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...

 

 

nyev

You have now sent an 11th notification to me ...

I haven’t sent any notice to you, so the image you posted is rather weird. I can’t explain it. My last post in this thread (before this one) was . You can see for yourself, @lordmelton.

... if you want to settle for 88 or 96 Khz that’s up to you and your low fidelity and low self esteem.

Ha ha no I wouldn’t settle for 96 kHz.

I think there’s a problem in audiogon where the same notification is sent multiple times. It happened to me also where I received the same notification more than ten times. Doesn’t mean the sender is doing it. 

I think there’s a problem in audiogon where the same notification is sent multiple times. It happened to me also where I received the same notification more than ten times.

Thanks for the confirmation. I've never seen it happen here before.

I did once submit a post and it made a half-dozen or so copies. I noticed it and deleted the dupes. That caused quite a kerfuffle because some members insisted a moderator was censoring the thread.

Hey @nyev, while you are waiting for the MU1 to arrive…

Did you try the N20 without the PhoenixNET in the Ethernet chain, while using the AES output?

I just skimmed through the conversation and couldn’t find an answer. 

I’m asking because I recently added an audiophile switch (with LPS), and I was very surprised to hear the highs rolled off dramatically, compared to Ethernet directly connected to my router.  This was strangely so even though I was only playing my reference files from an internal SSD within my N20.  Not even streaming files through the Ethernet!  Really surprised me.  Needless to say, the new switch is no longer in my system!