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

Thanks @lalitk , will go with the Muon Pro kit including cable (will order in a few weeks). As I me mentioned while my AQ Diamond was clearly better overall than a generic cable, it was slightly troubling that there was no question that vocals were clearer and better defined with the generic cable. So I’m looking forward to trying the Muon with a different cable.

And regarding the PhoenixNET I agree it’s about system synergy for sure :)

vocals were clearer and better defined with the generic cable

This is getting very confusing 🤷‍♂️

The very reason Amir M and Cin Dyment win it every single time

So I’m looking forward to trying the Muon with a different cable.

What do you mean? Muon from Network Acoustics comes with the Network Acoustics own Ethernet cable

 

 

@nyev 

Totally agreed. System synergy is everything. Period.

If you need an inexpensive Network cable, or just want to compare to other more expensive cables, please see below. I've used it for a few years and have tried it against other value brands and is it clearly better in all ways - much better than Supra Cat8+ for example. Lalit also has used the LinkUp 8 and commented on it, maybe even in this thread. At $38 for 1M, you can't go wrong. But be advised it takes 1-2 weeks to burnin, you'll hear it as soon as it snaps into focus, really. Full disclosure, I've never demo'd any of the $500+ Network cables, so I don't know how it compares. But I'm considering the Muon Pro Streaming System - I've read that the included Network cable is very good and it makes sense to buy it when you by the Muon Pro.

Amazon.com: LINKUP - [GHMT & DSX8000 Certified Cat8 Ethernet Patch Cable S/FTP 22AWG Double Shielded Solid Cable | 2000MHz 2GHz 40Gbps | 5th-Gen Ethernet LAN Network 40G Structure Wires |Yellow| 1 M (3.3ft) : Electronics

Really enjoying following along on your OP.

@thyname, I meant I’m looking forward to trying the Network Acoustics cable in place of my current Audioquest Diamond cable which I find to be vastly superior to generic network cables, except in the case of vocals where I find the generic cable wins.  That’s why I am looking forward to trying something else other than my AQ cable :)

@nyev : thanks for explaining. I am sorry I misunderstood you. I follow this thread with great interest. Thanks for sharing