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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@ghasley certainly no offence taken and I agree the Diamond is not what to turn to for “a touch of warmth”. But here’s the thing: the N20 with my Gryphon gear, with the Diamond cables connecting them, gives me all the warmth I’m looking for. All I’m missing is the top end transparency, which is certainly not caused by the Diamond cables. I’ve read many accounts that the Shunyata digital cables are superb. I’ve also read that they lean towards a very smooth, liquid, organic sound. My philosophy (rightly or wrongly) has been to seek such sonic characteristics from components and have the cabling inject as little as possible of their own character. Others have the opposite approach. I read one post from a guy who loved his Shunyata Omega USB so much that he was basing his choice of system components around this cable. |
Whomever posted that isnt someone with whom I would agree with about very much. His statement is silly.
You will get no tonal arguments from me about the N20 vs Innuos. The Innuos with a different USB cable would be a start. It would also be interesting to know the rest of your digital chain upstream from your streamers. As I'm already on record...I preferred the Innuos...until I tried some others and ended up preferring the Grimm MU1. There is no right or wrong answer, only your preferences.
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I agree dac maybe limiting factor here. If dac not fully optimized usb and roughly equal to AES input, I'd expect streamer with optimized AES to have superior SQ. If this were my setup and comparison, my next comparison would be to another streamer with optimized AES, perhaps the deficiencies heard with Aurender AES may be alleviated. Assuming usb in Gryphon not fully optimized, streamer with optimized usb in not allowing full usb potential to be heard. In general terms I suspect any dac with less than optimal usb will sound better with other inputs, streamer optimized for outputs other than usb will only increase the advantages of these other inputs. |
I'd assume you are in for some gyrations in SQ over the next few weeks. At least it isn't worse than the USB at this point, but it very well could be worse at some point in the near future. I'm living through this right now. I changed out the Network cable running from my fiber ONT to my router with a Supra 8+ cable on 1/28/2023 and it had 1,000s of hours on it, so fully burned in. It hadn't been used in a year though. But I thought it should easily be better than the $0.10 cable from ATT, regardless of that fact. However, it isn't even near as good. Loss of bass, not as lifelike, etc. In fact, less bass today than yesterday. Pretty frustrating, but I know I need to let it burn in for a solid week or more. If it never perks up, over say two weeks, I'll turn it around and listen to what happens. So, I'd do the same if I were you; let the cable and the circuitry in the N20 fully burn in and settle. I know it is hard to wait, but hopefully you won't have to wait too long before it comes on song. |
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