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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
svenjosh
76 posts
 

@quattr0 I have Holo May currently as my Dac. I was talking about AES cable not XLR. With Mogami vs Shunyata/Nordost the difference is the bass. There is just more texture, nuance and solidity, easily apparent, no need to go back and forth. 
 

 To make it easier try any good Cello recording, the inner detail, timbre and tone is easy to appreciate. I highly recommend hi-res recoding of Bach suites for solo cello, Janos Starker. It achieves a rare feat of amazing recording (live sounding) with outstanding performance. 

nyev OP
1,023 posts
 

“waiting to try the Sablon this weekend and Jorma next week”

@svenjosh how are you able to trial those three excellent cables in such short order? Mark at Sablon told me he couldn’t do a demo or return privileges at least with the 1.5m AES cable I had required, and I don’t believe his stuff is carried in shops. For the Jorma, where are you getting that cable from? The Cable Co?

Really looking forward to hearing the results of your testing, that is a dream selection to demo! That said I think you are tainted by starting with Odin 2 - would have been best to end with that one! :) I would put the Odin 2 in the category of “don’t listen because I won’t be happy with anything else after hearing it.” Please no more talk of “addictive air and transparency..”!!!! ;)

sdl4
206 posts
 

@nyev  Do you have any hypotheses about why you are hearing a lower midrange dip in the frequency response of your Innuos server/streamer? Is this a dip in a measured frequency response curve or a perceived dip based on your experience with your room and other equipment? Are there any room or gear interactions that could account for it? I do not hear a midrange dip with my Innuos Zen Mk3, and I have not heard that characteristic described by other Innuos users.

nyev OP
1,023 posts
 
@sdl4, the lower midrange dip in my Innuos gear is based purely on my subjective comparison listening to the Grimm MU1 which I also have on hand. With the MU1, sounds in this band (like guitars) are far more forward and as a result the related details are more audible than with Innuos. And with Innuos bass, upper mid and higher frequencies are more forward and pronounced. I’ve owned my Innuos gear since 2019 and had not noted this dip, until directly contrasting with the Grimm MU1 which is, at least according to pro reviewers (Christiaan at HiFi Advice for example) for what it’s worth, highly neutral. Of note Stereophile’s review of the Innuos Statement noted that it was warm. I’m curious if this is related to then frequency response profile that I perceived (to be clear my Innuos gear is not the Statement, but the combination of the Zenith Mk 2, PhoenixUSB and PhoenixNET. To be very clear, I don’t consider this to be a drawback of Innuos. In fact it’s an extremely pleasant effect (at the cost of making some of the midrange detail less audible).
svenjosh
76 posts
 

@nyev I have Nordost Odin2 for the rest of my system so easy to borrow from my dealer. I am lucky that I live an hour away from The Cable company. You are right, Mark sent me a 1m AES but it should give me an idea. Moreover my Grimm Mu1 and DAC are in seperate racks so I am hoping the interference is minimal with 1m cable. 

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