Naim Muso as Soundbar

Posted by: Dungassin on 27 December 2018

SWMBO finally decided that she wants better sound from her Panasonic Plasma TV.  This is after saying for ages that she wasn't interested in better sound!

The TV has an optical audio output, and to keep things fairly simple I decided that she should have a MUSO, and as a bonus she will music in the living room again.  I'm off to collect one from Cymbiosis on Saturday.  Relatively small size is important to her.  She used to love music on the 52/135/SBLs etc, but hated how much room it took up.

I assume the TV optical output is just  a 'through' thing and will be sending multichannel.  So, my questions are :

Will I have to set her bluray player etc to output Stereo PCM rather than multichannel, or will the Muso just convert 5.1 etc to stereo anyway?

I suspect the answer will be 'set the player to output stereo, but I'm basically lazy (given half a chance!)

Posted on: 30 December 2018 by Dungassin

Doesn't appear to be any menu setting to switch off the Panny's speakers, but I'll check again tomorrow.   I'll also check for a red light on the optical cable when "the boss" isn't there to complain and tell me to stop getting in front of the telly.  The TV was bought in 2011, so perhaps considered 'old' these days.  It's a 3D model (waste of money for that feature IMO, but that's what she wanted).  Finished up buying a total of five 3D goggles, which have hardly ever been used.  Goggles are uncomfortable for those of us who wear glasses.

Posted on: 30 December 2018 by David Hendon

My Sony predates 3D and that has an optical output. I think if your’s has a socket, it will be supposed to work. You could see whether there is a firmware update for your TV....

best

David

Posted on: 30 December 2018 by Mike Sullivan

I have two Panasonic’s connected to Naim gear through the optical out. The onscreen menus can be a bit pants. You may need to search each sub menu and set it to PCM sound output, and speakers off. I’m sure you will get there.

Posted on: 30 December 2018 by Dungassin

I've been through every part of the menus several times, and through the printed manual as well.  The on-screen menus arn't quite the same as the printed menus (why?)

No sign of anything in the on-screen menus/submenus AFAICS, but in the printed ones there is an option to set output to PCM.  Go figure ...

Either way, I'll have to wait for SWMBO to go to bed or just get up before her in the morning.  Not as difficult to do that as I usually sleep 2 hours fewer than she does.   ATM she appears to be watching one of the 'Real Wives of ****' type of programs, which are complete and utter rubbish IMO.  I hate so called 'reality TV' and soaps.

Posted on: 31 December 2018 by Dungassin

This morning the missing submenus for SPDIF magically appeared on SWMBO's TV.  Possibly because I actually switched it off properly last night, so it's rebooted.  After all TVs nowadays are basically just computers.

Set everything (including all source devices) to 2 channel PCM.  No setting to actually disable speakers.  Checked on internet and apparently you just have to mute/turn down the TV's own sound.

Naim Muso app still showed digital not connected.  Tried connecting her PVR and then her bluray player directly to the Muso using optical interconnects.  Again 'digital not connected.

I have decided that there may be something wrong with the digital input on this Muso, and am now completely fed up with it.   A nice music player, but she really wanted it to work as a soundbar primarily.   I'm returning it for refund and will look at soundbars.  The Sonos Beam seems like it might fit her requirements, but I'll have to check the measurements on her TV stand.  She'll have to use that for music unless she decides she wants a 'proper' hifi in the living room again.

Incidentally, I don't like the recessed input sockets under the Muso.  They're awkward to use, and the optical lead tends to get pulled out of the Muso's socket when you put the Muso back on the shelf, making it a bit of a two man job to do it without disconnecting.

Posted on: 01 January 2019 by John Leamy

Hi there - I also have a Panasonic TX GT30B TV. I had the TV connected to an old Sony HiFi unit via an optical cable and it worked fine. I recently purchased a Mu-So and Muso Qb. I connected the Muso to the TV using the existing optical cable and all appears to work fine. Some of the satellite channels however don’t appear to output any sound via optical but no problem with terrestrial channels. As one of the previous contributors said, there should be a red glow from the end of the optical cable you plug into the Muso. My problem is not being able to “stream” the TV sound from the Muso unit to the Muso Qb (the multi room icon is not available when digital input is selected on the Naim app. No problem with multiroom using iRadio or USB (iPod). Any suggestions / insight here?

Posted on: 01 January 2019 by Richard Dane

Some satellite channels maybe broadcasting with a multichannel audio bitstream signal. The Mu-So DAC is not multichannel so needs a 2 channel PCM signal.

Posted on: 01 January 2019 by Dungassin

Richard, I set ALL the sources to output 2 channel PCM.  The Muso is a nice piece of kit, but after several hours of trying to get it to work as a soundbar I had had enough.  As I  said, I did try it direct (not via TV's optical output) from a bluray player and also her old Sony DVD recorder (don't ask).  Also tried no less than 3 toslink cables from my box of bits.  Every time the Naim app reported digital not connected.  I suppose I could have gone down the route of using the headphone output from the TV into the Muso's analogue socket, but suspect the quality of sound would have been poor.

I'm going to get her a soundbar and see if she still wants a music source in the living room.  If she does I'll try to talk her into something like a Uniti Atom + standmount speakers.

Posted on: 01 January 2019 by John Leamy

Hi Richard - thank you. Any suggestions as to how I can get the audio from the TV to “stream” to the Qb unit? I’m currently listening to the Vienna New Year’s Day classical concert in glorious sound through the Muso unit but the multi room option is not available on the Naim app to also stream it through the Qb unit. 

Posted on: 02 January 2019 by YiannisK
Sloop John B posted:

I use a Bluesound Pulse soundbar. Very good app with loads of settings-speech, music, movies etc. It can be worked by your existing remote which is more of an issue than you may think. A second remote or app for volume is a PITA. 

It can also be used for music, streaming sources, radio etc. 

If Cymbiosis stock Bluesound it might be worth an audition. 

.sjb

John, thanks for the heads up re the Bluesound. Is the wireless connectivity stable? 
Cheers

Posted on: 02 January 2019 by Sloop John B

I use it wired ethernet but did run it wirelessly for the first week or 2 with no issues. Certainly there does not seem to be many complaints on the interweb re Bluesound as a lot of people on the Roon forum use them and they are aimed at the wireless speaker market. The newer node 2i have improved connectivity in this regard apparently from the reviews.

.sjb