Thanks for the question, the Muon streaming system is not necessary with the Grimm. It dramatically improves the Innuos, it seems the Grimm doesn’t need the “help”. The Muon system is also very effective if utilizing the inboard streamer on the Totaldac, less so when I also had a Maitner MA3. I think I briefly posted elsewhere that, since I already own the Muon system that I would just leave it in the chain…sortof like a belt and suspenders but I just dont hear any improvement to speak of when using the Muon with the Grimm. Thats another reason I enjoy the ownership experience with the Grimm. I find that it is agnostic to a degree with all the audiophile nervosa moves we all obsess over. Power cable, ethernet cable, etc, etc. I have not tested. Many aes/ebu cables…just a Black diamond from Tellurium Q and the SHunyata Sigma V2.
@nyev Since I’m not a reviewer, my exercise was to determine what I preferred in my system. No controls, no real validity for others I guess. The ratings that I arbitrarily listed as well should have no bearing on the decisions of others as they may decide otherwise. With that said, the Innuos reclocker that you have elevates the Zenith to something more akin to “statement light” level. I did not discuss the effects of cables with the Zenith but I was using a Final Touch Audio Sinope USB cable, which I had chosen some time prior as my preference. I also want to point out that I had AQ Vodka ethernet cables (which I preferred to the Diamond) and I also have several Totaldac ethernet cables/filters. One VERY important factor that I didnt mention, which I believe provided material assistance to the Innuos, was that since I didnt find the Muon system to be necessary with the Grimm, I used it with the Zenith. That might explain the “base” Grimm and the “tweaked” Innuos Zenith performance gap being so close. Also, when writing the above I wanted to be careful when assigning some arbitrary score to the Grimm and the Zenith to intentionally not overstate some wide margin between them. The Grimm is better sounding without upsampling than the “tweaked” Zenith to my ears. The Grimm also accomplishes something you have as a stated goal; simplicity, fewer cables, etc.
I really do think the Grimm is a far better choice for many people than the vast majority of server/streamers out there anywhere near its pricepoint. The data into the Grimm is unfussy so a competent ethernet cable in is really all you need. All the gyrations of special switch this and fiber to copper to fiber to copper to external box BS..completely unecessary. So the Grimm must be dealing internally with a great deal of what we believe needs to be addressed with the ethernet stream. CHECK. Next up, the Grimm’s internal clocking IS superior to my ears and given that the AES/EBU is the output of choice from the Grimm, it will improve the clocking of virtually any reasonable consumer DAC. CHECK. I also find that the Grimm as a Roon core is a bit more equipped for the job that the Zenith. Anyone who has owned a Zenith knows that a periodic reboot is necessary be it to improve responsiveness or the rare but occasional lockup. No such issue with the Grimm. CHECK.
So, the summary…the Grimm is cable/filter agnostic, sounds great, it utilizes the superior Roon user interface seemingly without the perceived Roon sound challenges mentioned by some. I happen to believe that Roon has largely dealt with sound quality degradation in previous iterations, it just takes people a while to recognize that previous opinions have a shelf life of validity with a constantly updated software platform. I also believe the Grimm intercepts the stream before Roon owns the data, but that is a hypothesis on my part. Plug and play, rock solid operation and for those who still spin disks, the best part is you plug in your transport to the Grimm and you get all the upsampling and clocking benefits. The volume control is a joy to use audibly and physically. Now, if you happen to like the tweaky nature of setups we so often read about, then the Grimm may not be for you. I’m not saying there isnt some minute improvement to be had by those willing to go to the lengths and try everything imaginable when it comes to filters/cable/fiber coversion/reconversion/linear power supplies powering half a dozen different thingamajigs. Hey, Ive been there but that commenced at a time where we HAD to experiment to achieve a certain level of performance. With the Grimm, its just not necessary.
So, with the Grimm….imagine how much fun it is to plug it into your mains with a reasonably generic power cable, plug it in to your ethernet switch with a reasonably generic ethernet cable, plug it into your reasonably generic dac with a reasonably generic AES/EBU cable and you are done. This level of performance is all possible without all of the fussy, tweaky stuf of which we all grow so tired. Good luck on your journey @nyev as there are so many good products available today from which we may all choose.
As a fly by comment, I have spent time with the Diablo with the inboard dac. It is a solid dac and the Grimm clocking will take it to another level you didnt think was possible. What is possible today with USB is terrific and it has come a long, long way…but the logical side of your brain would have to conclude that the clocking on your dac is an absolute bottleneck and places a hard ceiling on what is possible with your sound quality potential. The Aurender and the Grimm either one would address that by enabling you to use the AES input. If that is your present path, alot of goodness awaits.