devices around our lovely home. I can listen to Van Der Graaf Generator in the listening room whilst Sue relaxes to George Michael in the bedroom (or I can frighten the crap out of her by accidentally selecting the wrong room!)

Don't you just love the Naim forum "I have a PC, router and Muso, how do I connect them - Buy a NAS!"

1. you need music on your PC in order to send it to the muso.
2. you need a UpNP server on the PC to "send" (stream) music to the muso. I suggest asset . (click link)
3. set up asset to scan "see" your music files, ie specify a folder or folders for it to scan.
4. downland the Naim app to your phone. Select the streamer and choose asset
5. all your scanned music will now show up on your phone
6. press play

SJB

7.  When you're tired of having to turn your PC on each time you want music, tired of the fan noise from the PC, and tired of the electrical noise from the PC reducing sound quality; then...

8.  Get a NAS

9. Copy your Music to it's Music Media folder

10. Do steps 4, 5 & 6, but use the NAS.

11.  Notice that when playing from the NAS (with the PC turned off) and see if the music sounds better (then search this forum to find out why this is the case!)

In other words Bart's suggestion +1:

Experiment and learn with the PC, then move to a NAS when you want to take the next step in SQ and convenience.

I was a complete noob to this streaming business too...

Having spent all my cash on a pre-loved unitilite, I bought a cheap NAS (Western Digital My Cloud 2 Terrabyte at £109), plugged it into the back of my router and followed the very simple instructions supplied by WD, and was up and running in no time using WiFi. 

Many will tell you to spend more, and the WD does have a few foibles with it's 'Twonky' server software, but it's a good way to learn the ropes.  You can always upgrade when you know what's what!

And of course, there's all the other benefits of a NAS like sharing Photos and all other Files etc.

Huge, I'm curious (though I don't find the Forum search especially pinpoint for getting answers):

Since a NAS is basically a computer (running a hard-drive, processor, and software), why would it create less electrical noise for a network or mains than a PC/Mac/laptop etc etc ?

Simple...

1    less power = less current @230V.

PC / Mac etc:  Typical operating power consumption around 150W - 200W

Laptop etc:  Typical operating power consumption around 50W - 100W (but some are upto 200W when charging the battery)

NAS:  Typical operating power consumption around 15W - 25W

 If the quality of the SMPS is the same (RFI - wise), then the NAS is electrically quieter.

2    CPU Clock frequency

PC / Mac   60+W CPU @ more than 3GHz

Laptop   30W - 60W CPU @ > 1.5GHz to 3.5GHz

NAS   10W - 25W CPU @ > 1.2GHz to 2GHz

Lower frequency switching at lower power creates less noise

3    SMPS vs Linear

PCs, Macs and laptop chargers are always SMPS.

the SMPS on a NAS can usually be simply swapped for a linear PSU.

Interesting.

Is point 1 (above) a factor for the mains or the network, or both ?

I would have thought all mains issues (for either type of device) could be isolated/mitigated by running through a LPSU or a filtered power block ?  Laptops even have the option of running off battery.....

The network issues are not something I've ever noticed in practice, having tried the laptop as a server rather than the more usual NAS.  Though its quite possible neither of my systems are sufficiently resolving to demonstrate this.

Do you believe this is a significant factor, such that any computer in use throughout the house has a noticeable degrading effect on sound quality (or primarily if just used as a server/player) ?

Thanks everyone for your help, i downloaded JRiver media center and imported my entire music collection to it and i somehow managed to locate the Muso and it worked. What a step up in sound quality from bluetoothed Tidal! If only there was some way of playing Tidal through the Muso the same way. Next step will definitely be a nas drive to keep music separate and organised.

Just one more (amateur) question, does the nas drive need to be connected to the pc to allow me to add music to it or is there some way of doing it wirelessly over wifi??

Thanks

Karlos - don't OVER think it.  

The primary advantage to the nas is that it's on all the time; a computer typically isn't.  And given that a nas is on all the time, one should outfit it with hard drives that are meant to be on all the time, i.e., nas drives such as WD Red or other, more expensive "enterprise" drives.

So the nas will be quieter (probably), use less energy, be more reliable (due to use of proper hard drives).  Those are bonuses worth pursuing imho.

To Bart,

To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it at all till Huge mentioned this..... ;-)

To the OP,

Glad that clicked together for you nice & easily.  Good stuff.  For file transfer between PC and NAS, wifi works just fine.  Once you have a NAS hooked up it should appear like a new network drive in windows explorer.  For Tidal through Muso etc, many folks are now using Bubble app quite successfully to achieve that -  so it can be managed through a smartphone. There are some recent threads elaborating on this.....

If you do consider going for a NAS, be aware of the audible noise, the significance of whic will depend on your options for siting.

I made the mistake of buying a cheap NAS, only to find that when sited in my living room to minimise distance to the streamer the noise level was sufficiently intrusive to be annoying when playing music with quiet passages. And after a couple of years it was getting increasingly noisy and something had to be done. The only option if I were to keep it for music or on permanently would have been to construct a soundproof (but ventilated) enclosure, or move it into the attic hoping damp wouldn't be an issue.

Theres a QNAP that is truly silent - however my solution was a Mac MinI, the fan of which I can only hear from a few inches away. I leave it on permanently, it's stable, and in the event of wanting to turn off/on there's a simple thing called a switch, and quick start up afterwards, unlike things running Windows...

Sounds like you are using J.River to push the music to the Mu-So...  If you turn on Media Server you would be able to get the Mu-So to pull data from J.River.  It is a minor distinction, but using a NAS drive you would need to use the Mu-So to pull data off of the NAS.

WiFi for putting music on the NAS is fine, you want a wired connection between the Mu-So and NAS for best sound.  

There are plenty of NAS drive enclosures that are quieter than PCs or Macs - look at their noise figures and just pick one of the quieter ones.

The distinction between pull and push in DLNA is quite subtle.  I think in the case of using JRiver after it 'found' the Muso, it's then acting as a DLNA control point sending the track information to the Muso which then sends a request to the JRiver media server (running on the PC) for it to send the track data back.  Is this a pull or a push, or both?

I know it's all a bit daunting if you're not very computer and network savvy - but it isn't difficult and there's a bit of info on Naim website that may help, e.g. go to  knowledgebase (http://support.naimaudio.com) and type in NAS. Should you get stuck there are many here who'll help.

Im looking at a QNAP TS-251 (4 GB RAM), now, this seems to be one of the most powerful in its price range. Would this make it a noisy bastard because the fan needs to go full pelt to keep it cool or super quiet because it will probably only be using a fraction of its processing power to stream music??

Also does it make any difference which type of ethernet cable is used to connect the Muso to the router or NAS? I see Cat6a cables that are shielded, could this affect sound quality in any way?

I've a QNAP 251 & although I don't use it for music streaming (backup only) it's completely silent.