The Grimm Audio MU2 Music Player
By Roy Gregory
As long as CD players have been available, digital designers have been telling the audio world that they no longer need pre-amps. Hanging a variable volume control on the output of your digital source, be it a disc-player or DAC, allows you to connect it directly to your power amp(s), saving on box count and cost – or freeing up more funds to spend on that disc player or DAC, something that certain manufacturers actively suggested in their ads! The logic is appealing, as is the inherent simplicity: the reality rather less so…
I’ve lived with a number of DACs from manufacturers that promote this approach, including Wadia, dCS, JRDG, Wadax (the original Pre 1 and latterly the Studio Player) and CH Precision. I’ve used many more. Yet despite the sheer number of contenders, not one has ever managed to usurp the role of a decent line-stage in any system I’ve used (although perhaps not surprisingly, the JRDG Aeris got closest for the money). Indeed, it’s noticeable that both Wadax and CH Precision have since quietly omitted the option on their high-end offerings, the latter adding the L1 line-stage to the 1 Series, despite the existence of the C1 DAC/Controller, a genuine digital control unit that included the option of analogue inputs.
Yet in spite of all the evidence and advice to the contrary, the ‘Digital Controller’ is an idea that simply refuses to die. Indeed, the advent of streaming and file-replay has given it a whole new lease of life and legion of advocates. Being in the happy position of possessing a number of excellent line-stages, it’s not the way I’d ever choose to build a system, but many people do and it’s not hard to understand why. Good line-stages are invariably rare and seriously expensive. As the overall system budget shrinks, the appeal of eliminating that ‘extra box’ becomes increasingly attractive and ultimately compelling – especially as you always have the option to add it later. The question is, how much do you have to spend to get a digital controller that actually delivers on the claimed benefits?
It might be digital – but don’t forget analogue…
The first and most important thing to remember here is that, in order to do the job properly, a digital controller needs to offer more than just digital inputs. It must provide at least the option of analogue inputs, effectively eliminating DACs with variable outputs from consideration (so Wadia, JRDG and dCS – amongst many others – need not apply). I guess you could always add a separate A-to-D stage, but if analogue replay is important to you, that’s an approach that’s unlikely to appeal.
The CH Precision C1.2 certainly ticks all the boxes and turns in a surprisingly credible performance in the control-role – at a price. What I’m interested in is a more affordable solution that can match the C1.2’s versatility without surrendering too much sonically and musically. Enter then, the Grimm Audio MU2 – named for designer Eelco Grimm, rather than its overall performance attributes – a compact streamer/DAC that comes complete with analogue inputs (one pair each of single-ended RCA and balanced XLR), a matching suite of variable outputs, AES/EBU, S/PDIF and TosLink Digital inputs, a network connection, the ability to accept internal storage and a USB A for connecting external storage. There’s even a (switchable, rear-mounted) headphone socket! Unlike the C1.2 with its optional input cards, that connectivity is standard and comes at around half the price of the CH Precision unit – or €17,990 including sales tax (€18,630 if you include an 8TB internal SSD).
