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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
nyev OP
1,031 posts
 

@lalitk , absolutely, will do!  As the unit has only been used two months, and inactive for the past while packed in a box, it may not even be fully burned in yet.  Thinking of coordinating trials of Audioquest Diamond, Shunyata Sigma, and Sablon AES demos.  I should get on that now as it often takes weeks before I see demo cables.  I might check the used market to see what is out there.  For USB all I have now is the Audioquest Diamond, and the only other I’ve tried at the extreme end of the price spectrum is the Nordost Valhalla 2 - which was truly great but for me not worth the premium over the Diamond.

Very curious to see how the N20 sounds compared to Innuos Zenith MK3 + PhoenixUSB.  I almost don’t want to know but I will see how the PhoenixUSB sounds with the N20.  I am crossing my fingers that it sounds the same or worse with the Reclocker and I can sell the PhoenixUSB as planned!  Which will also be doable if AES ends up being the way to go.

nyev OP
1,031 posts
 

Wow, seems the used uber-premium AES cables are mostly 1.25m or less. After my experience with short (sub 1.5m)USB cables sounding far worse than their > 1.5m counterparts, I’d think many are unknowingly undoing the benefits of premium cables by getting shorter cables so they can afford them. Or they simply expect shorter runs are better as that would seem to be logical. I found the the vast performance benefits of longer USB cables over shorter versions BEFORE I read the vendor recommendations on the matter (1.8m or longer according to the Nordost FAQ).

I’ve not done the same comparison with power cables but others say 2m is best. And, Nordost has earned some credibility with their cable length recommendations as what they say matches what I discovered first hand (for USB at least), before being informed of this.

Thinking I should just buy a used Audioquest Diamond AES cable so it will be a fair comparison to the USB Diamond I have. There is a used one 50% off of retail that appears to be in good condition so thinking I may go with that.  Will hang on to it for my eventual test of the Pulsar/K50/MU1, all of which will be a ways off.  Will also see if I can get a demo Sigma and Omega just to compare.

lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

@nyev Congratulations on your purchase. I've found a solid silver USB cable is best, so an AQ Diamond is ideal.

1.8m for USB

1.0m+ for ICs

1.0m is ok for PCs

Nordost are bright and revealing

Get some SR Purple fuses

ghasley
2,507 posts
 

@nyev 

Most everything we’ve learned about ideal USB cable length is applicable to…USB cable length. USB cables do a very different job in a very different way than AES/EBU cables. For instance, USB cables are also called upon to carry an electrical current since many dacs (and printers and other computer peripherals compliant with the universal serial bus standard) require it for their USB ports/handshake to operate. Many USB cable makers for Hifi offer their USB cables with/without the power option. Curious and Final Touch Audio quickly come to mind.

 

Many of your posts talk about your desire for detail and warmth. While they aren’t mutually exclusive, there are some cable “flavors” that do head down one road or the other. I wince ever so slightly when you mention Valhalla and AQ Diamond as they don’t typically bring warmth to the table, but everyone has their own preferences. I have found there are a wide array of differences between USB cables, AES/EBU cables are far less variable.

sns
3,328 posts
 

I'm betting on Phoenix usb vs N20, the only statement Aurender makes in relation to usb port is that it's isolated, doesn't say anything about power supply and clock. The preferred output on it looks to be all the SPDIF,  most of their efforts went here, clocks and power supplies.

 

This lack of optimal implementation of usb in vast majority of plug n play streamers has been my major issue with them since usb is optimal input on my dac. None of the Aurenders provide for the most optimal usb,  W20SE seems to max out here, still not best available.  Still, in the end it may not matter if using SPDIF with your dac, or with any dac provides better sound than usb.

 

I continue to be curious about this ongoing lack of optimal usb utilization in so many high end streamers, obviously Innuous and some others know how to do it, to not include it these high priced streamers is a crime in my book. And this is why I became much more interested in custom builds based on Windows platform. I can utilize great variety of optimized, top flight rendering via Pink Faun and JCAT usb, AES/EBU, I2S, coax, net cards. All have superior filtering/power supplies which can be powered via external lps vs motherboard, also have OXCO/Femto clocks, this is superior rendering, anything less is less.

 

Assuming  these top brand streamer manufacturers actually know how to build and implement top flight usb , and have tested and voiced them with dacs implementing top flight usb boards, I can only come to conclusion they find totally optimized usb inferior to top flight SPDIF. The question is have they indeed done this?

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