Grimm MU1 Streamer - Really "The Best"?

@thyname , yes the Grimm is known for doing more with less, and the price did just go up $2,500 right after I bought it. Being hostage to Roon updates with potential impacts to sound is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the MU1 takes control and Roon does less to the sound than in most cases. At least so I’ve read. But as I said above the MU1 apparently IS subject to SQ variances with Roon updates.

I would imagine Grimm is hard at work developing the support to use an alternate player, or even their own player. Maybe it will coincide with the launch of the MU2 player/DAC combo?

Of all its weaknesses you mentioned, this is the only one I really care about.  

@nyev : of course, we all make purchase decisions based on what matters to us. I fully understand that. I will be curious to learn about your experience once you get it, especially as it pertains to comparing with your Innuos ZENith MK3. I have to say though, you change & swap things around so often, in a very short period of time (by my standards). I would personally have a hard time fully grasping how something sounds for such a short period of time, especially when so many other components in the chain are also being swapped at the same time 🤷‍♂️

How do you plan to connect the Grimm MU1 to your Tambaqui?

@thyname

 

I just looked up the Grimm MU1. Retail price $12,500 without any internal SSD included. Wow! Pricey. A couple of observations:

1) Processor: Intel i3 2-Core. Definitely sufficient for Roon with no DSP, and with not a huge Roon library. But certainly not very powerful for those who use DSP (not me) and with big libraries

At a certain point if someone has a massive library they are probably better served (pun intended) with a powerful server, perhaps in another room. This applies to most one box server/streamers. Then the MU1 could be the endpoint which is where its strengths lie in clocking, 4fs and the optimized aes output.

2) Memory: 4MB RAM. Again, not impressive.

Its upgradeable if it isnt enough.

3) No USB audio (to DAC) output. Hmmmm….

Hmmmm, the Grimm uses the optimized aes and doesnt even attempt to address usb. When you hear the difference, you will understand why.

4) I don’t see any proprietary streaming software/ music management program (like Innuos Sense). Roon OK, I get that, but then you are at the mercy of Roon for everything.

It uses the best of Roon’s capabilities and dispenses with much of what Roon doesn’t do well like dsp, upsampling, etc. thats a noisy process the way Roon does it regardless of the server/streamer.

I am definitely curious about Grimm, given the reports & reviews, but these observations give me pause. A friend of mine ordered one a few days ago, so I should be able to learn more from “real life” experiences in a few weeks.

I set out to buy an Innuos Statement, the dealer I used sells both, and then a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum….(yep, pun intended). Peace all.

@ghasley : thanks. Sorry, I don’t remember, do you have a Grimm MU1?

Yes, it replaced my Innuos Zenith Mk3, which I was quite happy with.