MB50 ..... how are owners dealing without the Ethernet Port
 

One of the four hard drives on my beloved Kalidascape died and I came to find that yes everything was backed up in perfect bit for bit files but the only way I can get them out of the Kalidascape is to buy a new model ….. if I buy any other brand I lose the files – Life is a constant source of amusement

Anyway I’m not interested in another Kalidascape (the new model doesn’t even have a RAID back up option) so I’ve been looking around for something to fill the empty slot in my equipment rack – Things certainly have changed over 10 years …. some amazing equipment out there

Was chatting over the situation with my installer and he offered me a McIntosh MB50 floor model to take home and demo – The MB50 set up easily and the streamer worked great – When I tried Tidal HD that was a terrific surprise for a few hours …..then problems started with the signal – Seems going wireless on Tidal at peak demand is better run through a hard connection – Now I’m guessing everyone here knows the MB50 doesn’t have an Ethernet connection so the work around is use an adapter and go through the USB port - If I do that I lose the access for my incoming NAS drive

Spoke with McIntosh and they suggested a switching box and promised details next week – I got the feeling it was a call they had received before – Anyway was wondering if anyone here had found a work around for this situation

Oh!!! --- The Play-Fi app is functional but not at all engaging but I could live with it as long as I can get the MB50 where it needs to be

Thanks for any help

I wanted one, but there are a number of reviews with people having issues with the wireless connection.

I've been using a Lumin D1, which sounds great, but I was curious about the MB50. I mostly wanted to give it a shot because I thought I would like nice sitting above my MA8000, and if it was sonically close I would have stuck with it. Well I never got to hear a single note out of it. Tried many many times to hook it up wirelessly and with a wired connection and just never got the app to function right. Through all my trouble shooting with McIntosh and play fi, it seems as if it would connect to my network, but I could never find the MB50 in the play fi app. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed with it.

MB50 ..... how are owners dealing without the Ethernet Port
 

Interesting experiences. I use my MB50 routinely, the streaming connection is rock-solid and it sounds fabulous streaming Tidal HiFi. I ended up using a wired connection as I have a Luxul 16-port Gigabit switch adjacent to it. I did try the wireless connection for awhile streaming Tidal HiFi and found that while I periodically had dropouts on my 2.4 GHz network, once I switched to a 5 GHz network, the dropout problem disappeared.

The wireless connection was working great for me on Pandora and Internet Radio – My challenge was occasional drops on Tidal High Def so I felt the issue wasn’t the MB50 - I upgraded my modem (actually Spectrum Broadcasting replaced my 6 year old modem with their current model) and problem completely solved – High Def working like a charm and everything is playing and sounding great

Today I ordered a Synology DS216 NASS and two WD 2T Red Drives and will be setting up a music library (I’m sooooooooo glad I didn’t get rid of my old CDs) – The plan is run the Synology NASS drive directly into the modem and have the McIntosh MB50 access it via Play-Fi over the network - No need for additional connections on my set up

The front of the manual does say “Streaming Player” … not box with an Ethernet connection and I’m starting to see their logic – That said based on the hard wire option in the McIntosh manual I did order a Monoprice 109466 Ethernet to USB adaptor plug ($14 on Amazon) ..… I guess I’m a hard wire guy by habit

There is a learning curve with the Play-Fi app but I’m getting happy with it – Play-Fi also works well with Plex so that is a huge plus - Plex is a great app for media management

I had auditioned a half dozen options – Some cheaper and some more expensive but when all is said and done what matters is performance and sound – The MB50 was a winner for me at its price point

I’ll post when I get it all set up in case someone is searching for information

Hooked up the Synology DS216 NASS and ripped 20 CDs for a test - Streaming like a charm and sounds terrific - I had planned on doing the Ethernet hard wire but don't see the necessity

I'm guessing the reviews with folks having streaming issues were old / slow modems - The MB50 is working and sounding great

I was having dropouts with my MB 50, but solved them with a Linsys range extender for wireless network. Now Tidal HiFi works perfectly all the time.

I have my Apple Lossless files stored on a Synology DS216play (Plex Media Server) and I connect to the MB50 using the iphone play-fi app. But whatever I do I can't play the music stored on the NAS. When opening the musicserver on the play-fi app it sees the Plex Music server but it says no audio content available.

Can anyone help me please?

EMJ... Welcome to AA! :wave:

thanks!