Grimm MU1 Streamer - Really "The Best"?

I’m also realizing through this process with the N20 and Innuos that I too lean slightly warm side. I guess I knew that before as my Diablo 300 and DAC are slightly warm leaning, but I didn’t know that I’d also prefer slight bit of warmth in my network server.

The N20’s AES and USB outputs sound utterly identical now. @lordmelton I tried changing the output to “Professional” as suggested and there was no change. Aurender’s documentation states that this setting is to address compatibility issues with some DAC’s only and has no effect on sound quality whatsoever, and they imply most should not need to touch this unless they have compatibility issues.

At this point I’m preferring the N20 over the Innuos for its more solid and musical presentation. Still need that smidge more high frequency transparency and detail to get me there. Still more burnin to go of course. Planning two weeks of burn-in of the AES circuits and cable (I think the rest of the unit must be fully burned in at this point), 2-3 weeks of critical listening and living with it, then I’ll sell either the Innuos stuff or the N20 to make way for the next comparison.

It is a bit odd and unexpected that there is absolutely no difference between AES and USB on the N20, despite the fact that the AES circuits and cable are still burning in. Given how different the N20’s circuits are between USB and AES, I would have expected SOME difference, regardless of whether better or worse! It makes me wonder if something else in my system is capping performance of the server across the board which causes both output types to sound the same. Can’t think of what though.  Even due to the fact that the AES cable is brand new, and that fact alone, should cause there to be differences but no!

@nyev 

Indeed, perhaps surprising while maybe not all that surprising.

I can't speak for the others who have commented but in the back of my mind, no matter how good we all think the Gryphon dac module may be, it will likely be the weak point in your very high quality chain. I'm not saying that to be critical in any way. In fact, you have to admit that the dac module plays at a very high level for a plugin type module but dacs in general have come a very long way in a few short years. In a logical world, the clocking of the N20 should be superior to the clocking of your dac module.

@ghasley, totally agree that maybe the DAC is holding things back. Unlike many I have no problem being objectively critical of my gear even if I have an affection for it. One thing though is that the Innuos unquestionably has more high frequency detail (to an astounding degree that I was not expecting, and possibly having too much detail for my system) feeding the Gryphon DAC module. So I don’t see that it could be the DAC module that is capping this part of the performance at least.

Update: Unless, I realized, Innuos has done something in their USB implementation that gets past the Gryphon DAC module’s limitations somehow. As I mentioned above Innuos did feed the Diablo DAC module with the Statement Next Gen at the Munich show last year.  If that turns out to be the case, maybe I need to seriously consider trialing the Innuos Statement. Maybe I can even consider putting the funds I was planning to spend on the AES cable towards the Statement Next Gen if I were to buy it. Nuno at Innuos did offer to send me one for evaluation.  I just don’t think I’d get the touch of warmth I am looking for, but I’m guessing it would more than compensate in other ways.

@nyev Once again, no offense intended, but I don't think of Audioquest Diamond and "touch of warmth" in the same thought string.

You are venturing where many have been and the left turn/right turn decision tree can be interesting. When I had my Innuos setup, my favorite usb cable was the Final Touch Audio Sinope. I was never fond of the Audioquest cables after trying and owning a few. I have a friend who swears by his Audioquest USB cables. What might sound broken to me might sound exceptional to another.

With my Grimm I ended up preferring the Shunyata Sigma V2 aes/ebu cable. I will be trialing a new Network Acoustics AES/ebu cable in the coming weeks because, well, just because LOL.I enjoy my setup as is but I like to see what small changes do to the sound. They arent always positive but they are always informative. Good luck.

I agree with @ghasley on AQ and let me add Nordost to the list of cables that are anything but warm. Maybe being in Canada, @nyev is limited on what he can get for home audition.