| Nightjar Duality |
| Cayin N30LE |
| Cayin N30LE |
| UM Amber Pearl |
| Mentor |
| UM AP |
| UM AP (not yet heard), FATfreq GM (heard) |
| Getting 1266TC and Trailli still being in early 20s |
| Cayin N30LE |
| Kinera Loki International |
| Re-buying IE 900 and Legend X |
| Woo Audio Tube mini |
| none |
| Getting the Creator/DC Ti |
| Sony mdr r10 @ canjam chicago |
| VEX |
| Fei Wan release |
| Elysian Annihilator ‘23 |
| Canjam Socal |
| High-End Munich |
| FATFreq Scarlet Mini |
| Subtonic Storm, DX320Max |
| CanJam Singapore |
| Storm |
| Mass Kobo 475 |
| Aroma Fei Wan |
| Campfire Trifecta |
| N30 AP |
| Earbuds by FranQL |
| meeting fellow HeadFiers at the SNA Show in Melbourne |
| Roaming HK’s audio stores, and discovering the Bellos X4 and the Fei Wan. |
| Stereonet show Melbourne |
| CanJam Singapore |
| Nightjar Singularity |
| Listening to Wilson Speakers/McIntosh Monoblocks in a treated room and then comparing to RS8>Tsu>Madoo821 and being perfectly happy with what I have |
| Having the Sennheiser Orpheus on extended loan |
| Riviera A1C-10 |
| Listening to Lana’s newest album on Trifecta/RS8 combo for the first time |
| I’d say 64 Audio Tia Fourté for being a fairly versatile all-rounder with most genres of music I mostly listen to, as well as being a fairly solid technical performer with most movies & documentaries I stream from time to time. Not a bad blind buy (for just over 3k, new b-stock) after all. =) |
| cayin n30 |
| N30LE |
| DAPs like DX320 MAX TI and dongles like Woo Audio Tube Mini could really substitute desktop gear even for full sized HPs |
| Attending CanJam Dallas |
| Inear PP8 |
| Canpur CP622B, Simphonio P0, Rosenkranz Silver HB, Rosenkranz Silver KA |
| Dita Perpetua |
| IMR ACOUSTICS Titan |
| ETA O2 over ears. |
| Purchasing Atrium & Spartacus |
| Release of and eventual purchase of FiR Rn6 |
| 64 Audio Volur |
| Purchasing the Oriolus Traillii |
| Fir RN6 |
| Attending Canjam SoCal |
| Sennheiser HE-1 |
| Purchasing Warwick Acoustics Bravura |
| Fiio FH9, QP2R |
| Getting back into IEMs and DAPs after a couple of years with headphones |
| RS8 |
| Blind purchase of Cayin N30LE |
| Madoo Type 821 |
| STORM |
| AüR Audio Neon Pro |
| STORM |
| Getting EXT |
| Music: Bibiza / Gear: Sound Rhyme DTE900 |
| Nightjar Duality |
| Anni 2023 |
| Trying so many diverse TOTLs. I have a much better sense of what I like now. |
| Feliks audio Envy, UM AP, PW Orpheus |
| Rn6 |
| Trifecta |
| Elysian Dio |
| Getting the Aune M1p |
| mest mk2 (turned into CIEM) |
| The decision to buy the Cayin N30LE |
| Successfully purchased the Viking OG. |
| Aür Audio Neon Pro coupled with Effect Audio Eros 1stAE |
| Radon6 |
| Effect Audio Ares S Founders Edition cable. |
| Kr5 |
| Pairing the WM-1ZM2 with the Tsuranagi. |
| Fatfreq Grand Maestro |
| RN6 |
| Going live with my 2 channel rig |
| rhapsodio supreme v3 |
| Volur |
| Knowledge |
| Bonneville |
| Can Jam NYC |
| VExAK Aura |
| Aroma Audio Jewel |
| Lotoo mjölnir |
| Fir RN6 (bf20 discount lol). these are almost perfect in any way. Totally understand the hype |
| Trying so many IEMs, DAPs, and portable amps - my at-home Can Jam |
| Canjam NYC (social); Annihilator 2023 (gear) |
| Vorzüge AMP |
| CanJam Singapore |
| Cayin N30LE |
| Odin |
| Storm at CJSG |
| Getting the Arya Ver 3 headphone |
| QDC Anole V14 |
| Not spending! |
| Lotoo Mjolnir |
| Elysian Annihilator 2023 |
| Perpetua |
| Raven |
| Going Customs for XE6 (love the fit and off course Sound) |
| elysian diva 2023 |
| Aroma Audio Fei Wan |
| Music. About devices - Lotoo Mjolnir and DHC Chimera. |
| Annihilator 2023 |
| Singularity + 320MAX Ti + Mass-Kobo 475 |
| None |
| DMP-Z1 |
| Splendid range of iems with exciting and varying sound profiles |
| Hearing shangrila sr for the first time |
| STORM, FEI WAN, DIO (Proto), DUALITY (Proto) |
| Buying Mentors and a desktop DAC+AMP |
| Mass kobo 475 |
| Mola Mola Tambaqui. And Sonnet Pasithea > MASS-Kobo 465 |
| Discovered Bonneville from Rockwell75 |
| Nostalgia Audio Camelot |
| Trifecta |
| Trifecta |
| My first canjam/audio festival! |
| Completing Susvara Setup (for now). |
| Cayin N30LE |
| Cen Grand 1.0 Deluxe DAC, Fir Radon 6, Aroma Fei Wan |
| Sony CDP-X777ES |
| Trifecta |
| Discovering Traillii, WM1Z and PWaudio Metropolis synergy |
| dartzeel |
| VE/AK Aura |
| Listening to STORM for the second time |
| Buying the Pathos Aurium Headphone amp complete with upgraded LPS (S-Booster MK-2 BOTW) |
| Storm |
| Custom Cascara |
| VExAK Aura |
| Auditioned a Sennheiser HE-1 |
| Enjoying my desktop. |
| bought p6 pro ti99 |
| Hearing the Annihilator 2023 at Canjam Europe from a fellow Head-Fier. |
| Purchase DIY CFA3 and T2 for all my headphones. |
| Sony IER-Z1R |
| Trifecta |
| CFA Trifecta |
| Audio Video Show Warsaw 2023 |
| Ronin |
| Ragnar |
| Mass kobo, Loki, bonneville |
| HQPlayer and upsampling , positive impact of Active Preamplifier |
| 622b |
| Chord Dave |
| Brise Audio cables |
| Cayin NE30 |
| Visiting Singapore for audio, as well as meeting with local community |
| Jomo Audio Alpha Ti + Effect Audio Centurion |
| VE x A&K Aura |
| Dallas CanJam |
| The bass on the bonnevile makes me smile every time a song calls for authoritative bass. |
| 1 year in hobby/After 7 months Annihilator arrive. Top IEM. |
| discovering how good very high quality files can sound |
| Listening to both DX320Max and M9+ for the first time |
| Going to Potafes and Headphone Festival with friends from WC group |
| Hearing Rn6 for first time |
| Cayin n30le |
| Annihilator 2023 |
| Nightjar Duality |
| Fatfreq MSE |
| Cayin N30LE |
| Amber Pearl Combo |
| Plunge Audio Unity |
| N30LE AP |
| FATfreq, last year's meh to this year's wow |
| Retro stax sr-05 |
| Cypherus Audio Susvara Black Dragon earbud |
| Nostalgia Audio Tesseract |
| PWA Orpheus - the hype is real |
| EE Raven |
| Kiwi Ears Quintet |
| N30LE and how good it is |
| Fei Wan |
| VEX |
| NG Audio Eurus+ |
| Headphones! |
| That I am a basshead |
| Buying an Utopia 2022 |
| Fostex TH616 |
| Subtonic Storm |
| How bad Aroma Audio's attitude can be towards a customer |
| Sennheiser HE-1 |
| FatFreq brand |
| Cayin N30 LE |
| Getting into full size headphones! (Meze Elite) |
| N30 Amber Pearl bundle |
| How overrated I found Campfire |
| Annihilator2023. No way I ever thought I'd love a "treblehead" IEM as much as I do Anni! |
| Finding what I feel is the “best” IEM in the world in the Fei Wan. |
| Annihilator |
| How much I have come to love Traillii |
| That the nightjar Singularity fits me decently well |
| IBasso DC Elite's performance |
| How much I enjoyed the FIR XE6, despite what I heard about the overwhelming bass |
| $8000 IEM |
| Z1R living up to the hype |
| For the past six months of on-the-go listening with dongle and iPhone 15 Pro Max at work, 64 Audio A3t ciem was quite a surprise for how well it performed and presented the music, as I felt it got the most out of each and every driver & implementation from 3 BA drivers per side. |
| N30LE |
| That I still prefer Traillii to all shiny new toys |
| Fei Wan and Kinera Loki Emerald |
| Discovering personal preferences for audio gear |
| Ibasso DC-elite |
| Oriolous Isabellea |
| The return of Oriveti |
| Singularity |
| Improvement in BA Bass |
| Being content with the gear I currently own, even though I think it would be nice to have the remaining desert island IEMs not in possession, I don't feel the urge to save up the money to purchase. |
| LP W4 |
| Enjoying iems with tube amps |
| Night Oblivion Butastur |
| Listened to gears at Canjam |
| John Lennon posthumously in new music, who else now |
| Amber Pearl SQ |
| Fiio FH9 |
| Price of the most recent flagship IEMs |
| How little clicked with me and how content I am with current gear |
| That I would get back into the hobby after so many years |
| Dunu Alpha 3 Never used Earbuds |
| Fei Wan |
| SQ improvement going from BTR7 to M15S |
| P6ProTi99 |
| AüR |
| Modhouse Tungsten |
| Cayin N30 |
| Fei Wan. What an incredible IEM and unlike what I thought was my bullseye sound profile. |
| Envy and Susvara synergy |
| 1960s SE |
| Bonneville |
| Amber Pearl |
| Hisenior Okavango |
| Singularity |
| Aroma Thunder |
| N30LE was released |
| Penon Quattro (already announced but soon to be released) |
| R6PROII |
| Effect Audio Ares S Founders Edition cable. |
| Dita Navigator |
| Procuring the Tsuranagi with the Yatono IC.. |
| Sennheiser HE-1 |
| Lotoo Paw 6000 |
| How much music I discovered after starting streaming. |
| n30le |
| Cayin N30LE |
| How much money I spent on gear.. |
| Bonneville |
| Trifecta being ok for me . Not super. Not bad. |
| SR35 |
| Bass quality of lotoo mjölnir |
| Fei Wan - knocks my socks off and I had no idea this an Aroma highly technical IEM would do that. |
| Singularity (its coherence and bass shelf) |
| Kiwi Ears Tuning of cheap iems |
| The love for Xe6 |
| Lots of TOTL IEM's |
| SR35 |
| How much I liked RN6. Tied with how much I think U4S makes most of the 64 lineup redundant |
| Penon Orb |
| Hisenior T4 |
| ifi neo stream |
| Elysian Annihilator 2023 |
| WM1Z is still as good as anything else on the market. |
| Spartacus |
| Audeze brought by Sony |
| substonic storm |
| How a Linear Power Supply improves sound |
| LP6TI, PW 1960, DHC Chimera. |
| Nightjar Singularity |
| Multiverse Mentor/Amber Pearl |
| EQ'ed planar iem can be endgame, period. |
| Trifecta |
| Fei Wan |
| Devialet mania |
| Meeting cooler members at SG Canjam and potafest! Also, FEI WAN made me a 2-IEM guy after being a 1-IEM guy for years |
| Earsonics Grace Platinum, a disappointing one |
| Mass kobo amps |
| Aful MagicOne |
| Bonneville |
| Discipline… |
| Trifecta - so unique, so great sound, so huge stage |
| Benefit of portable amp. |
| Holo Audio Bliss great with IEMs |
| Cypherus Audio susvara Black Dragon earbud |
| Fir Radon 6 |
| Synergy of EE Legend X and Mojo 2 / Poly |
| Trifecta |
| My WM1Z mileage is real (never been reseted). |
| dartzeel |
How much more I fell in love with Iems … it’s scary  |
| Cheap but very good one driver IEMs from China |
| Listening to a well calibrated analogue rig in a properly large listening room through Vivid Audio Giya speakers - realism in timbre and holographic staging took on a whole new meaning |
| How good the final H type pads are on the original D-8000 |
| Sennheiser Momentum 4 |
| susvara |
| Custom Cascara |
| Roon’s acquisition |
| Discovering the magic of TOTL cables and portable amps |
| How good my desktop sounds |
| Same moment, the Anni sounded way better through his dap than through my phone with dongle, with same songs. New experience for me. |
| Kinera Loki |
| Crimson |
| CFA Bonneville |
| Getting to hear the He1 |
| Trifecta |
| Sound rhyme dte900 |
| No surprise. Have been in this game for long so don’t get surprised now. |
| Storm amped up, he-1 |
| truthears zero red |
| UM Soundstage due to BCD |
| Final Audio ZE8000 |
| FATFreq Scarlet Mini, Shanling M9 Plus, and Divinus Velvets. |
| Noble Audio Stage 3 |
| L&P W4 |
| Dallas CanJam being as good as it was! |
| How close to flagship performance the bonneville and ascension come. |
| Symphonium Audio Helios SE |
| How big cable (Brise Yatono 8w) can improve sound |
| Aful Magic One |
| Realizing I prefer Rn6 to Xe6. |
| Cayin n30le |
| Annihilator 2023 |
| Lagom P64 Coffee Grinder |
| Professional growth in my job |
| New Porsche Gran Turismo GTS |
| Meeting everyone at CanJam Socal and being able to go to CanJam NYC with the fellow Coolers |
| My daughter |
| Trip to China this summer |
| My parents visiting me in San Francisco after 6 years! |
| Completing my full custom loop PC |
| Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0 |
| none |
| Non audio wise it has been a complete lowlight for me, hoping for a better 2024 |
| Aphex Twin in concert |
| Girlfriend |
| None |
| The birth of my daughter |
| Breaking bread with members of the Watercooler at CanJam, these guys like good food, also. |
| My family |
| Getting in best shape of my life (yet) |
| Back to traveling for work. |
| Building a new PC |
| Chat GPT |
| N/A |
| Travel - first trip to Thailand soon! |
| Planning my wedding |
| Nothing in particular |
| Taking up photography again |
| I'm blessed to have 3 amazing kids, each of whom continue to strive to improve themselves and the world around them, I'm continually amazed! |
Getting married.  |
| Son 18th |
| Spending time with Cooler friends at CanJam Singapore |
| My dog continues to be awesome |
| Getting back to (a better) life with a full year unaffected by covid |
| It is more a silver lining: health issues forced me to spend more time for myself, my friends, my interests and exploring myself and my interests. |
| Oldest son engagement |
| Meeting Keanu Reeves |
| Being re-immersed with nature and becoming more connected to my well-being as a whole. |
| iPhone 15 pro Max |
| That in general I can be satisfied with less if that contributes well to the overall harmony of things |
| More traveling |
Being able to travel out of China again!!!  |
| Unfortunate diagnosis of rare auto immune disease that change my life |
| Getting to travel abroad |
| My son’s academic and sports achievements |
| Greek Island Cruise |
| Getting a third cat, visiting family & friends back in home town Calgary. |
| Working from home |
| Getting into a relationship |
| Tears of the Kingdom finally came out! |
| Getting by |
| Discovering Korean fried chicken |
| Been a tough year, many personal losses |
| Retiring from work |
| Completing the basement reno |
| Health improvements |
| A career move that is still in discussion |
| Traveling |
Fun young kid stuff  |
| Securing a new job for 2024 |
| good outcome of my follow-up examination cranium MRI |
| Steam deck |
| Holiday in Kent (UK) |
| Clean health |
| Living in Maine all summer with my family. A wonderful contrast to my home environment in Colorado. |
| Travelling to Japan |
| Pay raise |
| School trip |
| Family reunion |
| Official announcement of GTA 6 |
| Achieving my fitness goals |
| Achieving important results in my job |
| Start to post at the Watercooler thread! |
| Enjoying any moment of life with my wife |
| Finally we forgot about COVID. |
| Singing tibetan bowls. |
| My shoulder injury. |
| Dieting is going well! |
| Completing my studio. |
| Getting custom cabinets and shelving done in office and living room |
| Oppo Find N3 |
| Getting married! |
| My daughter getting into college |
| Every day with my wife and child has been a treasured blessing. |
| Attack on Titan great finale |
| Sucess of populists all over the world (unfortunately just the beginning of a bad, bad process) |
| moved to canada |
| Spending the summer in Maine with my family - very different than my Colorado homeland! |
| Best friend is having a baby |
| Good grief... Couldn't come up with anything in 5 minutes. This year wasn't my favourite by miles and miles. |
| None |
| Big Ears music festival in Knoxville |
| The rest of the Singapore trip. |
| UM Mext |
| Life in general |
| Singing with my students |
| No longer “New Head-fi’er” after 7 years. Thank you Jude, very cool. |
| Brought a house |
| Lost weight and back to exercising regularly |
| Survival |
| Going to the Buffalo Bills game with my girlfriend |
| Meeting new people on HF/Discord, whether I generally agree or disagree with their takes. |
| None |
| My healing back pains! My work is more enjoyable than ever before! |
| Passing of my cat |
| Landing the new job |
| Japan trip with family and friends, 1 year of Golf has been fun will continue to do more! |
| Changing job |
| Going for my first overseas school trip |
| Getting to meet so many interesting people |
| Holiday in Italy |
| The great Watercooler community |
| It was a very busy year... |
| Deciding to return for to school for a PhD |
| Being able to spend time with my parents twice this year! |
First daughter  |
| Baldur's Gate 3 |
| Mc.Gregor declaring run for the presidency in Ireland |
| none |
Godzilla minus one  |
| Cat turned one year old and is calming n |
| Trying a variety of Grado Headphones. A bit disappointing |
| Launching our new drone project (work) |
| Working out, getting in shape, and going to bed early |
| A trip to Berlin! |
| It was a "meh" sort of year |
| cant think of anything |
| Playing VR games with friends and family/experiencing life. |
| Big milestone in my career |
| My wife retires at the end of this year. |
| First child/daughter, walking, talking and blossoming personality |
| Dunno |
| Restoring my Victorian house |
| Baby girl born |
| Well now I’m sad. Ok so atleast one great thing happened. My wife joined a good college for Medical PG |
| Watching my girl grow |
| getting the call from Rolex AD |
| Too broad to answer |
| On Roger Federer Tennis Shoe |
| Kicking off a YouTube channel for tech reviews with small success. |
| Watercoolers |
| World EXPO 2025 Osaka |
| hiring 2 incredible people |
| The birth of my daughter |
| New family member. Parrot Alexandrine. My love. |
| progress in learning Japanese |
| Holiday in Japan with my family |
| Finding trustworthy friends along the way |
| Running a sub-21 minute 5K. |
| Visit Singapore |
The ultimate dream set upWhat a stunning combo, and I don’t mean just visually.
Both the Trifecta and the DMPZ1 have a remarkable ability to deliver image height and scale.
Simply, wonderful. Succulent, even.
I hope one day I can get my ears on thisWow going thru non Audio highlight is best and a good motivator before the start of new year.I know I said I was going to wait until page 5k to share the survey results but I had some time tonight so I tallied everything up. Following are the results from the 2023 Watercooler Year End Community Survey. Enjoy.
Thank-you to the following members who took the time to take the survey.
@-rowan-
@8481
@aaf evo
@AboveNBeyond
@Acts
@AEIOU9
@Alexzander
@Alpexis
@Amadeo Nospherathu nospherath
@Andrew DiMarcangelo
@Andricop
@antdroid
@Auricon
@AxLvR
@Badlands
@barrycro
@Beh0lder
@berger
@bgillis
@bigbeans
@BlendS
@BLitt
@blotmouse
@BobJS
@Bosk
@bossfan48009
@Bret Halford
@broopa
@btwine
@chan65
@CharlyBrown
@claud W
@Crazeee
@Czernobog
@Damz87
@darveniza
@DaveStarWalker
@dbboy
@Dbriv
@Deezel177
@Deferenz
@Delitia
@dhc0329
@dkar
@dleblanc343
@drftr
@dsherrick
@DunkFealer
@emdeevee
@endless402
@Erkil
@Exekuhtor
@goldwerger
@Fantanest
@fejnomit
@fiascogarcia
@FooFighter
@freeryder05
@Garney
@gLer
@goatkidbaahcity
@gryphonos
@HarveyLowis
@HiFiHawaii808
@iDesign
@jaker782
@JaviGCalderoni
@jmo04
@Junmoe62
@jwilliamhurst
@kajetanjazz
@katzuhiroo
@KelFab
@kevin638880
@KhunChang
@Kiats
@kkarll
@Kobe4ever
@kokokab
@KrólArtur
@kumar402
@KuroKitsu
@Leonarfd
@Leviathant
@leylandi
@LFC_SL
@linux4ever
@lycos
@maegnificant
@MaggotBrain
@main character
@mark88888
@mashuto
@MasterZen
@Meejay
@Meme123
@metaljem77
@monduvo
@mRaaghava
@MRT-Man
@MudEnjoyer
@named name
@Natesdailies
@nephilim32
@Neweymatt
@newworld666
@Nighthawk7397
@nihalsharma
@nikbr
@nil
@nocturne19
@noxenal
@Ojisan
@oliveradr
@OneEyedHito
@orifiel
@Oschi
@pankaj1431
@osocan
@pasul
@PeacockObscura
@peppy
@pradiptacr7
@PreetyAdrian
@psklrdk
@rambocs
@ranfan
@Rockwell75
@RodC
@roeschel
@Rolu
@RonaldS86
@rootsd
@royalemint
@Royal Navy
@RTodd
@rush1
@Sajid Amit
@salwani8888
@Scuba Devils
@SCYJ
@Sifo
@Silverlinings
@slumberman
@Smirk 24
@somnarium
@soundblast75
@SpaceInvader77
@srinivasvignesh
@stefzulj
@Stu Paddasso
@SweetCans928
@szore
@tfenton02
@THEGHOSTMAN
@TheMiddleSky
@theveterans
@timeslip
@tjzurlaaa
@trbo996
@ttt123
@Ultimate Sophistication
@Uncle00Jesse
@Valrhona
@vaporsynthwave
@veebee
@Visceral
@vladzakhar
@Voltriant
@warrenpchi
@wolfstar76
@Xinlisupreme
@yaps66
@YCHANGE
@Yifang
@Zachik
@zikarus
@zlayde
North America - 81
Western Europe - 43
South-East Asia - 23
East Asia - 9
Australia - 8
South Asia - 6
Eastern Europe - 4
Central Asia - 2
South America - 1
Africa - 1
Warm/Dark -> Bright/Cool
Professional (Neutrality/versatility/detail) => Listener (Emotion/immersion/staging)
Purist (accuracy/realism primary) => Subjectivist (express/experience emotion primary)
Oriolus Traillii x 43
Fir Radon 6 x38
Elysian Annihilator x37
Subtonic STORM x33
Campfire Audio Trifecta x32
Sony IER-Z1R x32
Fir Xenon 6 x29
Unique Melody Mulitverse Mentor x22
Unique Melody Amber Pearl x21
Aroma Audio Fei Wan x20
Noble Audio Viking x16
64 Audio u12t x16
Dira Audio Perpetua x14
NightJar Singularity x14
Campfire Audio Bonneville x12
Aroma Audio Jewel x12
Empire Ears Odin x11
AKxVE Aura x10
FatFreq Grand Maestro x10
Campfire Audio Andromeda x9
Vison Ears EXT x9
64 Audio Tia Fourte x9
Sennheiser IE900 x9
Noble Audio Ronin x9
Vision Ears VEX x9
NightJar Acoustics Duality x8
Empire Ears Raven x8
Campfire Audio Supermoon x7
Vision Ears Phönix x7
Canpur CP622b x6
Fitear DCTi x6
Softears Turii/Ti x6
Nostalgia Audio Camelot x5
Elysian Diva x5
Unique Melody Mest I/II/III x5
Unique Meloday Red Halo x5
64 Audio u/a18s x4
Campfire Audio Cascara x4
Soundrhyme DTE900 x4
Empire Ears Legend EVO x4
Fir Krypton 5 x4
Noble Kublai Khan x4
Oriolus Monachaa x4
Noble Spartacus x4
64 Audio Volür x4
Audeze LCD-i4 x4
Empire Ears Legend X x4
Aür Audio Aure x3
Elysian Dio x3
NGAudio - Erebus x3
Sony IER-M9 x3
Kinera Loki x3
FatFreq Maestro SE x3
Campfire Audio Solaris x3
MMR Thummim x3
Hidition Viento x3
FatFreq Scarlet Mini x3
Aür Audio Neon Pro x3
Final A8000 x2
Aür Audio Aurora x2
Night Oblivion Butastur x2
64 Auio Duo x2
Final e5000 x2
Vision Ears Elysium x2
Vision Ears Erlkonig x2
NGAudio Eurus x2
Custom Art Fibae 5 x2
Sennheiser IE600 x2
Penon Impact x2
Unique Melody Indigo x2
Penon Orb x2
InEar ProPhile 8 x2
Penon Serial x2
Acoustune Sho x2
Oriolus Szalayi x2
Aroma Audio Thunder x2
64 Audio Tia Trio x2
64 Audio u/a18s x2
64 Audio u/a4s x2
Visio Ears VE8 x2
Beyerdynamic Xelento2 x2
634 Ears Miroak-ii x2
Goldplanar GL-AMT16 x2
64 Audio u/a18t x2
64 Audio u/a4s x2
Penon 10th x1
Final a5000 x1
Meze Advar x1
Wave Air2 x1
Apple Airpods Pro x1
Aür Audio Alita x1
PMG Audio APX x1
Aür Audio Ascension x1
Moondrop Blessing 2 x1
Symphonium Crimson x1
Dita Dream XLS x1
Simgot ea1000 x1
Rhapsodio Eden x1
Thieaudio Elixir x1
64 Audio u/a3t x1
Etymotic ER4S x1
JVC FDX1 x1
Fiio FH9 x1
Custom Art Fibae 6 x1
Custom Art Fibae 7U x1
Custom Art Fibae Black x1
Penon Globe x1
Symphonium Helios x1
Oriolus Isabellae x1
ISN h40 x1
NGAudio Khaos x1
Shure kse1500 x1
Campfire Audio Lyra II x1
Westone Mach 60 x1
Madoo Typ 821 x1
Aful Magic One x1
Unique Melody Mason x1
Symphonium Meteor x1
FAudio Mezzo LE x1
Fitear mh334sr x1
Fitear mh335dw x1
Thieaudio Monarch x1
64 Audio Nio x1
Noble Audio Nodachi x1
Oriveti OD200 x1
AKxEE Edyssey x1
Hisenir Okavango x1
Simphonium p-zero x1
Warbler Prelude x1
Icelab Prismatica x1
Kiwi Ears Quintet x1
Obravo Ra-C-Cu21 x1
Aür Audio Ringo x1
Softeaers RSV x1
Letshuoer S15 x1
Jomo Samba x1
Shure SE846 x1
Pears sh2 x1
Jerry Harvey Sharona x1
ISN Solar x1
Spirit Torino Twinpulse x1
Holo Spring x1
Noble Stage3 x1
Noble Sultan x1
7th Acoustics Supernova x1
Rhapsodio Supremev3 x1
Fitear TC Ti x1
Nostalgia Tesseract x1
Fitear TG334 x1
Dunu Titan x1
Timsok TS-316 x1
Campfire Audio Atlas x1
64 Audio u/a6t x1
Plunge Audio Unity x1
QDC Anole v14 x1
Empire Ears Valkyrie x1
Vision Ears VE8 x1
Penon Volt x1
Fir Audio VXV x1
Empire Ears Wraith x1
Tangze Wu Zetian x1
Sony XM5 x1
Cayin YB04 x1
Dunu Zen Pro x1
Truthear Zero x1
Cayin N30le x50
Hiby RS8 x33
Ibasso DX320max x20
Astell & Kern SP3000 x20
Shanling M9plus x16
Sony WM1ZM2 x16
Sony WM1Z x14
Luxury & Precision P6Pro/Ti x13
Lotoo Paw Gold Touch x11
Luxury & Precision LP6/Ti x11
Sony DMP-Z1 x10
Cayin N8ii x9
Luxury & Precision LP6 7th Anniversary x8
Hiby R6 Pro 2 x7
Astell & Kern SR35 x6
Ibasso DX320 x5
Sony WM1AM2 x5
Lotoo Mjölnir x5
Hiby RS6 x4
Sony WM1A x4
Ibasso DX300 x3
AK SP2000 x3
Ibasso DC-Elite x2
Ibasso DX320x x2
Chord Uugo2 x2
Fiio m15s x2
Fiio m17 x2
Aune M1p x2
Sony nw-a306 x2
Lotoo Paw 6000 x2
Cayin RU7 x2
Astell & Kern SE300 x2
Brise Tsuranagi x2
Sony zx707 x2
Sony a306 x1
Acoustic Research ar-m2 x1
Oriolus DP100 x1
Dethonray DTR1plus x1
Ibasso dx240 x1
Ibasso dx260 x1
Ibasso dx300max x1
Apple iphone15promax x1
Apple ipod x1
Astell & Kern Kann Max x1
Luxury & Precision W4 x1
Fiio m15 x1
Fiio m6u x2
Chord Mojo 2 x1
Cayin n6ii x1
Lotoo Paw Gold x1
Questyle QP2R x1
Hifiman r2r2000 x1
Hiby r6iii x1
HIby r8ii x1
Cayin ru6 x1
Astell & Kern sp2000t x1
Woo Audio Tube Mini x1
Sony x27
Oriolus x26
Fir Audio x24
Subtonic x21
Vision Ears x15
Unique Melody x12
Elysian Acoustics x12
Campfire Audio x10
Noble Audio x9
Aroma Audio x6
64 Audio x5
Nightjar Acoustics x5
Empire Ears x4
Kinera x0 (RIP)
In your own words:
Nightjar Duality Cayin N30LE Cayin N30LE UM Amber Pearl Mentor UM AP UM AP (not yet heard), FATfreq GM (heard) Getting 1266TC and Trailli still being in early 20s Cayin N30LE Kinera Loki International Re-buying IE 900 and Legend X Woo Audio Tube mini none Getting the Creator/DC Ti Sony mdr r10 @ canjam chicago VEX Fei Wan release Elysian Annihilator ‘23 Canjam Socal High-End Munich FATFreq Scarlet Mini Subtonic Storm, DX320Max CanJam Singapore Storm Mass Kobo 475 Aroma Fei Wan Campfire Trifecta N30 AP Earbuds by FranQL meeting fellow HeadFiers at the SNA Show in Melbourne Roaming HK’s audio stores, and discovering the Bellos X4 and the Fei Wan. Stereonet show Melbourne CanJam Singapore Nightjar Singularity Listening to Wilson Speakers/McIntosh Monoblocks in a treated room and then comparing to RS8>Tsu>Madoo821 and being perfectly happy with what I have Having the Sennheiser Orpheus on extended loan Riviera A1C-10 Listening to Lana’s newest album on Trifecta/RS8 combo for the first time I’d say 64 Audio Tia Fourté for being a fairly versatile all-rounder with most genres of music I mostly listen to, as well as being a fairly solid technical performer with most movies & documentaries I stream from time to time. Not a bad blind buy (for just over 3k, new b-stock) after all. =) cayin n30 N30LE DAPs like DX320 MAX TI and dongles like Woo Audio Tube Mini could really substitute desktop gear even for full sized HPs Attending CanJam Dallas Inear PP8 Canpur CP622B, Simphonio P0, Rosenkranz Silver HB, Rosenkranz Silver KA Dita Perpetua IMR ACOUSTICS Titan ETA O2 over ears. Purchasing Atrium & Spartacus Release of and eventual purchase of FiR Rn6 64 Audio Volur Purchasing the Oriolus Traillii Fir RN6 Attending Canjam SoCal Sennheiser HE-1 Purchasing Warwick Acoustics Bravura Fiio FH9, QP2R Getting back into IEMs and DAPs after a couple of years with headphones RS8 Blind purchase of Cayin N30LE Madoo Type 821 STORM AüR Audio Neon Pro STORM Getting EXT Music: Bibiza / Gear: Sound Rhyme DTE900 Nightjar Duality Anni 2023 Trying so many diverse TOTLs. I have a much better sense of what I like now. Feliks audio Envy, UM AP, PW Orpheus Rn6 Trifecta Elysian Dio Getting the Aune M1p mest mk2 (turned into CIEM) The decision to buy the Cayin N30LE Successfully purchased the Viking OG. Aür Audio Neon Pro coupled with Effect Audio Eros 1stAE Radon6 Effect Audio Ares S Founders Edition cable. Kr5 Pairing the WM-1ZM2 with the Tsuranagi. Fatfreq Grand Maestro RN6 Going live with my 2 channel rig rhapsodio supreme v3 Volur Knowledge Bonneville Can Jam NYC VExAK Aura Aroma Audio Jewel Lotoo mjölnir Fir RN6 (bf20 discount lol). these are almost perfect in any way. Totally understand the hype Trying so many IEMs, DAPs, and portable amps - my at-home Can Jam Canjam NYC (social); Annihilator 2023 (gear) Vorzüge AMP CanJam Singapore Cayin N30LE Odin Storm at CJSG Getting the Arya Ver 3 headphone QDC Anole V14 Not spending! Lotoo Mjolnir Elysian Annihilator 2023 Perpetua Raven Going Customs for XE6 (love the fit and off course Sound) elysian diva 2023 Aroma Audio Fei Wan Music. About devices - Lotoo Mjolnir and DHC Chimera. Annihilator 2023 Singularity + 320MAX Ti + Mass-Kobo 475 None DMP-Z1 Splendid range of iems with exciting and varying sound profiles Hearing shangrila sr for the first time STORM, FEI WAN, DIO (Proto), DUALITY (Proto) Buying Mentors and a desktop DAC+AMP Mass kobo 475 Mola Mola Tambaqui. And Sonnet Pasithea > MASS-Kobo 465 Discovered Bonneville from Rockwell75 Nostalgia Audio Camelot Trifecta Trifecta My first canjam/audio festival! Completing Susvara Setup (for now). Cayin N30LE Cen Grand 1.0 Deluxe DAC, Fir Radon 6, Aroma Fei Wan Sony CDP-X777ES Trifecta Discovering Traillii, WM1Z and PWaudio Metropolis synergy dartzeel VE/AK Aura Listening to STORM for the second time Buying the Pathos Aurium Headphone amp complete with upgraded LPS (S-Booster MK-2 BOTW) Storm Custom Cascara VExAK Aura Auditioned a Sennheiser HE-1 Enjoying my desktop. bought p6 pro ti99 Hearing the Annihilator 2023 at Canjam Europe from a fellow Head-Fier. Purchase DIY CFA3 and T2 for all my headphones. Sony IER-Z1R Trifecta CFA Trifecta Audio Video Show Warsaw 2023 Ronin Ragnar Mass kobo, Loki, bonneville HQPlayer and upsampling , positive impact of Active Preamplifier 622b Chord Dave Brise Audio cables Cayin NE30 Visiting Singapore for audio, as well as meeting with local community Jomo Audio Alpha Ti + Effect Audio Centurion VE x A&K Aura Dallas CanJam The bass on the bonnevile makes me smile every time a song calls for authoritative bass. 1 year in hobby/After 7 months Annihilator arrive. Top IEM. discovering how good very high quality files can sound Listening to both DX320Max and M9+ for the first time Going to Potafes and Headphone Festival with friends from WC group Hearing Rn6 for first time Cayin n30le Annihilator 2023
In your own words:
Nightjar Duality Fatfreq MSE Cayin N30LE Amber Pearl Combo Plunge Audio Unity N30LE AP FATfreq, last year's meh to this year's wow Retro stax sr-05 Cypherus Audio Susvara Black Dragon earbud Nostalgia Audio Tesseract PWA Orpheus - the hype is real EE Raven Kiwi Ears Quintet N30LE and how good it is Fei Wan VEX NG Audio Eurus+ Headphones! That I am a basshead Buying an Utopia 2022 Fostex TH616 Subtonic Storm How bad Aroma Audio's attitude can be towards a customer Sennheiser HE-1 FatFreq brand Cayin N30 LE Getting into full size headphones! (Meze Elite) N30 Amber Pearl bundle How overrated I found Campfire Annihilator2023. No way I ever thought I'd love a "treblehead" IEM as much as I do Anni! Finding what I feel is the “best” IEM in the world in the Fei Wan. Annihilator How much I have come to love Traillii That the nightjar Singularity fits me decently well IBasso DC Elite's performance How much I enjoyed the FIR XE6, despite what I heard about the overwhelming bass $8000 IEM Z1R living up to the hype For the past six months of on-the-go listening with dongle and iPhone 15 Pro Max at work, 64 Audio A3t ciem was quite a surprise for how well it performed and presented the music, as I felt it got the most out of each and every driver & implementation from 3 BA drivers per side. N30LE That I still prefer Traillii to all shiny new toys Fei Wan and Kinera Loki Emerald Discovering personal preferences for audio gear Ibasso DC-elite Oriolous Isabellea The return of Oriveti Singularity Improvement in BA Bass Being content with the gear I currently own, even though I think it would be nice to have the remaining desert island IEMs not in possession, I don't feel the urge to save up the money to purchase. LP W4 Enjoying iems with tube amps Night Oblivion Butastur Listened to gears at Canjam John Lennon posthumously in new music, who else now Amber Pearl SQ Fiio FH9 Price of the most recent flagship IEMs How little clicked with me and how content I am with current gear That I would get back into the hobby after so many years Dunu Alpha 3 Never used Earbuds Fei Wan SQ improvement going from BTR7 to M15S P6ProTi99 AüR Modhouse Tungsten Cayin N30 Fei Wan. What an incredible IEM and unlike what I thought was my bullseye sound profile. Envy and Susvara synergy 1960s SE Bonneville Amber Pearl Hisenior Okavango Singularity Aroma Thunder N30LE was released Penon Quattro (already announced but soon to be released) R6PROII Effect Audio Ares S Founders Edition cable. Dita Navigator Procuring the Tsuranagi with the Yatono IC.. Sennheiser HE-1 Lotoo Paw 6000 How much music I discovered after starting streaming. n30le Cayin N30LE How much money I spent on gear.. Bonneville Trifecta being ok for me . Not super. Not bad. SR35 Bass quality of lotoo mjölnir Fei Wan - knocks my socks off and I had no idea this an Aroma highly technical IEM would do that. Singularity (its coherence and bass shelf) Kiwi Ears Tuning of cheap iems The love for Xe6 Lots of TOTL IEM's SR35 How much I liked RN6. Tied with how much I think U4S makes most of the 64 lineup redundant Penon Orb Hisenior T4 ifi neo stream Elysian Annihilator 2023 WM1Z is still as good as anything else on the market. Spartacus Audeze brought by Sony substonic storm How a Linear Power Supply improves sound LP6TI, PW 1960, DHC Chimera. Nightjar Singularity Multiverse Mentor/Amber Pearl EQ'ed planar iem can be endgame, period. Trifecta Fei Wan Devialet mania Meeting cooler members at SG Canjam and potafest! Also, FEI WAN made me a 2-IEM guy after being a 1-IEM guy for years Earsonics Grace Platinum, a disappointing one Mass kobo amps Aful MagicOne Bonneville Discipline… Trifecta - so unique, so great sound, so huge stage Benefit of portable amp. Holo Audio Bliss great with IEMs Cypherus Audio susvara Black Dragon earbud Fir Radon 6 Synergy of EE Legend X and Mojo 2 / Poly Trifecta My WM1Z mileage is real (never been reseted). dartzeel How much more I fell in love with Iems … it’s scary Cheap but very good one driver IEMs from China Listening to a well calibrated analogue rig in a properly large listening room through Vivid Audio Giya speakers - realism in timbre and holographic staging took on a whole new meaning How good the final H type pads are on the original D-8000 Sennheiser Momentum 4 susvara Custom Cascara Roon’s acquisition Discovering the magic of TOTL cables and portable amps How good my desktop sounds Same moment, the Anni sounded way better through his dap than through my phone with dongle, with same songs. New experience for me. Kinera Loki Crimson CFA Bonneville Getting to hear the He1 Trifecta Sound rhyme dte900 No surprise. Have been in this game for long so don’t get surprised now. Storm amped up, he-1 truthears zero red UM Soundstage due to BCD Final Audio ZE8000 FATFreq Scarlet Mini, Shanling M9 Plus, and Divinus Velvets. Noble Audio Stage 3 L&P W4 Dallas CanJam being as good as it was! How close to flagship performance the bonneville and ascension come. Symphonium Audio Helios SE How big cable (Brise Yatono 8w) can improve sound Aful Magic One Realizing I prefer Rn6 to Xe6. Cayin n30le Annihilator 2023
In your own words:
Lagom P64 Coffee Grinder Professional growth in my job New Porsche Gran Turismo GTS Meeting everyone at CanJam Socal and being able to go to CanJam NYC with the fellow Coolers My daughter Trip to China this summer My parents visiting me in San Francisco after 6 years! Completing my full custom loop PC Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0 none Non audio wise it has been a complete lowlight for me, hoping for a better 2024 Aphex Twin in concert Girlfriend None The birth of my daughter Breaking bread with members of the Watercooler at CanJam, these guys like good food, also. My family Getting in best shape of my life (yet) Back to traveling for work. Building a new PC Chat GPT N/A Travel - first trip to Thailand soon! Planning my wedding Nothing in particular Taking up photography again I'm blessed to have 3 amazing kids, each of whom continue to strive to improve themselves and the world around them, I'm continually amazed! Getting married. Son 18th Spending time with Cooler friends at CanJam Singapore My dog continues to be awesome Getting back to (a better) life with a full year unaffected by covid It is more a silver lining: health issues forced me to spend more time for myself, my friends, my interests and exploring myself and my interests. Oldest son engagement Meeting Keanu Reeves Being re-immersed with nature and becoming more connected to my well-being as a whole. iPhone 15 pro Max That in general I can be satisfied with less if that contributes well to the overall harmony of things More traveling Being able to travel out of China again!!! Unfortunate diagnosis of rare auto immune disease that change my life Getting to travel abroad My son’s academic and sports achievements Greek Island Cruise Getting a third cat, visiting family & friends back in home town Calgary. Working from home Getting into a relationship Tears of the Kingdom finally came out! Getting by Discovering Korean fried chicken Been a tough year, many personal losses Retiring from work Completing the basement reno Health improvements A career move that is still in discussion Traveling Fun young kid stuff Securing a new job for 2024 good outcome of my follow-up examination cranium MRI Steam deck Holiday in Kent (UK) Clean health Living in Maine all summer with my family. A wonderful contrast to my home environment in Colorado. Travelling to Japan Pay raise School trip Family reunion Official announcement of GTA 6 Achieving my fitness goals Achieving important results in my job Start to post at the Watercooler thread! Enjoying any moment of life with my wife Finally we forgot about COVID. Singing tibetan bowls. My shoulder injury. Dieting is going well! Completing my studio. Getting custom cabinets and shelving done in office and living room Oppo Find N3 Getting married! My daughter getting into college Every day with my wife and child has been a treasured blessing. Attack on Titan great finale Sucess of populists all over the world (unfortunately just the beginning of a bad, bad process) moved to canada Spending the summer in Maine with my family - very different than my Colorado homeland! Best friend is having a baby Good grief... Couldn't come up with anything in 5 minutes. This year wasn't my favourite by miles and miles. None Big Ears music festival in Knoxville The rest of the Singapore trip. UM Mext Life in general Singing with my students No longer “New Head-fi’er” after 7 years. Thank you Jude, very cool. Brought a house Lost weight and back to exercising regularly Survival Going to the Buffalo Bills game with my girlfriend Meeting new people on HF/Discord, whether I generally agree or disagree with their takes. None My healing back pains! My work is more enjoyable than ever before! Passing of my cat Landing the new job Japan trip with family and friends, 1 year of Golf has been fun will continue to do more! Changing job Going for my first overseas school trip Getting to meet so many interesting people Holiday in Italy The great Watercooler community It was a very busy year... Deciding to return for to school for a PhD Being able to spend time with my parents twice this year! First daughter Baldur's Gate 3 Mc.Gregor declaring run for the presidency in Ireland none Godzilla minus one Cat turned one year old and is calming n Trying a variety of Grado Headphones. A bit disappointing Launching our new drone project (work) Working out, getting in shape, and going to bed early A trip to Berlin! It was a "meh" sort of year cant think of anything Playing VR games with friends and family/experiencing life. Big milestone in my career My wife retires at the end of this year. First child/daughter, walking, talking and blossoming personality Dunno Restoring my Victorian house Baby girl born Well now I’m sad. Ok so atleast one great thing happened. My wife joined a good college for Medical PG Watching my girl grow getting the call from Rolex AD Too broad to answer On Roger Federer Tennis Shoe Kicking off a YouTube channel for tech reviews with small success. Watercoolers World EXPO 2025 Osaka hiring 2 incredible people The birth of my daughter New family member. Parrot Alexandrine. My love. progress in learning Japanese Holiday in Japan with my family Finding trustworthy friends along the way Running a sub-21 minute 5K. Visit Singapore
If you look at the top iems, FiR Audio, a virtual startup 2 years ago, takes the poll if you combine Rn6 and Xe6.I know I said I was going to wait until page 5k to share the survey results but I had some time tonight so I tallied everything up. Following are the results from the 2023 Watercooler Year End Community Survey. Enjoy.
Thank-you to the following members who took the time to take the survey.
@-rowan-
@8481
@aaf evo
@AboveNBeyond
@Acts
@AEIOU9
@Alexzander
@Alpexis
@Amadeo Nospherathu nospherath
@Andrew DiMarcangelo
@Andricop
@antdroid
@Auricon
@AxLvR
@Badlands
@barrycro
@Beh0lder
@berger
@bgillis
@bigbeans
@BlendS
@BLitt
@blotmouse
@BobJS
@Bosk
@bossfan48009
@Bret Halford
@broopa
@btwine
@chan65
@CharlyBrown
@claud W
@Crazeee
@Czernobog
@Damz87
@darveniza
@DaveStarWalker
@dbboy
@Dbriv
@Deezel177
@Deferenz
@Delitia
@dhc0329
@dkar
@dleblanc343
@drftr
@dsherrick
@DunkFealer
@emdeevee
@endless402
@Erkil
@Exekuhtor
@goldwerger
@Fantanest
@fejnomit
@fiascogarcia
@FooFighter
@freeryder05
@Garney
@gLer
@goatkidbaahcity
@gryphonos
@HarveyLowis
@HiFiHawaii808
@iDesign
@jaker782
@JaviGCalderoni
@jmo04
@Junmoe62
@jwilliamhurst
@kajetanjazz
@katzuhiroo
@KelFab
@kevin638880
@KhunChang
@Kiats
@kkarll
@Kobe4ever
@kokokab
@KrólArtur
@kumar402
@KuroKitsu
@Leonarfd
@Leviathant
@leylandi
@LFC_SL
@linux4ever
@lycos
@maegnificant
@MaggotBrain
@main character
@mark88888
@mashuto
@MasterZen
@Meejay
@Meme123
@metaljem77
@monduvo
@mRaaghava
@MRT-Man
@MudEnjoyer
@named name
@Natesdailies
@nephilim32
@Neweymatt
@newworld666
@Nighthawk7397
@nihalsharma
@nikbr
@nil
@nocturne19
@noxenal
@Ojisan
@oliveradr
@OneEyedHito
@orifiel
@Oschi
@pankaj1431
@osocan
@pasul
@PeacockObscura
@peppy
@pradiptacr7
@PreetyAdrian
@psklrdk
@rambocs
@ranfan
@Rockwell75
@RodC
@roeschel
@Rolu
@RonaldS86
@rootsd
@royalemint
@Royal Navy
@RTodd
@rush1
@Sajid Amit
@salwani8888
@Scuba Devils
@SCYJ
@Sifo
@Silverlinings
@slumberman
@Smirk 24
@somnarium
@soundblast75
@SpaceInvader77
@srinivasvignesh
@stefzulj
@Stu Paddasso
@SweetCans928
@szore
@tfenton02
@THEGHOSTMAN
@TheMiddleSky
@theveterans
@timeslip
@tjzurlaaa
@trbo996
@ttt123
@Ultimate Sophistication
@Uncle00Jesse
@Valrhona
@vaporsynthwave
@veebee
@Visceral
@vladzakhar
@Voltriant
@warrenpchi
@wolfstar76
@Xinlisupreme
@yaps66
@YCHANGE
@Yifang
@Zachik
@zikarus
@zlayde
North America - 81
Western Europe - 43
South-East Asia - 23
East Asia - 9
Australia - 8
South Asia - 6
Eastern Europe - 4
Central Asia - 2
South America - 1
Africa - 1
Warm/Dark -> Bright/Cool
Professional (Neutrality/versatility/detail) => Listener (Emotion/immersion/staging)
Purist (accuracy/realism primary) => Subjectivist (express/experience emotion primary)
Oriolus Traillii x 43
Fir Radon 6 x38
Elysian Annihilator x37
Subtonic STORM x33
Campfire Audio Trifecta x32
Sony IER-Z1R x32
Fir Xenon 6 x29
Unique Melody Mulitverse Mentor x22
Unique Melody Amber Pearl x21
Aroma Audio Fei Wan x20
Noble Audio Viking x16
64 Audio u12t x16
Dira Audio Perpetua x14
NightJar Singularity x14
Campfire Audio Bonneville x12
Aroma Audio Jewel x12
Empire Ears Odin x11
AKxVE Aura x10
FatFreq Grand Maestro x10
Campfire Audio Andromeda x9
Vison Ears EXT x9
64 Audio Tia Fourte x9
Sennheiser IE900 x9
Noble Audio Ronin x9
Vision Ears VEX x9
NightJar Acoustics Duality x8
Empire Ears Raven x8
Campfire Audio Supermoon x7
Vision Ears Phönix x7
Canpur CP622b x6
Fitear DCTi x6
Softears Turii/Ti x6
Nostalgia Audio Camelot x5
Elysian Diva x5
Unique Melody Mest I/II/III x5
Unique Meloday Red Halo x5
64 Audio u/a18s x4
Campfire Audio Cascara x4
Soundrhyme DTE900 x4
Empire Ears Legend EVO x4
Fir Krypton 5 x4
Noble Kublai Khan x4
Oriolus Monachaa x4
Noble Spartacus x4
64 Audio Volür x4
Audeze LCD-i4 x4
Empire Ears Legend X x4
Aür Audio Aure x3
Elysian Dio x3
NGAudio - Erebus x3
Sony IER-M9 x3
Kinera Loki x3
FatFreq Maestro SE x3
Campfire Audio Solaris x3
MMR Thummim x3
Hidition Viento x3
FatFreq Scarlet Mini x3
Aür Audio Neon Pro x3
Final A8000 x2
Aür Audio Aurora x2
Night Oblivion Butastur x2
64 Auio Duo x2
Final e5000 x2
Vision Ears Elysium x2
Vision Ears Erlkonig x2
NGAudio Eurus x2
Custom Art Fibae 5 x2
Sennheiser IE600 x2
Penon Impact x2
Unique Melody Indigo x2
Penon Orb x2
InEar ProPhile 8 x2
Penon Serial x2
Acoustune Sho x2
Oriolus Szalayi x2
Aroma Audio Thunder x2
64 Audio Tia Trio x2
64 Audio u/a18s x2
64 Audio u/a4s x2
Visio Ears VE8 x2
Beyerdynamic Xelento2 x2
634 Ears Miroak-ii x2
Goldplanar GL-AMT16 x2
64 Audio u/a18t x2
64 Audio u/a4s x2
Penon 10th x1
Final a5000 x1
Meze Advar x1
Wave Air2 x1
Apple Airpods Pro x1
Aür Audio Alita x1
PMG Audio APX x1
Aür Audio Ascension x1
Moondrop Blessing 2 x1
Symphonium Crimson x1
Dita Dream XLS x1
Simgot ea1000 x1
Rhapsodio Eden x1
Thieaudio Elixir x1
64 Audio u/a3t x1
Etymotic ER4S x1
JVC FDX1 x1
Fiio FH9 x1
Custom Art Fibae 6 x1
Custom Art Fibae 7U x1
Custom Art Fibae Black x1
Penon Globe x1
Symphonium Helios x1
Oriolus Isabellae x1
ISN h40 x1
NGAudio Khaos x1
Shure kse1500 x1
Campfire Audio Lyra II x1
Westone Mach 60 x1
Madoo Typ 821 x1
Aful Magic One x1
Unique Melody Mason x1
Symphonium Meteor x1
FAudio Mezzo LE x1
Fitear mh334sr x1
Fitear mh335dw x1
Thieaudio Monarch x1
64 Audio Nio x1
Noble Audio Nodachi x1
Oriveti OD200 x1
AKxEE Edyssey x1
Hisenir Okavango x1
Simphonium p-zero x1
Warbler Prelude x1
Icelab Prismatica x1
Kiwi Ears Quintet x1
Obravo Ra-C-Cu21 x1
Aür Audio Ringo x1
Softeaers RSV x1
Letshuoer S15 x1
Jomo Samba x1
Shure SE846 x1
Pears sh2 x1
Jerry Harvey Sharona x1
ISN Solar x1
Spirit Torino Twinpulse x1
Holo Spring x1
Noble Stage3 x1
Noble Sultan x1
7th Acoustics Supernova x1
Rhapsodio Supremev3 x1
Fitear TC Ti x1
Nostalgia Tesseract x1
Fitear TG334 x1
Dunu Titan x1
Timsok TS-316 x1
Campfire Audio Atlas x1
64 Audio u/a6t x1
Plunge Audio Unity x1
QDC Anole v14 x1
Empire Ears Valkyrie x1
Vision Ears VE8 x1
Penon Volt x1
Fir Audio VXV x1
Empire Ears Wraith x1
Tangze Wu Zetian x1
Sony XM5 x1
Cayin YB04 x1
Dunu Zen Pro x1
Truthear Zero x1
Cayin N30le x50
Hiby RS8 x33
Ibasso DX320max x20
Astell & Kern SP3000 x20
Shanling M9plus x16
Sony WM1ZM2 x16
Sony WM1Z x14
Luxury & Precision P6Pro/Ti x13
Lotoo Paw Gold Touch x11
Luxury & Precision LP6/Ti x11
Sony DMP-Z1 x10
Cayin N8ii x9
Luxury & Precision LP6 7th Anniversary x8
Hiby R6 Pro 2 x7
Astell & Kern SR35 x6
Ibasso DX320 x5
Sony WM1AM2 x5
Lotoo Mjölnir x5
Hiby RS6 x4
Sony WM1A x4
Ibasso DX300 x3
AK SP2000 x3
Ibasso DC-Elite x2
Ibasso DX320x x2
Chord Uugo2 x2
Fiio m15s x2
Fiio m17 x2
Aune M1p x2
Sony nw-a306 x2
Lotoo Paw 6000 x2
Cayin RU7 x2
Astell & Kern SE300 x2
Brise Tsuranagi x2
Sony zx707 x2
Sony a306 x1
Acoustic Research ar-m2 x1
Oriolus DP100 x1
Dethonray DTR1plus x1
Ibasso dx240 x1
Ibasso dx260 x1
Ibasso dx300max x1
Apple iphone15promax x1
Apple ipod x1
Astell & Kern Kann Max x1
Luxury & Precision W4 x1
Fiio m15 x1
Fiio m6u x2
Chord Mojo 2 x1
Cayin n6ii x1
Lotoo Paw Gold x1
Questyle QP2R x1
Hifiman r2r2000 x1
Hiby r6iii x1
HIby r8ii x1
Cayin ru6 x1
Astell & Kern sp2000t x1
Woo Audio Tube Mini x1
Sony x27
Oriolus x26
Fir Audio x24
Subtonic x21
Vision Ears x15
Unique Melody x12
Elysian Acoustics x12
Campfire Audio x10
Noble Audio x9
Aroma Audio x6
64 Audio x5
Nightjar Acoustics x5
Empire Ears x4
Kinera x0 (RIP)
In your own words:
Nightjar Duality Cayin N30LE Cayin N30LE UM Amber Pearl Mentor UM AP UM AP (not yet heard), FATfreq GM (heard) Getting 1266TC and Trailli still being in early 20s Cayin N30LE Kinera Loki International Re-buying IE 900 and Legend X Woo Audio Tube mini none Getting the Creator/DC Ti Sony mdr r10 @ canjam chicago VEX Fei Wan release Elysian Annihilator ‘23 Canjam Socal High-End Munich FATFreq Scarlet Mini Subtonic Storm, DX320Max CanJam Singapore Storm Mass Kobo 475 Aroma Fei Wan Campfire Trifecta N30 AP Earbuds by FranQL meeting fellow HeadFiers at the SNA Show in Melbourne Roaming HK’s audio stores, and discovering the Bellos X4 and the Fei Wan. Stereonet show Melbourne CanJam Singapore Nightjar Singularity Listening to Wilson Speakers/McIntosh Monoblocks in a treated room and then comparing to RS8>Tsu>Madoo821 and being perfectly happy with what I have Having the Sennheiser Orpheus on extended loan Riviera A1C-10 Listening to Lana’s newest album on Trifecta/RS8 combo for the first time I’d say 64 Audio Tia Fourté for being a fairly versatile all-rounder with most genres of music I mostly listen to, as well as being a fairly solid technical performer with most movies & documentaries I stream from time to time. Not a bad blind buy (for just over 3k, new b-stock) after all. =) cayin n30 N30LE DAPs like DX320 MAX TI and dongles like Woo Audio Tube Mini could really substitute desktop gear even for full sized HPs Attending CanJam Dallas Inear PP8 Canpur CP622B, Simphonio P0, Rosenkranz Silver HB, Rosenkranz Silver KA Dita Perpetua IMR ACOUSTICS Titan ETA O2 over ears. Purchasing Atrium & Spartacus Release of and eventual purchase of FiR Rn6 64 Audio Volur Purchasing the Oriolus Traillii Fir RN6 Attending Canjam SoCal Sennheiser HE-1 Purchasing Warwick Acoustics Bravura Fiio FH9, QP2R Getting back into IEMs and DAPs after a couple of years with headphones RS8 Blind purchase of Cayin N30LE Madoo Type 821 STORM AüR Audio Neon Pro STORM Getting EXT Music: Bibiza / Gear: Sound Rhyme DTE900 Nightjar Duality Anni 2023 Trying so many diverse TOTLs. I have a much better sense of what I like now. Feliks audio Envy, UM AP, PW Orpheus Rn6 Trifecta Elysian Dio Getting the Aune M1p mest mk2 (turned into CIEM) The decision to buy the Cayin N30LE Successfully purchased the Viking OG. Aür Audio Neon Pro coupled with Effect Audio Eros 1stAE Radon6 Effect Audio Ares S Founders Edition cable. Kr5 Pairing the WM-1ZM2 with the Tsuranagi. Fatfreq Grand Maestro RN6 Going live with my 2 channel rig rhapsodio supreme v3 Volur Knowledge Bonneville Can Jam NYC VExAK Aura Aroma Audio Jewel Lotoo mjölnir Fir RN6 (bf20 discount lol). these are almost perfect in any way. Totally understand the hype Trying so many IEMs, DAPs, and portable amps - my at-home Can Jam Canjam NYC (social); Annihilator 2023 (gear) Vorzüge AMP CanJam Singapore Cayin N30LE Odin Storm at CJSG Getting the Arya Ver 3 headphone QDC Anole V14 Not spending! Lotoo Mjolnir Elysian Annihilator 2023 Perpetua Raven Going Customs for XE6 (love the fit and off course Sound) elysian diva 2023 Aroma Audio Fei Wan Music. About devices - Lotoo Mjolnir and DHC Chimera. Annihilator 2023 Singularity + 320MAX Ti + Mass-Kobo 475 None DMP-Z1 Splendid range of iems with exciting and varying sound profiles Hearing shangrila sr for the first time STORM, FEI WAN, DIO (Proto), DUALITY (Proto) Buying Mentors and a desktop DAC+AMP Mass kobo 475 Mola Mola Tambaqui. And Sonnet Pasithea > MASS-Kobo 465 Discovered Bonneville from Rockwell75 Nostalgia Audio Camelot Trifecta Trifecta My first canjam/audio festival! Completing Susvara Setup (for now). Cayin N30LE Cen Grand 1.0 Deluxe DAC, Fir Radon 6, Aroma Fei Wan Sony CDP-X777ES Trifecta Discovering Traillii, WM1Z and PWaudio Metropolis synergy dartzeel VE/AK Aura Listening to STORM for the second time Buying the Pathos Aurium Headphone amp complete with upgraded LPS (S-Booster MK-2 BOTW) Storm Custom Cascara VExAK Aura Auditioned a Sennheiser HE-1 Enjoying my desktop. bought p6 pro ti99 Hearing the Annihilator 2023 at Canjam Europe from a fellow Head-Fier. Purchase DIY CFA3 and T2 for all my headphones. Sony IER-Z1R Trifecta CFA Trifecta Audio Video Show Warsaw 2023 Ronin Ragnar Mass kobo, Loki, bonneville HQPlayer and upsampling , positive impact of Active Preamplifier 622b Chord Dave Brise Audio cables Cayin NE30 Visiting Singapore for audio, as well as meeting with local community Jomo Audio Alpha Ti + Effect Audio Centurion VE x A&K Aura Dallas CanJam The bass on the bonnevile makes me smile every time a song calls for authoritative bass. 1 year in hobby/After 7 months Annihilator arrive. Top IEM. discovering how good very high quality files can sound Listening to both DX320Max and M9+ for the first time Going to Potafes and Headphone Festival with friends from WC group Hearing Rn6 for first time Cayin n30le Annihilator 2023
In your own words:
Nightjar Duality Fatfreq MSE Cayin N30LE Amber Pearl Combo Plunge Audio Unity N30LE AP FATfreq, last year's meh to this year's wow Retro stax sr-05 Cypherus Audio Susvara Black Dragon earbud Nostalgia Audio Tesseract PWA Orpheus - the hype is real EE Raven Kiwi Ears Quintet N30LE and how good it is Fei Wan VEX NG Audio Eurus+ Headphones! That I am a basshead Buying an Utopia 2022 Fostex TH616 Subtonic Storm How bad Aroma Audio's attitude can be towards a customer Sennheiser HE-1 FatFreq brand Cayin N30 LE Getting into full size headphones! (Meze Elite) N30 Amber Pearl bundle How overrated I found Campfire Annihilator2023. No way I ever thought I'd love a "treblehead" IEM as much as I do Anni! Finding what I feel is the “best” IEM in the world in the Fei Wan. Annihilator How much I have come to love Traillii That the nightjar Singularity fits me decently well IBasso DC Elite's performance How much I enjoyed the FIR XE6, despite what I heard about the overwhelming bass $8000 IEM Z1R living up to the hype For the past six months of on-the-go listening with dongle and iPhone 15 Pro Max at work, 64 Audio A3t ciem was quite a surprise for how well it performed and presented the music, as I felt it got the most out of each and every driver & implementation from 3 BA drivers per side. N30LE That I still prefer Traillii to all shiny new toys Fei Wan and Kinera Loki Emerald Discovering personal preferences for audio gear Ibasso DC-elite Oriolous Isabellea The return of Oriveti Singularity Improvement in BA Bass Being content with the gear I currently own, even though I think it would be nice to have the remaining desert island IEMs not in possession, I don't feel the urge to save up the money to purchase. LP W4 Enjoying iems with tube amps Night Oblivion Butastur Listened to gears at Canjam John Lennon posthumously in new music, who else now Amber Pearl SQ Fiio FH9 Price of the most recent flagship IEMs How little clicked with me and how content I am with current gear That I would get back into the hobby after so many years Dunu Alpha 3 Never used Earbuds Fei Wan SQ improvement going from BTR7 to M15S P6ProTi99 AüR Modhouse Tungsten Cayin N30 Fei Wan. What an incredible IEM and unlike what I thought was my bullseye sound profile. Envy and Susvara synergy 1960s SE Bonneville Amber Pearl Hisenior Okavango Singularity Aroma Thunder N30LE was released Penon Quattro (already announced but soon to be released) R6PROII Effect Audio Ares S Founders Edition cable. Dita Navigator Procuring the Tsuranagi with the Yatono IC.. Sennheiser HE-1 Lotoo Paw 6000 How much music I discovered after starting streaming. n30le Cayin N30LE How much money I spent on gear.. Bonneville Trifecta being ok for me . Not super. Not bad. SR35 Bass quality of lotoo mjölnir Fei Wan - knocks my socks off and I had no idea this an Aroma highly technical IEM would do that. Singularity (its coherence and bass shelf) Kiwi Ears Tuning of cheap iems The love for Xe6 Lots of TOTL IEM's SR35 How much I liked RN6. Tied with how much I think U4S makes most of the 64 lineup redundant Penon Orb Hisenior T4 ifi neo stream Elysian Annihilator 2023 WM1Z is still as good as anything else on the market. Spartacus Audeze brought by Sony substonic storm How a Linear Power Supply improves sound LP6TI, PW 1960, DHC Chimera. Nightjar Singularity Multiverse Mentor/Amber Pearl EQ'ed planar iem can be endgame, period. Trifecta Fei Wan Devialet mania Meeting cooler members at SG Canjam and potafest! Also, FEI WAN made me a 2-IEM guy after being a 1-IEM guy for years Earsonics Grace Platinum, a disappointing one Mass kobo amps Aful MagicOne Bonneville Discipline… Trifecta - so unique, so great sound, so huge stage Benefit of portable amp. Holo Audio Bliss great with IEMs Cypherus Audio susvara Black Dragon earbud Fir Radon 6 Synergy of EE Legend X and Mojo 2 / Poly Trifecta My WM1Z mileage is real (never been reseted). dartzeel How much more I fell in love with Iems … it’s scary Cheap but very good one driver IEMs from China Listening to a well calibrated analogue rig in a properly large listening room through Vivid Audio Giya speakers - realism in timbre and holographic staging took on a whole new meaning How good the final H type pads are on the original D-8000 Sennheiser Momentum 4 susvara Custom Cascara Roon’s acquisition Discovering the magic of TOTL cables and portable amps How good my desktop sounds Same moment, the Anni sounded way better through his dap than through my phone with dongle, with same songs. New experience for me. Kinera Loki Crimson CFA Bonneville Getting to hear the He1 Trifecta Sound rhyme dte900 No surprise. Have been in this game for long so don’t get surprised now. Storm amped up, he-1 truthears zero red UM Soundstage due to BCD Final Audio ZE8000 FATFreq Scarlet Mini, Shanling M9 Plus, and Divinus Velvets. Noble Audio Stage 3 L&P W4 Dallas CanJam being as good as it was! How close to flagship performance the bonneville and ascension come. Symphonium Audio Helios SE How big cable (Brise Yatono 8w) can improve sound Aful Magic One Realizing I prefer Rn6 to Xe6. Cayin n30le Annihilator 2023
In your own words:
Lagom P64 Coffee Grinder Professional growth in my job New Porsche Gran Turismo GTS Meeting everyone at CanJam Socal and being able to go to CanJam NYC with the fellow Coolers My daughter Trip to China this summer My parents visiting me in San Francisco after 6 years! Completing my full custom loop PC Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0 none Non audio wise it has been a complete lowlight for me, hoping for a better 2024 Aphex Twin in concert Girlfriend None The birth of my daughter Breaking bread with members of the Watercooler at CanJam, these guys like good food, also. My family Getting in best shape of my life (yet) Back to traveling for work. Building a new PC Chat GPT N/A Travel - first trip to Thailand soon! Planning my wedding Nothing in particular Taking up photography again I'm blessed to have 3 amazing kids, each of whom continue to strive to improve themselves and the world around them, I'm continually amazed! Getting married. Son 18th Spending time with Cooler friends at CanJam Singapore My dog continues to be awesome Getting back to (a better) life with a full year unaffected by covid It is more a silver lining: health issues forced me to spend more time for myself, my friends, my interests and exploring myself and my interests. Oldest son engagement Meeting Keanu Reeves Being re-immersed with nature and becoming more connected to my well-being as a whole. iPhone 15 pro Max That in general I can be satisfied with less if that contributes well to the overall harmony of things More traveling Being able to travel out of China again!!! Unfortunate diagnosis of rare auto immune disease that change my life Getting to travel abroad My son’s academic and sports achievements Greek Island Cruise Getting a third cat, visiting family & friends back in home town Calgary. Working from home Getting into a relationship Tears of the Kingdom finally came out! Getting by Discovering Korean fried chicken Been a tough year, many personal losses Retiring from work Completing the basement reno Health improvements A career move that is still in discussion Traveling Fun young kid stuff Securing a new job for 2024 good outcome of my follow-up examination cranium MRI Steam deck Holiday in Kent (UK) Clean health Living in Maine all summer with my family. A wonderful contrast to my home environment in Colorado. Travelling to Japan Pay raise School trip Family reunion Official announcement of GTA 6 Achieving my fitness goals Achieving important results in my job Start to post at the Watercooler thread! Enjoying any moment of life with my wife Finally we forgot about COVID. Singing tibetan bowls. My shoulder injury. Dieting is going well! Completing my studio. Getting custom cabinets and shelving done in office and living room Oppo Find N3 Getting married! My daughter getting into college Every day with my wife and child has been a treasured blessing. Attack on Titan great finale Sucess of populists all over the world (unfortunately just the beginning of a bad, bad process) moved to canada Spending the summer in Maine with my family - very different than my Colorado homeland! Best friend is having a baby Good grief... Couldn't come up with anything in 5 minutes. This year wasn't my favourite by miles and miles. None Big Ears music festival in Knoxville The rest of the Singapore trip. UM Mext Life in general Singing with my students No longer “New Head-fi’er” after 7 years. Thank you Jude, very cool. Brought a house Lost weight and back to exercising regularly Survival Going to the Buffalo Bills game with my girlfriend Meeting new people on HF/Discord, whether I generally agree or disagree with their takes. None My healing back pains! My work is more enjoyable than ever before! Passing of my cat Landing the new job Japan trip with family and friends, 1 year of Golf has been fun will continue to do more! Changing job Going for my first overseas school trip Getting to meet so many interesting people Holiday in Italy The great Watercooler community It was a very busy year... Deciding to return for to school for a PhD Being able to spend time with my parents twice this year! First daughter Baldur's Gate 3 Mc.Gregor declaring run for the presidency in Ireland none Godzilla minus one Cat turned one year old and is calming n Trying a variety of Grado Headphones. A bit disappointing Launching our new drone project (work) Working out, getting in shape, and going to bed early A trip to Berlin! It was a "meh" sort of year cant think of anything Playing VR games with friends and family/experiencing life. Big milestone in my career My wife retires at the end of this year. First child/daughter, walking, talking and blossoming personality Dunno Restoring my Victorian house Baby girl born Well now I’m sad. Ok so atleast one great thing happened. My wife joined a good college for Medical PG Watching my girl grow getting the call from Rolex AD Too broad to answer On Roger Federer Tennis Shoe Kicking off a YouTube channel for tech reviews with small success. Watercoolers World EXPO 2025 Osaka hiring 2 incredible people The birth of my daughter New family member. Parrot Alexandrine. My love. progress in learning Japanese Holiday in Japan with my family Finding trustworthy friends along the way Running a sub-21 minute 5K. Visit Singapore
+1! Spent the most time going thru those. Wish everybody a great next year - especially to those whose 2023 wasn't so.
Wonderful stack! Look forward to your impressions pairing with different IEMs, as I got my May dac with 2ch setup, always tempted to buy bliss to drive my IEMs
The Bliss works well with IEMs, using the adapter indeed. It’s a shame Holo didn’t manage to keep the output impedance lower. To my ears, the Bliss is almost silent with IEMs, which is a feat given how powerful it is. (For most people it will be completely silent
). The Riviera however is very noisy with IEMs. But that’s not what it was made for.
Hey, thanks for the reply
I was streaming from my phone through a dongle, same setup as with my player app and local files, which didn't cause this issue, until I enable DVC. (Direct Volume Control)
Very informative and comprehensive.I know I said I was going to wait until page 5k to share the survey results but I had some time tonight so I tallied everything up. Following are the results from the 2023 Watercooler Year End Community Survey. Enjoy.
Thank-you to the following members who took the time to take the survey.
@-rowan-
@8481
@aaf evo
@AboveNBeyond
@Acts
@AEIOU9
@Alexzander
@Alpexis
@Amadeo Nospherathu nospherath
@Andrew DiMarcangelo
@Andricop
@antdroid
@Auricon
@AxLvR
@Badlands
@barrycro
@Beh0lder
@berger
@bgillis
@bigbeans
@BlendS
@BLitt
@blotmouse
@BobJS
@Bosk
@bossfan48009
@Bret Halford
@broopa
@btwine
@chan65
@CharlyBrown
@claud W
@Crazeee
@Czernobog
@Damz87
@darveniza
@DaveStarWalker
@dbboy
@Dbriv
@Deezel177
@Deferenz
@Delitia
@dhc0329
@dkar
@dleblanc343
@drftr
@dsherrick
@DunkFealer
@emdeevee
@endless402
@Erkil
@Exekuhtor
@goldwerger
@Fantanest
@fejnomit
@fiascogarcia
@FooFighter
@freeryder05
@Garney
@gLer
@goatkidbaahcity
@gryphonos
@HarveyLowis
@HiFiHawaii808
@iDesign
@jaker782
@JaviGCalderoni
@jmo04
@Junmoe62
@jwilliamhurst
@kajetanjazz
@katzuhiroo
@KelFab
@kevin638880
@KhunChang
@Kiats
@kkarll
@Kobe4ever
@kokokab
@KrólArtur
@kumar402
@KuroKitsu
@Leonarfd
@Leviathant
@leylandi
@LFC_SL
@linux4ever
@lycos
@maegnificant
@MaggotBrain
@main character
@mark88888
@mashuto
@MasterZen
@Meejay
@Meme123
@metaljem77
@monduvo
@mRaaghava
@MRT-Man
@MudEnjoyer
@named name
@Natesdailies
@nephilim32
@Neweymatt
@newworld666
@Nighthawk7397
@nihalsharma
@nikbr
@nil
@nocturne19
@noxenal
@Ojisan
@oliveradr
@OneEyedHito
@orifiel
@Oschi
@pankaj1431
@osocan
@pasul
@PeacockObscura
@peppy
@pradiptacr7
@PreetyAdrian
@psklrdk
@rambocs
@ranfan
@Rockwell75
@RodC
@roeschel
@Rolu
@RonaldS86
@rootsd
@royalemint
@Royal Navy
@RTodd
@rush1
@Sajid Amit
@salwani8888
@Scuba Devils
@SCYJ
@Sifo
@Silverlinings
@slumberman
@Smirk 24
@somnarium
@soundblast75
@SpaceInvader77
@srinivasvignesh
@stefzulj
@Stu Paddasso
@SweetCans928
@szore
@tfenton02
@THEGHOSTMAN
@TheMiddleSky
@theveterans
@timeslip
@tjzurlaaa
@trbo996
@ttt123
@Ultimate Sophistication
@Uncle00Jesse
@Valrhona
@vaporsynthwave
@veebee
@Visceral
@vladzakhar
@Voltriant
@warrenpchi
@wolfstar76
@Xinlisupreme
@yaps66
@YCHANGE
@Yifang
@Zachik
@zikarus
@zlayde
North America - 81
Western Europe - 43
South-East Asia - 23
East Asia - 9
Australia - 8
South Asia - 6
Eastern Europe - 4
Central Asia - 2
South America - 1
Africa - 1
Warm/Dark -> Bright/Cool
Professional (Neutrality/versatility/detail) => Listener (Emotion/immersion/staging)
Purist (accuracy/realism primary) => Subjectivist (express/experience emotion primary)
Oriolus Traillii x 43
Fir Radon 6 x38
Elysian Annihilator x37
Subtonic STORM x33
Campfire Audio Trifecta x32
Sony IER-Z1R x32
Fir Xenon 6 x29
Unique Melody Mulitverse Mentor x22
Unique Melody Amber Pearl x21
Aroma Audio Fei Wan x20
Noble Audio Viking x16
64 Audio u12t x16
Dira Audio Perpetua x14
NightJar Singularity x14
Campfire Audio Bonneville x12
Aroma Audio Jewel x12
Empire Ears Odin x11
AKxVE Aura x10
FatFreq Grand Maestro x10
Campfire Audio Andromeda x9
Vison Ears EXT x9
64 Audio Tia Fourte x9
Sennheiser IE900 x9
Noble Audio Ronin x9
Vision Ears VEX x9
NightJar Acoustics Duality x8
Empire Ears Raven x8
Campfire Audio Supermoon x7
Vision Ears Phönix x7
Canpur CP622b x6
Fitear DCTi x6
Softears Turii/Ti x6
Nostalgia Audio Camelot x5
Elysian Diva x5
Unique Melody Mest I/II/III x5
Unique Meloday Red Halo x5
64 Audio u/a18s x4
Campfire Audio Cascara x4
Soundrhyme DTE900 x4
Empire Ears Legend EVO x4
Fir Krypton 5 x4
Noble Kublai Khan x4
Oriolus Monachaa x4
Noble Spartacus x4
64 Audio Volür x4
Audeze LCD-i4 x4
Empire Ears Legend X x4
Aür Audio Aure x3
Elysian Dio x3
NGAudio - Erebus x3
Sony IER-M9 x3
Kinera Loki x3
FatFreq Maestro SE x3
Campfire Audio Solaris x3
MMR Thummim x3
Hidition Viento x3
FatFreq Scarlet Mini x3
Aür Audio Neon Pro x3
Final A8000 x2
Aür Audio Aurora x2
Night Oblivion Butastur x2
64 Auio Duo x2
Final e5000 x2
Vision Ears Elysium x2
Vision Ears Erlkonig x2
NGAudio Eurus x2
Custom Art Fibae 5 x2
Sennheiser IE600 x2
Penon Impact x2
Unique Melody Indigo x2
Penon Orb x2
InEar ProPhile 8 x2
Penon Serial x2
Acoustune Sho x2
Oriolus Szalayi x2
Aroma Audio Thunder x2
64 Audio Tia Trio x2
64 Audio u/a18s x2
64 Audio u/a4s x2
Visio Ears VE8 x2
Beyerdynamic Xelento2 x2
634 Ears Miroak-ii x2
Goldplanar GL-AMT16 x2
64 Audio u/a18t x2
64 Audio u/a4s x2
Penon 10th x1
Final a5000 x1
Meze Advar x1
Wave Air2 x1
Apple Airpods Pro x1
Aür Audio Alita x1
PMG Audio APX x1
Aür Audio Ascension x1
Moondrop Blessing 2 x1
Symphonium Crimson x1
Dita Dream XLS x1
Simgot ea1000 x1
Rhapsodio Eden x1
Thieaudio Elixir x1
64 Audio u/a3t x1
Etymotic ER4S x1
JVC FDX1 x1
Fiio FH9 x1
Custom Art Fibae 6 x1
Custom Art Fibae 7U x1
Custom Art Fibae Black x1
Penon Globe x1
Symphonium Helios x1
Oriolus Isabellae x1
ISN h40 x1
NGAudio Khaos x1
Shure kse1500 x1
Campfire Audio Lyra II x1
Westone Mach 60 x1
Madoo Typ 821 x1
Aful Magic One x1
Unique Melody Mason x1
Symphonium Meteor x1
FAudio Mezzo LE x1
Fitear mh334sr x1
Fitear mh335dw x1
Thieaudio Monarch x1
64 Audio Nio x1
Noble Audio Nodachi x1
Oriveti OD200 x1
AKxEE Edyssey x1
Hisenir Okavango x1
Simphonium p-zero x1
Warbler Prelude x1
Icelab Prismatica x1
Kiwi Ears Quintet x1
Obravo Ra-C-Cu21 x1
Aür Audio Ringo x1
Softeaers RSV x1
Letshuoer S15 x1
Jomo Samba x1
Shure SE846 x1
Pears sh2 x1
Jerry Harvey Sharona x1
ISN Solar x1
Spirit Torino Twinpulse x1
Holo Spring x1
Noble Stage3 x1
Noble Sultan x1
7th Acoustics Supernova x1
Rhapsodio Supremev3 x1
Fitear TC Ti x1
Nostalgia Tesseract x1
Fitear TG334 x1
Dunu Titan x1
Timsok TS-316 x1
Campfire Audio Atlas x1
64 Audio u/a6t x1
Plunge Audio Unity x1
QDC Anole v14 x1
Empire Ears Valkyrie x1
Vision Ears VE8 x1
Penon Volt x1
Fir Audio VXV x1
Empire Ears Wraith x1
Tangze Wu Zetian x1
Sony XM5 x1
Cayin YB04 x1
Dunu Zen Pro x1
Truthear Zero x1
Cayin N30le x50
Hiby RS8 x33
Ibasso DX320max x20
Astell & Kern SP3000 x20
Shanling M9plus x16
Sony WM1ZM2 x16
Sony WM1Z x14
Luxury & Precision P6Pro/Ti x13
Lotoo Paw Gold Touch x11
Luxury & Precision LP6/Ti x11
Sony DMP-Z1 x10
Cayin N8ii x9
Luxury & Precision LP6 7th Anniversary x8
Hiby R6 Pro 2 x7
Astell & Kern SR35 x6
Ibasso DX320 x5
Sony WM1AM2 x5
Lotoo Mjölnir x5
Hiby RS6 x4
Sony WM1A x4
Ibasso DX300 x3
AK SP2000 x3
Ibasso DC-Elite x2
Ibasso DX320x x2
Chord Uugo2 x2
Fiio m15s x2
Fiio m17 x2
Aune M1p x2
Sony nw-a306 x2
Lotoo Paw 6000 x2
Cayin RU7 x2
Astell & Kern SE300 x2
Brise Tsuranagi x2
Sony zx707 x2
Sony a306 x1
Acoustic Research ar-m2 x1
Oriolus DP100 x1
Dethonray DTR1plus x1
Ibasso dx240 x1
Ibasso dx260 x1
Ibasso dx300max x1
Apple iphone15promax x1
Apple ipod x1
Astell & Kern Kann Max x1
Luxury & Precision W4 x1
Fiio m15 x1
Fiio m6u x2
Chord Mojo 2 x1
Cayin n6ii x1
Lotoo Paw Gold x1
Questyle QP2R x1
Hifiman r2r2000 x1
Hiby r6iii x1
HIby r8ii x1
Cayin ru6 x1
Astell & Kern sp2000t x1
Woo Audio Tube Mini x1
Sony x27
Oriolus x26
Fir Audio x24
Subtonic x21
Vision Ears x15
Unique Melody x12
Elysian Acoustics x12
Campfire Audio x10
Noble Audio x9
Aroma Audio x6
64 Audio x5
Nightjar Acoustics x5
Empire Ears x4
Kinera x0 (RIP)
In your own words:
Nightjar Duality Cayin N30LE Cayin N30LE UM Amber Pearl Mentor UM AP UM AP (not yet heard), FATfreq GM (heard) Getting 1266TC and Trailli still being in early 20s Cayin N30LE Kinera Loki International Re-buying IE 900 and Legend X Woo Audio Tube mini none Getting the Creator/DC Ti Sony mdr r10 @ canjam chicago VEX Fei Wan release Elysian Annihilator ‘23 Canjam Socal High-End Munich FATFreq Scarlet Mini Subtonic Storm, DX320Max CanJam Singapore Storm Mass Kobo 475 Aroma Fei Wan Campfire Trifecta N30 AP Earbuds by FranQL meeting fellow HeadFiers at the SNA Show in Melbourne Roaming HK’s audio stores, and discovering the Bellos X4 and the Fei Wan. Stereonet show Melbourne CanJam Singapore Nightjar Singularity Listening to Wilson Speakers/McIntosh Monoblocks in a treated room and then comparing to RS8>Tsu>Madoo821 and being perfectly happy with what I have Having the Sennheiser Orpheus on extended loan Riviera A1C-10 Listening to Lana’s newest album on Trifecta/RS8 combo for the first time I’d say 64 Audio Tia Fourté for being a fairly versatile all-rounder with most genres of music I mostly listen to, as well as being a fairly solid technical performer with most movies & documentaries I stream from time to time. Not a bad blind buy (for just over 3k, new b-stock) after all. =) cayin n30 N30LE DAPs like DX320 MAX TI and dongles like Woo Audio Tube Mini could really substitute desktop gear even for full sized HPs Attending CanJam Dallas Inear PP8 Canpur CP622B, Simphonio P0, Rosenkranz Silver HB, Rosenkranz Silver KA Dita Perpetua IMR ACOUSTICS Titan ETA O2 over ears. Purchasing Atrium & Spartacus Release of and eventual purchase of FiR Rn6 64 Audio Volur Purchasing the Oriolus Traillii Fir RN6 Attending Canjam SoCal Sennheiser HE-1 Purchasing Warwick Acoustics Bravura Fiio FH9, QP2R Getting back into IEMs and DAPs after a couple of years with headphones RS8 Blind purchase of Cayin N30LE Madoo Type 821 STORM AüR Audio Neon Pro STORM Getting EXT Music: Bibiza / Gear: Sound Rhyme DTE900 Nightjar Duality Anni 2023 Trying so many diverse TOTLs. I have a much better sense of what I like now. Feliks audio Envy, UM AP, PW Orpheus Rn6 Trifecta Elysian Dio Getting the Aune M1p mest mk2 (turned into CIEM) The decision to buy the Cayin N30LE Successfully purchased the Viking OG. Aür Audio Neon Pro coupled with Effect Audio Eros 1stAE Radon6 Effect Audio Ares S Founders Edition cable. Kr5 Pairing the WM-1ZM2 with the Tsuranagi. Fatfreq Grand Maestro RN6 Going live with my 2 channel rig rhapsodio supreme v3 Volur Knowledge Bonneville Can Jam NYC VExAK Aura Aroma Audio Jewel Lotoo mjölnir Fir RN6 (bf20 discount lol). these are almost perfect in any way. Totally understand the hype Trying so many IEMs, DAPs, and portable amps - my at-home Can Jam Canjam NYC (social); Annihilator 2023 (gear) Vorzüge AMP CanJam Singapore Cayin N30LE Odin Storm at CJSG Getting the Arya Ver 3 headphone QDC Anole V14 Not spending! Lotoo Mjolnir Elysian Annihilator 2023 Perpetua Raven Going Customs for XE6 (love the fit and off course Sound) elysian diva 2023 Aroma Audio Fei Wan Music. About devices - Lotoo Mjolnir and DHC Chimera. Annihilator 2023 Singularity + 320MAX Ti + Mass-Kobo 475 None DMP-Z1 Splendid range of iems with exciting and varying sound profiles Hearing shangrila sr for the first time STORM, FEI WAN, DIO (Proto), DUALITY (Proto) Buying Mentors and a desktop DAC+AMP Mass kobo 475 Mola Mola Tambaqui. And Sonnet Pasithea > MASS-Kobo 465 Discovered Bonneville from Rockwell75 Nostalgia Audio Camelot Trifecta Trifecta My first canjam/audio festival! Completing Susvara Setup (for now). Cayin N30LE Cen Grand 1.0 Deluxe DAC, Fir Radon 6, Aroma Fei Wan Sony CDP-X777ES Trifecta Discovering Traillii, WM1Z and PWaudio Metropolis synergy dartzeel VE/AK Aura Listening to STORM for the second time Buying the Pathos Aurium Headphone amp complete with upgraded LPS (S-Booster MK-2 BOTW) Storm Custom Cascara VExAK Aura Auditioned a Sennheiser HE-1 Enjoying my desktop. bought p6 pro ti99 Hearing the Annihilator 2023 at Canjam Europe from a fellow Head-Fier. Purchase DIY CFA3 and T2 for all my headphones. Sony IER-Z1R Trifecta CFA Trifecta Audio Video Show Warsaw 2023 Ronin Ragnar Mass kobo, Loki, bonneville HQPlayer and upsampling , positive impact of Active Preamplifier 622b Chord Dave Brise Audio cables Cayin NE30 Visiting Singapore for audio, as well as meeting with local community Jomo Audio Alpha Ti + Effect Audio Centurion VE x A&K Aura Dallas CanJam The bass on the bonnevile makes me smile every time a song calls for authoritative bass. 1 year in hobby/After 7 months Annihilator arrive. Top IEM. discovering how good very high quality files can sound Listening to both DX320Max and M9+ for the first time Going to Potafes and Headphone Festival with friends from WC group Hearing Rn6 for first time Cayin n30le Annihilator 2023
In your own words:
Nightjar Duality Fatfreq MSE Cayin N30LE Amber Pearl Combo Plunge Audio Unity N30LE AP FATfreq, last year's meh to this year's wow Retro stax sr-05 Cypherus Audio Susvara Black Dragon earbud Nostalgia Audio Tesseract PWA Orpheus - the hype is real EE Raven Kiwi Ears Quintet N30LE and how good it is Fei Wan VEX NG Audio Eurus+ Headphones! That I am a basshead Buying an Utopia 2022 Fostex TH616 Subtonic Storm How bad Aroma Audio's attitude can be towards a customer Sennheiser HE-1 FatFreq brand Cayin N30 LE Getting into full size headphones! (Meze Elite) N30 Amber Pearl bundle How overrated I found Campfire Annihilator2023. No way I ever thought I'd love a "treblehead" IEM as much as I do Anni! Finding what I feel is the “best” IEM in the world in the Fei Wan. Annihilator How much I have come to love Traillii That the nightjar Singularity fits me decently well IBasso DC Elite's performance How much I enjoyed the FIR XE6, despite what I heard about the overwhelming bass $8000 IEM Z1R living up to the hype For the past six months of on-the-go listening with dongle and iPhone 15 Pro Max at work, 64 Audio A3t ciem was quite a surprise for how well it performed and presented the music, as I felt it got the most out of each and every driver & implementation from 3 BA drivers per side. N30LE That I still prefer Traillii to all shiny new toys Fei Wan and Kinera Loki Emerald Discovering personal preferences for audio gear Ibasso DC-elite Oriolous Isabellea The return of Oriveti Singularity Improvement in BA Bass Being content with the gear I currently own, even though I think it would be nice to have the remaining desert island IEMs not in possession, I don't feel the urge to save up the money to purchase. LP W4 Enjoying iems with tube amps Night Oblivion Butastur Listened to gears at Canjam John Lennon posthumously in new music, who else now Amber Pearl SQ Fiio FH9 Price of the most recent flagship IEMs How little clicked with me and how content I am with current gear That I would get back into the hobby after so many years Dunu Alpha 3 Never used Earbuds Fei Wan SQ improvement going from BTR7 to M15S P6ProTi99 AüR Modhouse Tungsten Cayin N30 Fei Wan. What an incredible IEM and unlike what I thought was my bullseye sound profile. Envy and Susvara synergy 1960s SE Bonneville Amber Pearl Hisenior Okavango Singularity Aroma Thunder N30LE was released Penon Quattro (already announced but soon to be released) R6PROII Effect Audio Ares S Founders Edition cable. Dita Navigator Procuring the Tsuranagi with the Yatono IC.. Sennheiser HE-1 Lotoo Paw 6000 How much music I discovered after starting streaming. n30le Cayin N30LE How much money I spent on gear.. Bonneville Trifecta being ok for me . Not super. Not bad. SR35 Bass quality of lotoo mjölnir Fei Wan - knocks my socks off and I had no idea this an Aroma highly technical IEM would do that. Singularity (its coherence and bass shelf) Kiwi Ears Tuning of cheap iems The love for Xe6 Lots of TOTL IEM's SR35 How much I liked RN6. Tied with how much I think U4S makes most of the 64 lineup redundant Penon Orb Hisenior T4 ifi neo stream Elysian Annihilator 2023 WM1Z is still as good as anything else on the market. Spartacus Audeze brought by Sony substonic storm How a Linear Power Supply improves sound LP6TI, PW 1960, DHC Chimera. Nightjar Singularity Multiverse Mentor/Amber Pearl EQ'ed planar iem can be endgame, period. Trifecta Fei Wan Devialet mania Meeting cooler members at SG Canjam and potafest! Also, FEI WAN made me a 2-IEM guy after being a 1-IEM guy for years Earsonics Grace Platinum, a disappointing one Mass kobo amps Aful MagicOne Bonneville Discipline… Trifecta - so unique, so great sound, so huge stage Benefit of portable amp. Holo Audio Bliss great with IEMs Cypherus Audio susvara Black Dragon earbud Fir Radon 6 Synergy of EE Legend X and Mojo 2 / Poly Trifecta My WM1Z mileage is real (never been reseted). dartzeel How much more I fell in love with Iems … it’s scary Cheap but very good one driver IEMs from China Listening to a well calibrated analogue rig in a properly large listening room through Vivid Audio Giya speakers - realism in timbre and holographic staging took on a whole new meaning How good the final H type pads are on the original D-8000 Sennheiser Momentum 4 susvara Custom Cascara Roon’s acquisition Discovering the magic of TOTL cables and portable amps How good my desktop sounds Same moment, the Anni sounded way better through his dap than through my phone with dongle, with same songs. New experience for me. Kinera Loki Crimson CFA Bonneville Getting to hear the He1 Trifecta Sound rhyme dte900 No surprise. Have been in this game for long so don’t get surprised now. Storm amped up, he-1 truthears zero red UM Soundstage due to BCD Final Audio ZE8000 FATFreq Scarlet Mini, Shanling M9 Plus, and Divinus Velvets. Noble Audio Stage 3 L&P W4 Dallas CanJam being as good as it was! How close to flagship performance the bonneville and ascension come. Symphonium Audio Helios SE How big cable (Brise Yatono 8w) can improve sound Aful Magic One Realizing I prefer Rn6 to Xe6. Cayin n30le Annihilator 2023
In your own words:
Lagom P64 Coffee Grinder Professional growth in my job New Porsche Gran Turismo GTS Meeting everyone at CanJam Socal and being able to go to CanJam NYC with the fellow Coolers My daughter Trip to China this summer My parents visiting me in San Francisco after 6 years! Completing my full custom loop PC Liverpool 7 Manchester United 0 none Non audio wise it has been a complete lowlight for me, hoping for a better 2024 Aphex Twin in concert Girlfriend None The birth of my daughter Breaking bread with members of the Watercooler at CanJam, these guys like good food, also. My family Getting in best shape of my life (yet) Back to traveling for work. Building a new PC Chat GPT N/A Travel - first trip to Thailand soon! Planning my wedding Nothing in particular Taking up photography again I'm blessed to have 3 amazing kids, each of whom continue to strive to improve themselves and the world around them, I'm continually amazed! Getting married. Son 18th Spending time with Cooler friends at CanJam Singapore My dog continues to be awesome Getting back to (a better) life with a full year unaffected by covid It is more a silver lining: health issues forced me to spend more time for myself, my friends, my interests and exploring myself and my interests. Oldest son engagement Meeting Keanu Reeves Being re-immersed with nature and becoming more connected to my well-being as a whole. iPhone 15 pro Max That in general I can be satisfied with less if that contributes well to the overall harmony of things More traveling Being able to travel out of China again!!! Unfortunate diagnosis of rare auto immune disease that change my life Getting to travel abroad My son’s academic and sports achievements Greek Island Cruise Getting a third cat, visiting family & friends back in home town Calgary. Working from home Getting into a relationship Tears of the Kingdom finally came out! Getting by Discovering Korean fried chicken Been a tough year, many personal losses Retiring from work Completing the basement reno Health improvements A career move that is still in discussion Traveling Fun young kid stuff Securing a new job for 2024 good outcome of my follow-up examination cranium MRI Steam deck Holiday in Kent (UK) Clean health Living in Maine all summer with my family. A wonderful contrast to my home environment in Colorado. Travelling to Japan Pay raise School trip Family reunion Official announcement of GTA 6 Achieving my fitness goals Achieving important results in my job Start to post at the Watercooler thread! Enjoying any moment of life with my wife Finally we forgot about COVID. Singing tibetan bowls. My shoulder injury. Dieting is going well! Completing my studio. Getting custom cabinets and shelving done in office and living room Oppo Find N3 Getting married! My daughter getting into college Every day with my wife and child has been a treasured blessing. Attack on Titan great finale Sucess of populists all over the world (unfortunately just the beginning of a bad, bad process) moved to canada Spending the summer in Maine with my family - very different than my Colorado homeland! Best friend is having a baby Good grief... Couldn't come up with anything in 5 minutes. This year wasn't my favourite by miles and miles. None Big Ears music festival in Knoxville The rest of the Singapore trip. UM Mext Life in general Singing with my students No longer “New Head-fi’er” after 7 years. Thank you Jude, very cool. Brought a house Lost weight and back to exercising regularly Survival Going to the Buffalo Bills game with my girlfriend Meeting new people on HF/Discord, whether I generally agree or disagree with their takes. None My healing back pains! My work is more enjoyable than ever before! Passing of my cat Landing the new job Japan trip with family and friends, 1 year of Golf has been fun will continue to do more! Changing job Going for my first overseas school trip Getting to meet so many interesting people Holiday in Italy The great Watercooler community It was a very busy year... Deciding to return for to school for a PhD Being able to spend time with my parents twice this year! First daughter Baldur's Gate 3 Mc.Gregor declaring run for the presidency in Ireland none Godzilla minus one Cat turned one year old and is calming n Trying a variety of Grado Headphones. A bit disappointing Launching our new drone project (work) Working out, getting in shape, and going to bed early A trip to Berlin! It was a "meh" sort of year cant think of anything Playing VR games with friends and family/experiencing life. Big milestone in my career My wife retires at the end of this year. First child/daughter, walking, talking and blossoming personality Dunno Restoring my Victorian house Baby girl born Well now I’m sad. Ok so atleast one great thing happened. My wife joined a good college for Medical PG Watching my girl grow getting the call from Rolex AD Too broad to answer On Roger Federer Tennis Shoe Kicking off a YouTube channel for tech reviews with small success. Watercoolers World EXPO 2025 Osaka hiring 2 incredible people The birth of my daughter New family member. Parrot Alexandrine. My love. progress in learning Japanese Holiday in Japan with my family Finding trustworthy friends along the way Running a sub-21 minute 5K. Visit Singapore
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Awesome. Red Halo was my number 1 IEM for almost a year. I love that IEM. The mids are magical.
What’s your number 1 now?
