Grimm MU1 Streamer - Really "The Best"?

Unexpectedly, the Innuos gear has a fuller and more natural depth presentation

Right there….

I would personally NOT want to replace a piece of gear with those two attributes with an alternative that yields a lesser result. Less full, and less natural depth.

But that’s just me.

On another note, my friend who was getting the Grimm MU1 is going silent. I don’t want to bother him with questions. Give him the proper time to evaluate 

@thyname , I didn’t mean to imply the Innuos sounds fuller in tone or body; I meant a fuller soundstage depth. But now that I think about it, the Innuos is slightly fuller in body. The MU1 is by no means lean in tone however. It’s got a very even balance to my ears and things definitely don’t sound leaner or brighter with the MU1.

important to re-emphasize just how basic my cabling is right now - I have the cheapest possible AES cable (with the MU1) and balanced interconnects in my system currently, and will be about to go to the other end of the spectrum in a few weeks. With my Innuos gear I have my Audioquest Diamond USB cables which I’ve found to be fantastically transparent with great depth and I found to be great value compared with far more expensive cables (Nordost Valhalla 2 for example). So, currently my Innuos gear has an advantage over my MU1 in my system I think. The new interconnects will add depth and separation too so I think things will change dramatically for both Innuos and the MU1 when these cables arrive.

The ONLY thing that bugs me slightly about the MU1’s sound - and I really think I should probably be saying what bugs me about my really old basic Cardas AES cable’s sound - is that the soundstage depth doesn’t totally sound consistent / even / linear compared with Innuos / Audioquest Diamond. I notice this the most with vocals.  Could be that my speakers need some placement/toe-in adjustment as well.

Oh one other thing, I see Mola Mola advertises that the Tambaqui has specific filters for each input - USB, AES, etc.  So these differences presumably have an impact. 

Updates! First, I fixed my MU1’s hard disk myself. After Eelco mentioned in his note that the issue may be related to the hard disk’s USB connection not being connected, I thought that would be the simplest thing to fix. So tonight (while watching M3gan with my daughter, so I desperately needed something to do while enduring that pain…) I opened the chassis, and sure enough, the USB connector wasn’t inserted in the PCB’s port. Plugged it in and problem solved. And I got to check out the inside of the MU1 and snapped some pics of the PCB’s and cabling.

Second, I disabled the MU1’s volume control. I don’t know if this has a positive impact on sound quality, as it apparently does with some DACs.

Third, I toed in my speakers quite a bit more.

The results are breathtaking. Everything on the MU1 sounds absolutely perfect now. Soundstage depth is full, even and natural now. And vocals are spectacular and intimate. Like a “window into the recording studio” as some have said. The level of of precision is stunning. I think Innuos still has a more full body but this is bloom which is not as realistic. The 4X OS is more noticeable over NOS now - but still more subtle than I expected. It’s as if some barriers are removed and everything becomes ever so slightly more free and extended. I hear it in the upper mids and treble the most - becomes sweeter and more free sounding. Punk and grunge music with blaring guitars sound absolutely vicious in such a good way. All this detail and it’s really the opposite of fatiguing.

Tonal balance on my overall system sounds great - overall full balance with lots of bass that is so, so well defined and controlled, and as I mentioned before the impact and slam is just way more solid than my Innuos setup at all frequencies. Price point wise, not factoring the added cables, the Zenith Mk3 and PhoenixUSB cost a bit less than the MU1. But the MU1 still costs less than an Innuos Statement (non Next-Gen).

Another thing. As I mentioned I’ve been having issues with poor quality power lately. Yesterday around dinner time was the absolute worst I’ve ever heard - everything became a soft spongy mess while I had my Innuos gear running. Not enjoyable to listen to. Switched it over the MU1, and it sounded like music again. There was enough separation and impact that the MU1 was able to cobble together a coherent musical presentation with a worst case poor quality power scenario.

I think the speaker placement adjustment made a huge difference. Was needed to deal with all the extra detail that is coming through now.

Pretty happy with the MU1 at this point! The detail and impulse control reminds me of what is more easily achieved with an excellent headphone setup. Which is not easy for a full system to be able to do. And most importantly it’s very, very musical -  however you want to define that.  For me it means it sounds like people making music that conveys emotion and a feeling, as opposed to a HiFi system. Not dry/cold/analytical/lean at all!

Glad you are enjoying your MU1 and Tambaqui combo. I have the same setup and love it. Give your MU1 and AES/EBU cable a couple hundred hours of break in. It will get fuller and better tonally without losing that openness and detail. The dynamics and bass detail is great! It really controls the bass wonderfully and vocals will come around with more hours on it. 

On Qobuz check out Dan Patlansky: Wooden Thoughts Album, songs Big Things Going Down and Hallelujah. The guitar sounds so real with great dynamics, bite, and feel. It sounds awesome! Streaming sounds really good, if the recording are well made!