Being 89 years old you are allowed to be grumpy.
Yeah…
I do also hear the improvements - but my tuned sound is now off its balance.
Some of us might might know, that it is rare when you reach point where everything klicks in.
I left it once (by purpose) with my all Olive system with buying 606.
And than … hell break loose ending in full 500dr (2xps for nd555)…
With sigma Ethernet it had klicked again.
I thought Lucifer was older than time 
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Is it possible that such a shift in sound (which puts extra emphasis on the treble and reduces bass) has improved your system because it was not well balanced pre-update?
Genuine question, no offence meant.
Perhaps I used the wrong word. My concern is buying a product that is already 6 years old, which I hope to keep for at least 10 years but which will, relatively soon into my ownership experience, not be able to receive (or will not get) software updates and / or functionality upgrades. Especially if a mu-so 3 or equivalent is released.
Re your comment on sound - an iPhone 8 can still make and receive calls, but most folk have upgraded because the later models have better performance and functionality.
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understand. Maybe try to buy ex demo or second hand.
A Muso 3 can appear tomorrow or in 3 years. You will never know. And life is short
Who knows, but I have never been dissatisfied with the NC system since I have owned it.
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I think most here would be reasonably confident that Naim would do the best they can to support older streaming devices even after they’ve been superceded by newer devices.
Newer features might sometimes also be added provided the hardware can handle it.
No one apart from Naim will know if they have a Muso-2 replacement imminently arriving, but I’d prefer long product life cycles than new models every year or two. Also far easier for Naim to support I’d imagine.
It’s like so many tech items - does it do what you want today? If so it’s the current product so go for it. If it doesn’t do everything you want or need get something else or hold off until a newer version is released (though when if ever?).
I really feel for those who’ve had a negative upgrade experience.
I felt the same several years ago when a Nova firmware update dramatically worsened SQ for me in my system/listening environment.
I honestly think there are so many factors involved for individual systems that even if the majority are happy it won’t necessarily work for everyone.
The ideal as I’ve mentioned before would be to decouple any audio processing which affects SQ from the firmware itself but some years ago there was a feeling that even change to the basic firmware might alter SQ in subtle/unpredictable ways.
Other options would be to allow a user to revert to a previous firmware version from within the app or manually by downloading older versions.
Naturally on top of firmware ‘improvements’ there might be the need to update certain core software components not necessarily written by Naim for security if any vulnerabilities were discovered - it would be risky to run older firmware if any components offered hackers the opportunity to compromise your home network.
As an example of it being system dependent I did some speaker fiddling earlier and although the SBLs sounded fantastically fast, detailed and sparkly - better than in years - they were overall less engaging with virtually no soundstage compared to my bizarre multi-speaker experiment using active LF to Epos ES14 standmounters and active HF to the SBL tweeters. This hybrid setup shouldn’t work in any conventional sense but it does for me and that’s all I’m bothered about.
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Your system is similar to mine except I dont have the npx 300, I just have 222/250. Who knows if that accounts for the difference we are both experiencing. Could be any number of variables including our hearing.
Have you actually noticed an increase in HF sharpness?
I have noticed more fine detail, clarity and air, but no HF sharpness.
BTW, I auditioned the NC222/250 with and without the 300 on a couple of occasions and was struck by the positive difference the addition of the 300 made to SQ.
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Thanks for clarifying, Nigel.
Fully agree, I love what they achieved sonically with this update.
Also think there are very good reasons for the uplift indeed.
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Anyone else having a problem with the Tidal app losing connection with the Mu-so 2? The music continues to play, but everything stops on the phone and I can no longer control the player. Sometimes I can then find the Mu-so 2 again and it will reconnect for me, but many times I have to turn it off and start over. Extremely annoying!
The problem existed even before the update.
I’m not loving the new firmware on my ND555 (2x555ps). The sound leans more “hifi”, less music. There is more depth and air, but at the expense of a natural musical presentation. And yes, it is more bright in the treble, something I don’t need with ProAc ribbon tweeters as they were perfect sounding (before).
Can I downgrade to the previous build?
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I’m not sure what is worst. Naim not knowing they changed the sound or Naim knowing they changed the sound. For what it’s worth both me and @Lucifer couldn’t hear any changes in sound performance in our Lindemann Bridge II which use Streaming unlimited platform as naim and which also got the major SDK kit upgrade to support Tidal max earlier this summer.
Hi Chris,
My experience is the same as yours. There is definitely something lacking in the sound. Although it is more ‘involving’ and grabs your attention, it is also less ‘involving’ in the sense that it doesn’t draw me into the music and make me feel lost in it. There isn’t the same emotional connection. Hard to describe, perhaps it sounds more ‘digital’ and less organic/real.
In terms of reverting back to the previous firmware, I believe this is possible (thank God!!!) as confirmed by Stevesky - as below:
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Interesting that no changes were made to the DSP code, and yet it sounds very different.