Mu-so, 5 Ghz network and USB

1. No - devices need to be on the same network (either wired or wireless - that's not important, but it must be the same network)

2. No - USB is really designed for smaller memory sticks

Thanks, but I'm confused about your answer #1 because you say No.

So let me get this straight, although the iPhone and the Mu-so would be on the same network, this would not work because they both need to be wireless?  

Peter - I had to read up on the MuSo - it supports 801.11 b/g wireless - this means 2.4 GHz. If you only have a 5 GHz router, I don't really see how you can hook up your MuSo to it. Except for a wired connection, which is a preferred method for all NAIM streamers (for stability).

I can see two scenarios:

1. If you connect your MuSo via a LAN cable (wired method) you can certainly control it from an iOS / Android device which is connected to the same network

2. You may better off getting one of the Apple routers (Airport Express will be ok, or for improved performance Airport Extreme) - they will support dual-band WiFi. So your MuSo can connect to a Wi-Fi network and be controlled remotely from an iOS / Android.

Many thanks, Adam. The Mu-so would be positioned close to an ethernet RJ45 outlet and for stability I would indeed prefer it to be connected that way, so that's excellent. The iPhones would be connected to the same network (though wireless, obviously) and with this set-up we'd be all right. That is the answer I was (am) hoping for.

Excellent - glad it's sorted.

Just for your reference - this is what a streaming network setup looks like on a diagram (picture courtesy of Mike-B).
In your case NDX would represent your MuSo.
NAS = Network Attached Storage
Switch = for home network - unmanaged switches are the best ones.

If you continue reading on the forum, you will realise a number of forum members install a separate switch, rather than rely on ports in the ISP-sourced wi-fi router. Some, like me take it one step further, and install own wi-fi routers + switches (essentially using IPS provided equipement as a 'modem only').
I'm of course not advocating that you need to do that. That's merely for your information, in case you stumble on one of the threads, and start wondering why....

Should you have any more quesitons - just post either on this thread or start a new thread and it will be quickly picked up.

Adam

PS Welcome to this mad-house, often referred to as the Naim Forum

Hi Adam, once again many thanks for your elaborate answers and welcoming. I've been lurking here for a few weeks before I signed up. So I knew what I was getting in to 

Besides, I've been an active member on several photography and film related fora for more than ten years, so I can say I'm quite used to 'mad-houses' 

Can't say I understand everything you wrote about networks, but having read-up on audio these past few months I've learned that people are very serious about keeping theit audio signal as clean as possible, so I guess that's what it is about.

Kind regards, 

Peter

Indeed - delicate, low voltage audio signals, don't mix well with electric currents (if you remember your shool-level physics - it's the magnetic field caused by the flowing currents that are the main culprits...). Hence the notion of keeping power chords away from signal cables, good cable 'dressing' and all that jazz...

Also micro-vibrations can have adverse effects on highly-revealing audio systems. Micro-vibrations caused by sound-waves from speakers, passing cars, footsteps on a wooden floor, etc, etc....  

Most important thing - enjoy the music! One forum member calls it 'The Why' 

Peterv,

I think you will be able to connect your MuSo over the wifi based on 5ghz, for that you will need AirPort Extreme or express (I'm not sure which one is the right one). I know someone who solved similar issue as yours in the same way - with AirPort Extreme.

Kacper

I'm sorry for that - Adam already mentioned  this kind of solution

Hi Peterv

That works for me, but .... you may need 2.4 GHz for pairing it with the Naim app on iOS; at least I did recently ....

I have a dual-band router, and my Mu-so is wired to a switch, which is connected to the router via powerline adapters (which is a no go for many here with better ears than me). My NAS is also wired to the switch. (So not too different from Adam's (well Mike-B's) architecture diagram).

My iPad is wirelessly connected to the router using the 5GHz band, and I can stream internet radio as well as Airplay content and control the Mu-so without any problems. 

interestingly, the other day (last Friday) the Naim app could not find the Mu-so. Not sure what caused it, because it has not happened before, and I have had a Mu-so for 2 years now.  Perhaps the new beta release of the app, or a router update .... Anyway, so I went through the setup procedures again, and I seemed only to be able to set it up wirelessly (and of course on the 2.4 GHz band) with the Naim app. Once set up, I inserted the internet cable, switched the iPad back to 5GHz, opened the Naim app, and everything was working again, and I am back to enjoying the music.

/Peter

peterks posted:

Hi Peterv

That works for me, but .... you may need 2.4 GHz for pairing it with the Naim app on iOS; at least I did recently ....

I have a dual-band router, and my Mu-so is wired to a switch, which is connected to the router via powerline adapters (which is a no go for many here with better ears than me). My NAS is also wired to the switch. (So not too different from Adam's (well Mike-B's) architecture diagram).

My iPad is wirelessly connected to the router using the 5GHz band, and I can stream internet radio as well as Airplay content and control the Mu-so without any problems. 

interestingly, the other day (last Friday) the Naim app could not find the Mu-so. Not sure what caused it, because it has not happened before, and I have had a Mu-so for 2 years now.  Perhaps the new beta release of the app, or a router update .... Anyway, so I went through the setup procedures again, and I seemed only to be able to set it up wirelessly (and of course on the 2.4 GHz band) with the Naim app. Once set up, I inserted the internet cable, switched the iPad back to 5GHz, opened the Naim app, and everything was working again, and I am back to enjoying the music.

/Peter

If everything in your network is working correctly then it doesn't matter whether devices are connected to your wired network or to either your 2.4GHz network or to your 5GHz network ... they will all be able to communicate and "see" each other.

What does often happen though is that bits of networking kit "misbehave" and either don't bridge protocols correctly between wireless and wired networks (BT HomeHub 3s and 5s seem to be a devil for doing this - we've seen them going from working fine to dropping packets massively in our own testing here) or go into low-power or sleep modes and don't wake up correctly (we've seen a number of different Ethernet Over Mains / Powerline Ethernet adapters that do this too).

I often get phonecalls from people saying that they have been told that they must have all their devices on a 2.4GHz network and that is completely incorrect and if that is the case then that's because there's an issue with the underlying network infrastructure - if it's all working as it should be then wired, WiFi 2.4GHz and WiFi 5GHz should be completely transparent to each other.

Phil

Many thanks for that clarification, Phil.

I always learn something new in the Naim Forums 

/Peter