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Grimm MU1 Streamer - Really "The Best"?

I've recently become interested in the Grimm MU1.  While reviews of top end players from Innuos, Aurender and Antipodes and others are typically all very positive, the tone of the many pro reviews of the Grimm MU1 go far, far beyond, with some reviews resorting to using superlatives and gushing of positive system transformation and not being able to stop listening to material, etc..  HiFi Advice and Steve Huff (actually calls it "magic") have such reviews.

Given the delay in availability of the Innuos Pulsar which I'm told will be better than my current Zenith Mk3 + PhoenixUSB reclocker, I am interested in replacing my streaming setup with a one-box solution that includes a high-precision clock.  The new streamer will continue to feed my Gryphon Diablo 300's DAC module, which I have no interest in replacing.

I'm actually a fan of Innuos, after they improved the sound of my Zenith with firmware updates and after I added their PhoenixUSB reclocker. I appreciate this commitment to improving sound quality which is why I was so interested in the Pulsar.

The trigger for considering an upgrade is not for improved sound, but rather, to solve some issues I have with too many Audioquest power cords coiled and clumped together. I will get to lose one of them and one of my USB cords with a one-box streamer. I've noticed my sound is very sensitive to positioning of my AC cords and find I often need to re-adjust the PC feeding my amp to get proper sounding vocals at center stage.  One of my subs also seems to be picking up AC noise when the crossover is set above 60Hz. The second trigger is simply system simplification, removing one box.  All that said I don't really have any complaints regarding sound, and the PhoenixUSB reclocker truly did improve the sound of my Zenith.

While the Grimm MU1 has it's 4X upsampling up it's sleeve with reviewers absolutely glowing over this feature and it's extreme ability to separate tones to the left, right, front, and back far better than the rest, I don't see that Grimm has gone to any lengths with regard to power supply management in the way other brands do including Innuos. The MU1's ultra-simplistic interior doesn't bug me, but the lack of transformers and power management makes me wonder....

Are there any updates from folks who have directly compared the MU1 vs similarly classed streamers from the competition?  Did you find it to be as revelatory as the pro reviewers found it? And, how does it compare to other streamers with it's 4X upsampling disabled?  Does it sound like it suffers from it's lack of power management?  I do see that the clock should be very good...

 

 

nyev
lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

@ghasley 

@lordmelton Again, I have no affiliation with the seller of the MU! Nor should  @nyev purchase anything he isnt ready to purchase. With that said, your pricing data is a bit dated as well as the supply chain/availability is quite a bit different today. It is my understanding that availability is ZERO. You might want to call a dealer to see if the rumor aligns with the facts. Next up would be to determine what a MU1 with the 8tb ssd and double the ram at 8gb is worth.

I believe your comment should be addressed to @metaldetektor 

lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

@nyev Why don't you phone or email the sellers and see if that helps.

They, of course have first hand experience and are not reviewers.

Good Luck!

nyev OP
1,023 posts
 

@lordmelton , good idea! However one of the sellers is a dealer. They responded to my email (where I noted the products I was interested in) that “the N20 is inferior to the K50” (He was the seller of the K50). I suspect “inferior” is too strong a word but I do think the K50 may possibly be in a slightly higher class than the N20, at a higher price of course.  

lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

@nyev The N20 and MU1 are more or less set and forget units whereas I believe the K50 may require driver downloads etc., like the Taiko.

I really don't want to get involved in setting dozens of parameters.

Buying used you won't lose money on either.

sns
3,003 posts
 

@nyev Since my final decision for a plug n play streamer was going to be the K50, obviously that would be my choice.

 

I decided on K50 based on several factors. While I don't find the k50 usb rendering to be among the best, neither is any Aurender offering, even the W20SE isn't up to the best. This usb issue in virtually every single box plug n play streamer is what led me to custom build. Compare top flight usb solutions such as Innuous Phoenix usb or JCAT USB XE, even Sonore OpticalRendu. Three I mention have very nice dedicated power supplies and best clocks. Check out the usb solutions in vast majority of plug n play, you won't see same level of power supply and in most cases, clock. Vast majority have usb clock and ps coming off motherboard, a few have half hearted attempts for ps, perhaps with nice clock.

 

So, assuming usb less than optimal in all three streamers mentioned above, other ports in each will be optimal. I like the K50 for it's AES/EBU, much easier optimization in both streamers and dac, and many nice reviews using this port. The other thing that sets K50 apart from the others, and was important to me, is the second ethernet port offered, something none of the others offered. This dedicated ethernet is dedicated OUT port for DIRECT connection to either dedicated outboard streamer which will take care of usb issue, or connect to streaming dac, makes it more versatile piece. One can eliminate the need to detour through a switch with this second port, this assumes most direct route is best.  I also like Antipodes take on ps, using both lps and smp based on particular needs. I'm Roon guy as well.

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