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...
https://community.octoprint.org/t/put-tape-on-the-5v-pin-why-and-how/13574 I know it talks about printers but disregard that. Put the electrical tape on both ends of the +5v pins. Enjoy! You won't damage anything. If it doesn't work your DAC needs the powerline. No harm done. |
Thanks for the tip, but I am paranoid about keeping my contact surfaces of my cables pristine! I’d prefer not to gum up the contacts with tape. I’ve actually purchased some Deoxit G100L to apply to all of my plugs and connectors, on the advice of some trusted professionals in the industry (and verifying that every enthusiast who uses it swears by it). We’ll see, it hasn’t arrived yet. I read an unsubstantiated post on this forum that claims the N200 USB circuit is identical to the N20’s USB circuit. If true that would, in all probability but not certainly, put the N20’s USB performance on par with the Innuos Zenith, without the PhoenixUSB Reclocker. It stands to reason given that Aurender seems to nudge people towards AES which employs the high precision clock. I know every DAC is different though and in some cases USB may not be better. I’ll give the AES a go, give it a few weeks (I’ve read accounts for other devices that if AES hasn’t been used, it’s circuits must be burned in even if the rest of the unit is burned in) and decide either to list my Innuos boxes or the N20, whichever is in the lead, so I can try the next one. I did throw some Herbie’s Tenderfeet under the N20. Made a huge improvement in coherence and the vertical size of the stage. But, they do that for all components you stick them under! I just expect and demand that effect when I use them now. You do need to be experiment with placement, as different placements can cause sound imbalances, rather amazingly. Haven’t mentioned it yet but Conductor is rather good. Better be since it’s the only option! Works well; no glitchiness. Oh and here is a weird thing - removing the PhoenixNET from the chain and plugging the N20 direct to the wall with an Audioquest Diamond Ethernet cable sounds best with the N20. Mid and top end opened up, just slightly. I did find with my Innuos chain the PhoenixNET added smoothness and relaxed things, so I guess with the N20 it is already relaxed and smooth (to my ears and in my system) and going further in this sonic direction is overdoing it. Back to the master clock, I hear what you are saying and totally believe you in regard to the results, and if I tried one I’d probably want one. But I just don’t want an added box to my digital chain, just as I don’t want my reclocker as a separate box. Want to keep things simple, and reduce my cabling. If AES totally does the trick with the N20 though, and I end up going with Aurender in the end, it would nevertheless be nice to have the master clock option in case I feel differently in the future.
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This all helps to confirm that dac and streamer is best perceived as a package deal, kind of like speakers and amps. Match best output or rendering scheme on streamer output to optimal input on dac, this should result in optimal sound quality. Doing this along with optimizing network and you're done! The network should be the most complex issue to solve, so many reportedly excellent choices.
My only issue with ports on dac is manufacturers often don't make clear which port is optimal. I think it pretty clear with usb inputs, generally going to be XMOS or Amanero board, may be some proprietary solution, generally going to be nice filtering, dedicated power supply, quality clock. Not so clear what makes SPDIF or I2S optimized on dacs? Here's some interesting info found on that special forum some love to hate, https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/study-is-i%C2%B2s-interface-better-for-dacs-than-s-pdif-or-usb.7105/ |
