Popular Post pmorali Posted October 27, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted October 27, 2022 2 hours ago, 57gold said: So exactly what does this $10.5K box do that say a $2.5K Mac Studio with 2TB of SSD and Roon software can't do? Alternatively, I'm guessing that with say HQ Player on the Mac Studio, it can do things that the Grimm unit cannot. Looks nicely made. 57gold, I'll try to give you my perspective on your question. For context, before the MU1, I too was running my Roon core on a Mac, albeit a Mac mini, with a 1TB SSD, which I ran via ethernet into a Lumin U1 streamer (as a Roon endpoint), then into my DAC. So I am just providing my perspective (in my room, on my system, to my ears...) since I experienced and compared both setups; I do think the Mac mini or Studio as a Roon core is a good solution. I can't tell from your post if you are running your Mac into your DAC (via ethernet or USB), or if you have a streamer in between, so I'll assume for purpose of this answer that you run it directly into your DAC (which may be incorrect). To address this first, the MU1 is a Roon core, same as your Mac Studio, so you can run HQ Player on the MU1 as you do on your Mac Studio today. The Roon core on the MU1 is the same as on the Mac (v2.0), except running on a different OS, which is invisible to the end-user. To answer your specific question, relative to a Mac Studio Roon core, the MU1 integrates a Roon core and a re-clocker, with the following four primary benefits (there may be more but I chose to focus on what I personally consider the primary compounding benefits): 1. The MU1 is architected with two CPUs, an Intel i3 NUC dedicated to running the Roon core, and an FPGA processor board dedicated to running Grimm Audio (optional) DSP functions (up/down-sampling, digital volume control). This is to minimize the noise resulting from loading a single CPU architecture with "dirty" DSP software, and also improve SQ through higher-quality DSPs; 2. A high-performance low-jitter clock to convert and re-clock the asynchronous ethernet or USB data signal into a high-quality synchronous data signal served to the DAC via S/PDIF or AES/EBU. This is to minimize jitter; 3. A high-performance DSP to up/down-sample PCM or DSD into what Grimm Audio deems ideal for most DAC, thereby enabling the DAC to focus on its primary D to A function, without te noisy "distraction" from having to re-clock and re-sample the data stream first; 4. A low-noise power supply to power the MU1 aimed at minimizing noise. So comparing your $2.5K 2TB SSD Mac Studio Roon core to the $10.5K MU1 is indeed a steep jump, which rightfully begs your question. My 1TB Mac min Roon core/Lumin U1 combo was "closer", at ~$8.5K. I run a 100% digital path, and I felt that the Mac mini/Lumin combo was becoming a weaker link which I needed to explore and address (particularly the server portion of the combo). I am not an engineer as you can tell. But I did my research which pointed me to the MU1. I pulled the trigger and I have found that the resulting SQ is extraordinary, from increased flow, dynamic range, instrument/voice 3D separation and positioning, and coherence. I had never derived so much emotion from my music library, which now often draws tears to my eyes... My 2 cents, for what it is worth. FredM, skatbelt, The Computer Audiophile and 3 others 2 4 Link to comment
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