@rrohland , thank you, ordering one today….
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...
- ...
- 868 posts total
@nyev its nice that you are enjoying the system. It’s been great following your journey. |
Thanks @svenjosh. @fastfreight or anyone else - anyone tried replacing the MU1’s fuse? It seemed I was liking the MU1 slightly less but then I tweaked my speaker positioning again, by the slightest bit, and the slightest soundstage issues were again corrected. For me when it clicks, it’s like the vocals just turn into an actual 3D person. I think that is one thing to know when adding this much detail to your system - your speaker placement just has to be that much more dialed in. At least that’s what I’ve found! Went back to Innuos and it definitely sounds very nice! Big, expansive, scale, presence, dimension, but also less detail and far softer impact vs the MU1. It’s interesting, I now realize at the start of my journey my Innuos gear was not the weak point in my digital chain. It was my Diablo 300 DAC module, which won’t be a surprise to some. The Tambaqui was the big step up, as you’d expect comparing the costs. The MU1 is a step up as well, but ultimately I can see some just “liking” the Innuos sound. I think it’s a matter of preference at this point. And my preference is the MU1 in my systems current state! It’s given life and energy to albums I was previously somewhat apathetic to, which is great. Can’t wait to see how the fuse and cables change things. |
@fastfreight I see that you are selling (or have sold) your Aries G2.1/Sean Jacobs. I'm guessing you're impressed with your Grimm MU1....I was wondering if you can share how the sound improved from the Aries/SJ combo to the Grimm. Thank you in advance. |
- 868 posts total