Grimm MU1 Streamer - Really "The Best"?

Hi @nyev - Sorry if this was stated previously, but I am wondering if you were comparing the MU1 (running Roon) to the Innuous Zenith’s native player or Zenith running Roon?

Reason for asking is I find the running Roon (core or end point) to be a bit smeared and narrow sound stage on my Zenith Mk3, and the Zenith native player to be more 3D, wider, deeper and a tad bit of mid range dip with vocals enhanced and out front, which I think you noted in one of your posts, so I assumed you were comparing the MU1 with Roon to the Zenith with native player.

And given your conclusion that the MU1 was the keeper has prompted my interest in testing the MU1 too, as I like Roon for additional music information presented and clicking through for music discovery and would rather be using Roon as my primary player.

Thanks, Neil

Just bought an MU-1.  I've only had it 36 hours so I'm going to refraim from drawing conclusions but initial impression is very, very positive.  

I spent most of the morning reading this thread quickly and there is so much information in it that I had to skip over some of the bunny trails it goes down and will probably go back through it a bit later.  But great info here.  I especially appreciated the discussions by @nyev and @ghasley .

My old streamer is an Innuos Zenith MkIII.  My DAC in a Chord DAVE and with the old streamer I use the Chord M-scaler so count me in the pro-upscaling camp.  I'm not going to sell this gear yet as initial impressions can fade.  I'll put it back in service in a week or so and that should confirm.  Of course with the MU-1 I don't use the Mscaler.  Interestingly I was able to remove the following equipment from my rack:  1.  Innuos streamer.  2  Chord Mscaler.  3  NUC with Roon core running on it.  4.  Farad LPS for M scaler.  5.  LPS for NUC.  

I don't have a good AES cable so I'm listening to a $50 amazon cable I could get overnight.  I decided last Sunday to look at the Grimm.  60 minutes later I decided to try one, and 2 hours later I had bought one used. It shipped Monday, arrived Wed, and I'm posting this on Fri.  I have a better cable from DH Labs coming tomorrow but will look at higher end cables.  But just the step up to DH Labs from amazon should be big.

I pulled the fuse and the Grimm has a 500mA input fuse which is very small (sizing of fuses by OEMs is more Kentucky windage than science).   It is my opinion that this one is sized very tight to the load (even though the load is very small).  That's the long way of saying that I recommend a fuse upgrade.  I upgraded the fuse this morning and the improved detail and dynamics was obvious. 

I'll post more after I've had more time to listen.  I updated my system in my profile this morning so you can see what other gear I'm running if you care.

Jerry

Hi Carlsbad2, now that the MU-1 has a few more hours of use, do you have any follow-on comments or preferences. 

I have the Dave, M-Scaller and Zenith MkIII and even though I prefer user experience with Roon, I prefer the SQ of the Innuos native player. A move to the MU-1 interests me as others have preference the MU-1 with Roon over the Zenith with the native player. Given you were using the Chord Dave, I wonder if that was your conclusion or if you ended-up on a different route. Thanks, Neil

Also just got an MU-1 (replacing a Lumin x1) into a Weiss 501. Just thrilled. 4x over sampling! Who knew? Darling where you been?
My wife came into listen ( second time this month…stop the presses) and without me saying anything asked why it sounded so good. Buy her a drink.

It’s a better Roon box with playback that is more enveloping and all the usual superlatives.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

@wsrrsw 

Congratulations on acquiring MU1. Do you hear appreciable difference between native and 4x up sampled file?