Mu-so Qb query

I haven't heard another all-in-one device that competes with the Muso and QB on sound quality, the only proviso being that they can be a little overbearing if they don't have enough space behind them. You may have trouble if your WiFi is less than bombproof, and there are lesser devices that give better stability - unless you can give it a wired Ethernet connection. Other than that, go for it.

Loki posted:

Should I buy one for the kitchen? The Mu-So is too big, but much better sounding. Our Pure Evoke 2 ( horribly tinny), has died. Any other small footprint, high quality rivals? We predomnantly listen to radio, but want the internet option, rather than DAB.

I've got the Qb but it is rarely turned on as the family prefer to listen to a DAB Radio which is easier to operate and has more than 5 presets.

I've now just bought my daughter a Roberts 94i for her forthcoming birthday as she wanted Spotify/FM/DAB/Internet/UPnP capability and it has decent reviews. I'm not expecting it to sound anywhere near as good as the Qb but I am expecting it to get used, which I guess is the point in the end...

Loki posted:

Should I buy one for the kitchen? The Mu-So is too big, but much better sounding. Our Pure Evoke 2 ( horribly tinny), has died. Any other small footprint, high quality rivals? We predomnantly listen to radio, but want the internet option, rather than DAB.

If you end up pulling wire to the Kitchen anyway, for a solid network connection, I’d also consider Line-level wires from the main system, at the same time, so you can enjoy the lovely LP12 in there, too, if you want.

Nick

I have a QB in my kitchen, connected wirelessly and it sounds great with Internet radio and uPnP.
However, if you need DAB and or FM radio, look elsewhere.

I have a Muso QB  which I found a little better than my older Sonos Player although Sonos technical support is first class. Any network or other problems and it is easy to access excellent telephone help. 

However my wife prefers a more conventional Radio with buttons and dials and we have recently added a Ruark R1 in the kitchen and a Ruark R2 in the kitchen and I am very impressed. Both radios look superb and sound good for what they are and have FM, DAB and Bluetooth and the R2 adds WiFi, internet radio and Spotify Connect and can stream music from a NAS drive

Bob

I myself am a very satisfied owner of a little qb. Its built like a tank, every speaker is fed with the optimum amount of power (which most of the time people fail to do with their main systems) and the atmosphere it produces makes any room feel like home. We recently took it in our luggage with us on vacation.

We also previously had a Pure Evoke in the kitchen (now moved off-site) which, like you, I found tinny and not a patch on my original Evoke-1.  So when John Lewis had a deal on Muso Qbs a few weeks ago, I jumped at the chance and bought one.  I must say that I find it in a different class sonically to these other boxes and, of course, it plays wirelessly from most of the music stored on my NAS.  When it's on, I have sometimes found myself making strange movements, somewhat akin to dancing around the kitchen, when I'm supposed to be cooking or washing up.  This has never happened with any other kitchen audio system, so I would say, go for it.  And, of course, with party mode I can have the same music playing synchronously in the lounge and kitchen which is nice when wandering about the ground floor.  Incidentally, my somewhat technophobic wife is quite happy using the App to control it.

BTW I also have a Ruark R1 on my bedside table which I use as an alarm radio.  It is very nice but not, to my ears, sonically in the same class as a Muso.

Roger

We've used Sonos Play 5 and and B&W A5. Both very good. The Sonos is very easy to set up and use. The A5 is flakier in operation but sounds bigger and more detailed. Neither can touch a QB. This is not surprising when you consider the relative prices. If you have the space and the budget, the Naim QB and MuSo are both best in class IMO. We've got 2 QBs and 2 MuSos. The youngest is about two and a half years ole. If we were shopping today we would find the prices being asked borderline off putting. But they are good.

The Muso Qb is a lovely piece of kit — bought one for the study, and couldn’t resist buying another one when John Lewis had it on promotion recently. The only downside is that our 4-year-old son now wants to sleep in our bedroom to listen to Schlaflieder...

I also got my Muso from John Lewis in their sale and well worth the discount price. It’ obviously sounds better than the Ruarks but the latter are decent for small rooms and spoken radio and background music. 

sonos 5 is a  v good package and a lot cheaper ,. i have the qb.  partner finds using app too much fuss for background music.  alittle boomy in the kitchen  too.   doesn't get much use to be fair   .  good in garden though on a sunny day.

Sonos is so easy to use with such a superb user interface that it spoils you for anything else. Mine didn't play anything over 16/44.1. I expect that's been addressed by now?

Harry posted:

Sonos is so easy to use with such a superb user interface that it spoils you for anything else. Mine didn't play anything over 16/44.1. I expect that's been addressed by now?

Sonos is still 16/44 only, and I would guess that they have no plans to change that. How many Sonos users would want more - I suspect most are happily using MP3/AAC. Also it might test the legendary stability of their WiFi performance. 

That's bad. I agree, the majority of users won't use it or care. 

Our wireless Muso and wireless QB will try to play higher than 16/44.1 material but can't without drop outs. The wired MuSo and wired QB have no problems, and boy can they exploit the quality. 

I changed from a Sonos Play 5 to a Qb in the Conservatory whilst the Sonos worked perfectly  wirelessly I had to use a wired ethernet connection on the Qb to achieve the same results.The Qb is better sound wise  if you can connect via a cable but wirelessly it can be a bit flaky at times.

There's an antenna (wa5) upgrade one can have off ebay for 10$ or so. It brings couple of dB back to equation.

Pcd posted:

I changed from a Sonos Play 5 to a Qb in the Conservatory whilst the Sonos worked perfectly  wirelessly I had to use a wired ethernet connection on the Qb to achieve the same results.The Qb is better sound wise  if you can connect via a cable but wirelessly it can be a bit flaky at times.

Our two Muso QB aren't exactly close to the router -- but no issues with wireless use. I guess it depends a lot on the router...  

Timo posted:

Pcd posted:

I changed from a Sonos Play 5 to a Qb in the Conservatory whilst the Sonos worked perfectly  wirelessly I had to use a wired ethernet connection on the Qb to achieve the same results.The Qb is better sound wise  if you can connect via a cable but wirelessly it can be a bit flaky at times.

Our two Muso QB aren't exactly close to the router -- but no issues with wireless use. I guess it depends a lot on the router...  

Sonos worked OK on the same router ?

Penarth Blues posted:

Loki posted:

Should I buy one for the kitchen? The Mu-So is too big, but much better sounding. Our Pure Evoke 2 ( horribly tinny), has died. Any other small footprint, high quality rivals? We predomnantly listen to radio, but want the internet option, rather than DAB.

I've got the Qb but it is rarely turned on as the family prefer to listen to a DAB Radio which is easier to operate and has more than 5 presets.

I've now just bought my daughter a Roberts 94i for her forthcoming birthday as she wanted Spotify/FM/DAB/Internet/UPnP capability and it has decent reviews. I'm not expecting it to sound anywhere near as good as the Qb but I am expecting it to get used, which I guess is the point in the end...

Penarth Blues - both the Muso and the QB have as many presets as you want - it is just that the app only shows 5 initially. I thought the same, until i spoke to someone at Graham's - you can just keep adding stations you want as presets. I am not sure if there is a maximum, but it is certainly greater than 5, as I have at least 10 on mine. Hope that helps.

audio1946 posted:

sonos 5 is a  v good package and a lot cheaper ,. i have the qb.  partner finds using app too much fuss for background music.  alittle boomy in the kitchen  too.   doesn't get much use to be fair   .  good in garden though on a sunny day.

If the Qb is sounding boomy, then move it away from any wall/corner, but leave the sound correction set to "close to wall" and make sure the Loudness setting is to off.

best

David

Pcd posted:

Timo posted:

Pcd posted:

I changed from a Sonos Play 5 to a Qb in the Conservatory whilst the Sonos worked perfectly  wirelessly I had to use a wired ethernet connection on the Qb to achieve the same results.The Qb is better sound wise  if you can connect via a cable but wirelessly it can be a bit flaky at times.

Our two Muso QB aren't exactly close to the router -- but no issues with wireless use. I guess it depends a lot on the router...  

Sonos worked OK on the same router ?

Agree that the Muso can be occasionally flaky on Wifi - but this will depend on your Wifi coverage. If you're having issues, I'd suggest you look at the new generation of mesh technology Wifi, from (in the UK) the likes of BT (Whole Home Wifi), Netgear (Orbi), Linksys (Velop), TP Link and others - the technology is becoming mainstream now. 

The Ubiquiti Unifi implementation of mesh technology looks particularly good, though is likely more expensive, and (pardon the pun) somewhat less ubiquitous... 

Though a Muso/Muso Qb will not take advantage of the enhanced transmission speeds mesh Wifi offers (since Naim have specified only 802.11b/g wireless networking), most of your other devices WILL,  and the Naim kit will benefit from the more solid coverage from a mesh system.

One assumes that the Muso/Muso Qb Mark 2 will come equipped with wireless chipsets that support the much faster 802.11ac standard? I appreciate that Naim's philosophy is to provide wired ethernet connectivity if you want to stream at higher bit rates, but putting ethernet everywhere you might want to use Naim kit, particularly in older houses, can be a daunting task. Mesh Wifi gets around this, and from my personal experience works very effectively. 

Duncan Mann posted:

Pcd posted:

Timo posted:

Pcd posted:

I changed from a Sonos Play 5 to a Qb in the Conservatory whilst the Sonos worked perfectly  wirelessly I had to use a wired ethernet connection on the Qb to achieve the same results.The Qb is better sound wise  if you can connect via a cable but wirelessly it can be a bit flaky at times.

Our two Muso QB aren't exactly close to the router -- but no issues with wireless use. I guess it depends a lot on the router...  

Sonos worked OK on the same router ?

Agree that the Muso can be occasionally flaky on Wifi - but this will depend on your Wifi coverage. If you're having issues, I'd suggest you look at the new generation of mesh technology Wifi, from (in the UK) the likes of BT (Whole Home Wifi), Netgear (Orbi), Linksys (Velop), TP Link and others - the technology is becoming mainstream now. 

The Ubiquiti Unifi implementation of mesh technology looks particularly good, though is likely more expensive, and (pardon the pun) somewhat less ubiquitous... 

Though a Muso/Muso Qb will not take advantage of the enhanced transmission speeds mesh Wifi offers (since Naim have specified only 802.11b/g wireless networking), most of your other devices WILL,  and the Naim kit will benefit from the more solid coverage from a mesh system.

One assumes that the Muso/Muso Qb Mark 2 will come equipped with wireless chipsets that support the much faster 802.11ac standard? I appreciate that Naim's philosophy is to provide wired ethernet connectivity if you want to stream at higher bit rates, but putting ethernet everywhere you might want to use Naim kit, particularly in older houses, can be a daunting task. Mesh Wifi gets around this, and from my personal experience works very effectively. 

Duncan, I see the Linksys (Velop) is available from Apple I was thinking of taking this onboard any suggestions.

Your comment on property types is quite correct it would be difficult to get a wired connection to certain parts of my property.

Paul Ferrier posted:

Penarth Blues posted:

Loki posted:

Should I buy one for the kitchen? The Mu-So is too big, but much better sounding. Our Pure Evoke 2 ( horribly tinny), has died. Any other small footprint, high quality rivals? We predomnantly listen to radio, but want the internet option, rather than DAB.

I've got the Qb but it is rarely turned on as the family prefer to listen to a DAB Radio which is easier to operate and has more than 5 presets.

I've now just bought my daughter a Roberts 94i for her forthcoming birthday as she wanted Spotify/FM/DAB/Internet/UPnP capability and it has decent reviews. I'm not expecting it to sound anywhere near as good as the Qb but I am expecting it to get used, which I guess is the point in the end...

Penarth Blues - both the Muso and the QB have as many presets as you want - it is just that the app only shows 5 initially. I thought the same, until i spoke to someone at Graham's - you can just keep adding stations you want as presets. I am not sure if there is a maximum, but it is certainly greater than 5, as I have at least 10 on mine. Hope that helps.

It's 5 presets max on the Volume dial interface but as you say there's as many as you want via the app

 

Duncan, I see the Linksys (Velop) is available from Apple I was thinking of taking this onboard any suggestions.

Your comment on property types is quite correct it would be difficult to get a wired connection to certain parts of my property.

Yes, I installed BT Whole Home Wifi with great success in a Devon cottage with 3 foot thick Cobb walls, which had defeated the owner's valiant attempts to obtain decent wifi coverage using a battery of extenders and Homeplug mains networking devices. 

The Velop system is towards the top end of the consumer market. Apple have effectively endorsed it by stocking it in their stores - Lynksys are owned by Belkin, whose products have been widely available in Apple stores for many years. Not sure if you're aware, but Apple have effectively ceased development of Wifi products, though continue to sell their Airport & Time Capsule products for the time being - they will become increasingly outdated as new products come to market. There is conjecture therefore as to whether stocking mesh wifi products from third party suppliers is a precursor to dropping their own products in the fullness of time... 

I haven't used the Velop system, but it was one of the first to market, which suggests it should be a mature product, with stable firmware. As a premium product, it has a few bells and whistles that similar but cheaper products lack - for example a couple of ethernet ports, possibly handy for hooking up a Muso/Muso Qb - and a greater range of configuration options. 

Likelihood is that these mesh systems use similar chipsets, so the differences between them will largely relate to these bells and whistles rather than performance per se - the cheaper BT Whole Home Wifi is very good value at half the price of the Velop system, and you may find it does all you need? Both systems allow you to add further access points if the need arises, which is a comfort - though adds to the expense.

I'd suggest you get a system, and try it in your home, but make sure that your retailer has a good returns policy if it doesn't work out for you? There does seem to be a perception that the Linksys setup is a tad more fiddly than other products (check consumer reviews at a well known web retailer), so a bit will depend on your confidence in this area. 

I have a Muso Qb in my kitchen (also have a Muso and an Atom elsewhere) and I'm very happy with it.  I tend to control it with the Naim app but I also have it connected to a Chromecast Audio via optical so my wife and daughter can control it by talking to our google home mini.  It's a great way for people who can't be bothered with the app to get the radio or playlist they want with voice control.  They just need to turn the unit on as it won't wake from standby for an incoming optical connection.