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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

Showing 4 responses by chopandchange

chopandchange
44 posts
 

@adasdad picking up on this response here from you

To me it just doesn’t make sense to put a $10K streamer in front of a $4,500 DAC.

I put the Grimm in front of a comparatively low cost Metrum Octave v2 DAC and even this lowly DAC sounded far better with the Grimm at the helm.

Having such a solid front end like the Grimm helps you find the best from any DAC you may have in your collection - and in fact will also help you choose and audition any new potential DACs you may want to buy, with the Grimm allowing you to hear them at their very best.

So starting with the Grimm and simply using an Octave DAC (as an example) until you can afford better makes for good foundations in choosing the right DAC further down the line. When you audition these DACs you can be sure you have no upstream bottleneck putting a throttle on the full potential of your new converter.

 

 

chopandchange
44 posts
 

I haven’t read this all the way through - but maybe try a Gustard R26 Streamer / DAC combo - reviews on it are stunning especially by dacman.

I haven’t heard the R26 but I have heard the MU1 - the MU1 made my low cost Metrum Octave DAC sound far better than it should have done.

However I get the impression the R26 for a quarter the price of the MU1 may provide stiff competition.

You could also consider the dCS Bartok Apex streamer / DAC - however - again - the R26 even in this company should not be sniffed at I feel.

chopandchange
44 posts
 

@arafiq no I didn't expect the R26 to be close to the MU1 in terms of comparing the streaming side of things - I just get the impression that if you can compromise on the streaming functionality, the R26 sound quality is especially good.

You could put an MU1 ahead of the R26 of course using it as only a DAC - many are replacing the Chord Upscaler with the MU1 to save money, because the MU1 upscales especially well.

But saying all that - the R26 is a Roon endpoint, so this does help make up for the loss of it's own inbuilt streaming capabilities.

Anyway - as someone has said - I have not heard the R26 to make that comparison it's just an impression I get from a trusted reviewer who was bowled over by the sound of the Gustard. If the R26 ends up sounding as good as the review states - I would probably choose to save money and get the R26 over the MU1 and possibly enjoy my hi-end sound equally well.

I cannot backup the R26 review from experience and there are no dealers in the UK where I can try one out. I have heard the MU1 in a proper demo - and the MU1 is an excellent digital transport, probably about as good as you can get in that respect.

 

chopandchange
44 posts
 

Thanks for the link - here's the link for the Gustard R26

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/a-new-point-of-reference-gustard-r26-discrete-r-2r-ladder-dac-review/

 

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