I have used audiophile fuses in many devices with excellent results. In the Grimm MU2, no noticeable change. I have left it in the MU2, but I feel a duty to share my experience with others.
Grimm Audio MU2 "Major Dac"
- Thread starter PaulB
- Start date
NP! Someone above mentioned the Muon Pro being a must with this DAC and after taking delivery this week I have to second that. In addition, the Tempus is same but even more powerful. I highly recommend it. In addition, cascading switches prior seems to create some kind of analog fever dream…legitimately the closest to analog the rig has ever been. Near indistinguishable tbh
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how are they arranged prior to the SR switch? Your signature shows that you are feeding the MU2 from the SR switch. Is that still the case?
Signature updated. The front end rigging is indeed proof that more is more ;^) I have a long ethernet run from the basement front end so that is BJC and inserting the SR down there seems to drive the signal way better than the Meraki did and there is significant synergy with the NA...Still experimenting with Ethernet cables but right now there is a lot of Wireworld ethernet in there as well including Platinum Starlight 8 and STE Starlight from the last Meraki to the SR. At this chokepoint, experimenting with ethernet cables tunes the system to a surprisingly significant degree since it is 2 switches away from the streamer. With the WW, the soundstage becomes giant and layered, super fast and yet still retains some analog from a top secret Ethernet that I just pulled out which makes things much more rounded, full bodied and analog. I think it's a matter of finding the balance there... Right now though this is a high yielding vector for experimentation.
The cascaded switches seem to be quieting the noise from the router significantly. Would like to convert the Merakis at some point to run on an LPS to go even further. I have modded them at this point to remove the PoE circuit and have some Synergistic Research ECTs I'd like to inject into the final Meraki. Anyways this is probably my best sounding front end yet and I've played a lot with various permutations including the EtherRegen/w AfterDark clocks and LPSs, Nordost LPS and switch (a $10k investment) as well as countless other off the shelf non-audiophile ones. Have also played with wifi mesh routers (like all of them) and Orbi is by far the best one I've found yet.
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very interesting. Thanks. The SR UEF switch sounded very good in my setup being fed by the router that is located in another room (then via in-wall copper to the hifi). The Muon Pro was just before the MU2. Moving the SR switch to after the Muon Pro, and therefore close to the MU2 rather than in another room, yielded benefits but I also wonder if proximity to all the other gear also might increase the chances of noise contamination because there seemed to be a little less refinement in the high frequencies. My ears are very attuned to that issue.
Thinking one solution to the proximity issue might be alleviated with grounding the switch, I have a basic SR grounding block for demo. Right now, it is plugged into its own dedicated outlet and connected to the main electronic gear by RCA since no grounding posts are provided on the Grimm and Mola Mola gear. In my super simple streaming system this includes four boxes: MU2, preamp and mono amps. Started the experiment on Friday, so too soon to tell. The cables for the SR switch and SR ethernet cable don't arrive for another couple of days therefore the experiment is incomplete.
Overall, the sound is not natural sounding to my ears. Will wait another day, then disconnect the gear one at a time to hear the results before the cables for switch and ethernet arrive. This grounding stuff is interesting. I first connected the preamp and listened for a while -- perhaps important to grounding (?), the preamp is connected to the amps with trigger cables. There was a point when the music became more relaxed. That lasted about 10 minutes and then vanished. But it gave me an idea of what might be an area of improvement.
In another thread, @Ted Denney III had mentioned adding an SR Router to the SR switch. The SR Router looks interesting to me because it doesn't include wifi and would sit next to the ISP-provided router and isolate it from the audio network. Whether that would be better than another switch in the same position is an interesting question. Once I'm done with the grounding experiment, a demo of the router would be interesting.
At any rate, your experiment shows multiple cleaning devices (both powered and passive) allow the MU2 to do its lyrical thing (what a beautiful non-sounding piece of digital gear!).
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Getting ready to jump on my motorcycle and grab a ride, so I can’t go into a lot of detail. However, I find creating a dedicated digital network, so that your system isn’t on with your Xbox, your cable TV, Wi-Fi you’re using on your cell phones, this makes a significantly bigger difference than having a dedicated AC line.
I don't want to get this MU2 thread off track, so will eventually post my impressions of the mighty mite SR grounding block in your tweak thread, but what a difference a day makes. I've tried a grounding device from another designer and since it didn't do anything I became skeptical of the entire concept as related to my equipment (not that of other folks with very different setups).
Took three days of settling in and it is still early (waiting for cables to ground the UEF switch and ethernet cable), but I already think this little block is a proof of concept. No A/B needed. The improvement in timbre and tone (always my criteria for an improvement) is easily heard. Good stuff!
yes, SR grounding block. There are also two levels above that, both active.
CAD GC1. The dealer was puzzled by my findings. Tried it with a Grimm MU1, Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC and both. Nothing. But there are plenty of experienced folks with very fine systems who love the CAD stuff.
What is already clear to me is that grounding affects each piece of gear differently (obvious, I suppose) and that if you wanted you could tune the system's sound. Trade a little speed or definition for a more rounded HF, for example. I've been connecting and disconnecting gear and find it very interesting. The real fun will be when I can connect the SR switch and the SR ethernet cable.
My current operating theory is that grounding the switch and cable will be the optimal solution and downstream gear might not then benefit in terms of achieving the greatest noise reduction and the smallest deviation from the original sound of the gear.
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yes. extended listening. There can be different flavors based upon the signal into the MU2 and they are all enjoyable in their own way. Some of the differences are very small and preference might be based upon the particular recording. My ear/brain got pretty insensitive after a while. I was enjoying everything. Not a bad thing. Then I listened to a playlist I sometimes use to bring my ear back to reference, so to speak. Then the tradeoffs were more obvious.
That is all to say that the MU2 is a standout if the upstream signal is pretty clean. I'm hoping to clean the upstream further without changing what I believe to be the MU2's voice. All highly subjective, of course.
A Gy8 review rates the new Wadax Studio Player a 10 and the MU2 an 8. Since the MU2 is 50% of the cost (and accepting his rating), that sounds like a good deal. Of course, if you thoroughly enjoy your MU2 it doesn't matter how other players compare.
I haven't heard the Wadax, but I do think that the MU2 gets appreciably better after 3 months of continuous play. Might it be an 8.5 or more at that point? I do think it is very difficult to do such comparisons because it requires the units to be warmed up and, ideally I would suggest, playing music for an hour or so before testing.
I'm not sure how he got the MU2 to sound so bad in streaming mode, but that is what made me think the unit needed more burn-in time (he seems to have a reasonable upstream setup to reduce incoming noise).
I haven't heard the Wadax, but I do think that the MU2 gets appreciably better after 3 months of continuous play. Might it be an 8.5 or more at that point? I do think it is very difficult to do such comparisons because it requires the units to be warmed up and, ideally I would suggest, playing music for an hour or so before testing.
I'm not sure how he got the MU2 to sound so bad in streaming mode, but that is what made me think the unit needed more burn-in time (he seems to have a reasonable upstream setup to reduce incoming noise).
I would take his reviews with a little bit grain of salt. His wife works as a marketing consultant and her clients currently include CH Precision. She worked in the past with both Nordost and Wadax.
That said, IMO it is a very good review. It makes me curious to listen to the Wadax Studio Player
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well, the results are different than expected thus far. Still listening and letting things settle in since I've done a lot of connecting and disconnecting.
The SR grounding block + high definition grounding cables when used with the SR switch and SX reference ethernet cable does, as suggested on SR website, "go to 11." Great depth and body.
In my setup, I prefer the MU2 sans grounding block connection when also used with the SR switch and ethernet cable. To my ears, it seemed to reduce the MU2's dynamics, which is exactly the opposite of the effect of using the grounding block with just the switch and ethernet cable. YMMV, which is why trying at home is vital.
Using the grounding block with the Mola Mola preamp and amp is a matter of taste. The sound was a little bit softer and rounder when attached to the block. Sounded very nice but I like a more lively sound.
Some of the logic of the review seemed strange and strained to me. Other well-regarded companies use only some functions of off-the-shelf chips and build around that to improve the outcome. But if one accepts that chips have built-in limitations, why not simply make the point that some designers have opted to use FPGA instead. Of course, implementation is everything.I would take his reviews with a little bit grain of salt. His wife works as a marketing consultant and her clients currently include CH Precision. She worked in the past with both Nordost and Wadax.
That said, IMO it is a very good review. It makes me curious to listen to the Wadax Studio Player
Yes, I get your point. This MusiC thing is the "secret sauce" of Wadax. But also to me would make the FPGA route more sense. Maybe MusiC is just better for marketing or Wadax do other things they do not disclose.
Anyway Gregory seems to describe pretty well the sound signature in comparison to CH and Grimm, so according to this review would the Wadax be my first choice. The drawback of the Wadax for me is the CD/SACD drive which I don't need.
However this "small" Wadax looks very nice, much better than CH and Grimm
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It does look nice and a departure from their reference gear which isn't my taste (or checkbook). The Wadax does look pretty big though. Needs some real estate. There is also an upgrade path -- adding clock and power supply -- and that will be a strong temptation for any audiophile who plunks down $40k. Therefore, it might be wise to budget accordingly. I don't want to break the piggy bank for the extra 2 points of performance out of 10 (10 points without the clock and power supply).Yes, I get your point. This MusiC thing is the "secret sauce" of Wadax. But also to me would make the FPGA route more sense. Maybe MusiC is just better for marketing or Wadax do other things they do not disclose.
Anyway Gregory seems to describe pretty well the sound signature in comparison to CH and Grimm, so according to this review would the Wadax be my first choice. The drawback of the Wadax for me is the CD/SACD drive which I don't need.
However this "small" Wadax looks very nice, much better than CH and Grimm
Looking forward to your listening impressions, however. You can always leave the CD drive open for your listening guests to use as an ash tray, I suppose. Or put a small vase in there with some fresh flowers.
Wondering if using Muon Pro with Innuos PhoenixNET in the chain would be too much of a good thing?
I believe the PhoenixNET has a 10/100 Ethernet port on it and the MUON Pro requires a Gigabit Ethernet port. Other have tried, they don't work together. I do know of MUON Pro users who have abandoned their PhoenixNET devices.
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