Esoteric N-01XD?
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...
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@sns , @lordmelton , I suddenly am very much looking forward to seeing whether my PhoenixUSB improves the Aurender N20’s USB output to see who is right! I suggest leaving the subject alone until I render my verdict! :) I do wonder if this battle would give Innuos an unfair advantage, since the PhoenixUSB has its own dedicated power supply in its own dedicated box. I suspect just having a separate power cord to power the clock in isolation could be an advantage. I have a lot of respect for Innuos based on my experience. And I know a lot of others have a huge respect for Aurender, so my expectations are high for when the N20 arrives. IF the Innuos wins at USB, but the Aurender AES sounds best overall, I’d think Aurender wins the battle overall. For me at least. Fun times……
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A rational conclusion if this were to be the outcome. @sns is right. Whichever signal path output/input a given brand has chosen to "optimize" will be their best sounding. Most concentrated attention and focused efforts (Design and implementation) subsequently determine the sonic performance. Charles
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I suppose this “competition” I’m about to run when my N20 arrives is not just between Innuos and Aurender, but also between USB and AES on my Diablo DAC module. As it is my only DAC, sadly I’ll be unable to see if the results are generally consistent on other DACs. I know Gryphon has put a lot of focus on the USB interface of my DAC (including a supercap that powers the USB instead of the source device) but I have no idea about the AES interface. But it seems people on this thread suggest, if I understand correctly, that the input device takes over when AES is used, implying the DAC AES implementation quality matters less. Not sure if I got that right. |
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