Grimm MU1 Streamer - Really "The Best"?

Update! After this intense journey, I did sell the Grimm, due to a short-term financial need. I kept my Tambaqui and am continuing to enjoy it immensely. I have to say it did make more of an impact, in my system, than the MU1 did. But all that means is that the Tambaqui is a bigger leap ahead of my prior Gryphon Diablo 300 (integrated amp) DAC module, than the Grimm MU1 was over my Innuos Zenith Mk3 and PhoenixUSB reclocker (also have the PhoenixNET Ethernet switch as well).

So. Do I miss the MU1? Yes and No. Sucks that I still need my extra box (USB reclocker), and the MU1 definitely had slightly better coherence and saturation. But going back to my Innuos setup, there IS that extra bit of air and expansiveness that I didn’t have with the Grimm. Upgrading the internal Ethernet cable as described above could have bumped up the MU1 in these areas, that would have been I interesting to test.  Of note, I also did throw a Synergistic Master Fuse in my Zenith. Interestingly I noted a wild, roller coaster breakin where the sound would swing from compressed and congested to hyper-revealing, obnoxiously so, every 1.5 days or so. The swings got smaller until it stabilized. Is the fuse better in the end? I’ll have to swap the generic fuse back in at some point to see, as after those wild swings it is hard to recall how the Innuos sounded prior to the Synergistic fuse.

So was the MU1 better than my starting point, in my system? Maybe, but by a hair. The big gain really was the addition of the Tambaqui.

I also upgraded to Audiovector R6 Arette speakers. Prior to my digital journey described in this thread, I had lugged my Gryphon Diablo 300 amp to multiple dealers in a different city, to test 8 high end speakers (from Magico, Sonus Faber, B&W, Paradigm, and Wilson), and had found none that really caught my interest. Eventually tested the Audiovector’s and everything suddenly clicked. Very happy with the results, especially with the Audioquest Dragon source cords I’m demoing now (wow).

Eventually will go back to try to rid myself of that darn reclocker box. Maybe a Statement Next Gen after all, lol….. In time. Right now I don’t feel it’s needed!

@nyev do you use Roon? And if so, have you tried the Tambaqui as a Roon end point, without the streamer?

@lalitk ditto. We’ll see if it happens. 

@audphile1 I’ve used Roon when I had the MU1, and still can with Innuos. But the Innuos Sense app sounds superior so I use that exclusively now.

I’ve not tried the Tambaqui as a Roon End Point, no. I guess to do that properly, I’d need another (third) good quality network cable which I do not have, to run from my Zenith Mk3 to the Tambaqui. Also, I’m not sure there would be any point for me to try that? I suppose it would eliminate the need for the USB reclocker, but using the Tambaqui as a Roon player would compromise its performance as a straight ahead DAC, no?

Out of curiosity, pull Ethernet cable from Innuous and connect it to Tambaqui. In Roon enable Tambaqui as end point. Give it a shot. Takes few mins. Whenever you have some time. If your innuos is the roon core, just connect the innuos with basic Ethernet cable. As long as the best cable is on the Mola.