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...
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/ |
@lalitk This is good information, but too many dac manufacturers don't mention anything special with inputs other than usb, seems they always mention usb optimization, not enough with others. Presume these dac manufacturers want to be all things for all people, don't want to limit sales.
Chord is another company that mentions superior input, in their case optical. The issue some have with inputs other than usb is limitation on up,over sampling acceptance. |
I for one am not crazy about goop on connectors. I have tried some of the Goop that allegedly enhance the audio experience and end up cleaning it off and going back with Stabilant 22. This is under the advice of EE and Avionics Techs in the private and Military space. When it comes to DAC I am with @lalitk on using the prioritized inputs of the mfr. I use the recommended USB on my LessLoss EE DAC. RCA unbalanced output is straight off the R2R Ladder. |
