I remember posting the unboxing and I think I updated impressions, but I don’t remember where lol. I’ll link to it if I can find it.
Found it: IEM discussion thread (Part 1) - #9160 by Sonofholhorse
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1). Dunu Vulkan - It was an IEM that was on my mind for over a year, and thanks to my friends I finally got to scratch that itch. It was definitely worth it because while most of them have issues with it, I think it’s freaking amazing. It is going to be a set I baby so that I can keep it for as long as possible. It’s easily one of my favorite sets and it’s not going anywhere.
2). NiceHCK SnowCat and FirstTouch cables - I’m not doing a sound comparison. Simply one feel, aesthetics, and comfort these two cables jumped right up to the top of my list. I got a SnowCat in 2-pin and mmcx, and a FirstTouch in 2-pin (4.4mm) for 11/11, and I liked them so much that I got each in 2-pin (3.5mm) for Black Friday. And combined, paid less than $20 more than I did for their FourMix cable. I’m super good on cables for a good long while now.
3). Reserving space for a source purchase that I will see how much my socks are knocked off by…As someone who has resisted buying a full sized dac/amp until now, this is a big purchase…
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Based on gear I bought in 2023:
1 - Softears Twilight - fantastic for me/my library, they just let me enjoy my music, I can (and should !!) stop right here
2 - FiiO Q11 - great wee device, bang for buck, sounds good, does all I need for work at home listening on laptop or V30
3 - Simgot EA500 (foam mod) - gathered deserved traction thanks to @GooberBM , snagged a good deal on AE, money well spent but needed a mod to tame treble for me, my go to grab for on-the-go music
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I’ll throw my hand in the hat here. 2023 was a wild year. I attended CanJam at the beginning of the year (Which freaks me out btw, has it been nearly a year already?! Jeez…) and that threw off my passion for the hobby a bit. I focused on Music mostly.
- Gear-related must be a 3-way tie between the 41T, SR5, and the T4. All of them captured my heart, and my wallet, with the exception being the SR5 (Thank you @VIVIDICI_111
) I didn’t pay for those. The T4 is the most recent and has completely taken me over with its warm and powerful bass, laid-back pinna, and well-extended treble. I love them, quite frankly, I haven’t been able to put them down for the last 3 days. I just want to keep listening.
- 2 bands called Goon and Just Mustard. I don’t know what it is with these indie bands and their silly names, but their music definitely doesn’t reflect it. The music ranges from dark and haunting, to hard-hitting and invigorating - I’ve had these 2 on repeat for most of the year. (Specifically Fruiting Body by Goon… jeeeez, that sub-bass is nice ).
- Just my buddies in the Audio space. Y’all are the best and 2023 has been all the better because of our tour group. Thanks, dudes
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This has ended up not being at all what I expected it to be. I set out at the beginning of the year with some specific audio goals. Some of them I met, and others have been pushed back by my getting pulled into directions I hadn’t intended going. But some of those have been so very worth it.
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Sonore UltraRendu/Intel NUC running Roon ROCK - Moving away from my PC and to a dedicated streamer made such a ridiculous difference that there’s no way it could be anything else. You do not realize just how noisy a regular PC is until it’s no longer in the signal chain.
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Eddie Current Lunchbox II - An amp that’s no longer in production, I spotted it on Head-Fi back in July and bought it on a whim for $275. Dollar for dollar, this little amp has impressed me more than anything else I’ve bought since I got into the hobby. It has its limitations, it can’t really be used with low impedance, high-sensitivity cans (forget IEMs). But it is warm, lush, musical and just so much fun to listen to. If you see one come up, I highly encourage you to give this thing a shot.
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Riviera AIC-10 - My most recent, and most expensive digression. I’m putting this here as much for the fact that I was able to acquire one as for what it does. It just got to me yesterday, so I’ve only had a few hours with it so far, but it is easily the most competent amplifier I’ve ever heard.
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I don’t buy much these days not because I can’t but I’m just busy listening to 
on what I have…Seeing as I’ve been really enjoying buds lately TGXear etc @Rikudou_Goku’s S3 has to be my standout 2023 set…Tuning 
Timbre if you listen to vocal centric both male and female genres, also want a bass 
and a non fatiguing but detailed treble this set’s a 
…an all day listen 
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I’m going to squeeze this in at the very end and swap out the EA500 (still an honorary mention alongside the Zero 2) for the potential that Creative’s Aurvana Ace/2 brings as the first TWS implementation of XMEMs drivers. That IEM tweeter will inevitably render all other tweeters (and maybe full-range) obsolete and will flip the personal audio market upside-down. For the treble, I’ve NEVER heard that kind of detail in IEMs, you’re effectively in summit-tier headphone territory (high-end planars and estats.) The rest of the package was a bit disappointing, but only because the bar was set so high with the new driver-type.
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