Grimm MU1 Streamer - Really "The Best"?

“Which I know is just marketing.”
@nyev

I beg to differ. AES/SPDIF implementation is much more complexed than USB where data packets are simply being pushed to a DAC for all the heavy lifting. Aurender clearly advocates SOTA performance for end users through their AES/SPDIF output by controlling the signal out to the DAC at intervals defined by the on-board precision OCXO clock. There is only so much one can do with USB outputs in a streamer as the outcome will greatly vary by USB implementation in your DAC. Aurender’s dedicated USB Audio output is physically and electrically isolated from the noise-generating CPU board to minimize noise in the sensitive audio interconnect. And from what I’ve read, your DAC module is pretty darn good with handling incoming data faithfully and meticulously. These particular features among others in your DAC implementation stood out to me,

“Super-Capacitor (12.5 Farad!) power supply for USB module - acts like a true battery supply”

“Temperature-compensated, ultra-low jitter crystal oscillator with better than 5 parts per million accuracy”

As I pointed out earlier, each system is unique. I enjoyed my time with N20 paired with EMM Labs DA2 DAC. But when I heard N20 with an external 10MHz clock, my jaw simply dropped. A different beast altogether with external clock! It became clear to me why Aurender chose to include external clock input with their top 3 models. In my opinion, when it comes to pushing the limits of what’s possible in digital realm, Aurender is way ahead of the curve. You may not think about pursuing external clock at this time but that’s something you should keep in mind before settling down with a streamer of your choice. 

@nyev Very nice, detailed comparison. My only question is, can there be too much detail, transparency? Maximum detail and transparency has always been my goal in audio reproduction, while there have been periods of times where that added D/T wasn't positive, with tuning and tweaking have usually been able to get back to neutral and/or natural. Based on your comparisons, think I'd enjoy the Innuos sound over Aurender. Still, sounds like you may need more time with Aurender, changes in our perceptions can happen over longer terms, this along with component burn in and tweaking.

As for all network items, I'm also beginning to see more of this daisy chaining with various network devices, and I wonder about the changes 1gb capable items bring to table. I have recently introduced some 1gb capable devices and the change has been good, higher speed ISP service has also been a positive. I'm thinking of upping my service to 1gb since going from 300 to 500gb was so positive.

@lalitk ​​@lordmelton , thanks for the tips on the master clock.  I’m intrigued.  But I also worry that I’ll feel like I’ll be repeating the experience of adding the USB reclocker, where I went “yeah, big difference.  But I wish I just went with one single box that had this level of performance.”

If I were to go for the master clock I’d worry I’d keep upgrading and end up with a taiko extreme or something, lol….

@sns , I wholeheartedly agree that you and others may prefer the Innuos. It’s even possible I may shift back to preferring the Innuos after some time. They just sound SO different, so there is some degree of novelty bias at play here I’m sure.

While I would still characterize what I hear just as I described, I have to say how I feel about those differences has changed slightly, having listened to a wider scope of music on the N20. On some tracks, I’m missing the Innuos setup. What am I missing? Mid and upper transparency, higher highs, lower lows. The N20’s more “focus on the basics” approach sounds superb on a lot of material and is a bit of a relief, but on other material it can sound a bit flat and unengaging.

Can’t recall who said the N20 will do “razor edged guitar solos” (and that the MU1 wouldn’t), but I actually find the N20 tones down guitar solos quite a bit in comparison with the Innuos setup where guitar solos leap out at you.

Innuos Zenith Mk2 + PhoenixUSB - expansive sound, focus on full frequency range, transparency, and deep soundstage.

Aurender - organic, relaxed, denser upper bass and mid bass with more energetic presentation in these specific areas, fleshy vocals.

A bit concerned that after testing the Aurender I will want a blend of what Innuos does best and what Aurender does best - with none of the bad parts of either! At this point, I’m actually quite surprised at the lower resolution of the N20, which I never would have noticed if I hadn’t had the experience with there Innuos setup.

I would not go so far as to say one is more “pure” than the other without manipulating the source. Not saying that’s not true, just that I don’t know.

The AES cable with the N20 may change everything, when I receive it. We’ll see. Also, regarding burnin, the Statement Next Gen and the K50 are known to have point-in-time “step” increases in performance after MONTHS of use, with no change in between these points. People even report a temporary decline in the Statement Next Gen just before the final bump up to stabilizing on the max performance. Not sure if any of this applies to the N20. For what it’s worth, I’ve only noticed a change over the first few hours of use; it’s sounded the same since then so far.

Very glad I took this approach to testing network players. I’m in no hurry to return a demo to a shop and say I’m not interested. I can continue to test over a long term in a relaxed manner. It’s a fun process so far, and I’m still totally stunned how different the two setups sound from one another.

One thing I forgot to mention - the N20 throws the soundstage so differently that I actually had to adjust my speaker positions! Vocals were sounding a bit off on some tracks, and I found that toeing my speakers inwards, much further than my Innuos setup prefers, was required to fix the slight soundstage issues.

Just realized that the differences I’ve observed between the Innuos and Aurender setups I tested are not dissimilar to the differences that HiFi Advice has noted between the MU1 and K50 (for followup comments after revisions from both companies).  Interesting…