@w123ale , I’ve not had direct experience with combined DAC/Streamers, so I can’t say first hand whether separating the streamer from the DAC will help. But on the accounts of many, many others, it sounds to me that there is a very large benefit. That said, you might want to check out the updated info on the Grimm MU2, which is a combined streaming DAC, on their website. The MU2 should be available soon. The article on the Grimm site is interesting.
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...
Showing 5 responses by nyev
@metaldetektor , I’d be interested in your assessment of how the new PBD differs in character from the MU1? Those would be interesting to compare. But my journey on this front is over….for now!
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I've only tested my MU1 with the generic power cable and with my Audioquest Hurricane so my experience is limited. But I can hear a very big difference going from generic to the Hurricane. As an aside, I've read a few initial accounts of the sound of the Innuos Pulsar on WBF, as this product is finally available. Of interest to me, is that a few have said the sound is dense, "bottom-up", full-bodied. One poster compared it with his Zenith Mk2 + PhoenixUSB and also supported that finding. Which I find very interesting as 1) I've found that I don't think I gravitate to that particular profile, based on my preferences, and 2) That is not how I'd characterize the Innuos Zenith Mk 3 + PhoenixUSB at all (light-on-its feet, airy, expansive when compared to others I've had in my system).
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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!
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@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? |