after all those years, the survivors
blessing 2 - age: 2 years
chu - age: 4 years
salnotes 0: age: 1 year
fiio ff - age: 2 years
these are the iems that remained, the rest either broke or were sold
tube iems (blessing) are the best because they dont ever clog. even if they do, knowles tube filters are always available
daily drove blessing for more than a year but then decided to use at home due to being chippable. salnotes is good enough anyway and if u put a foam tip on it bam super attenuation
chu is there because metal tint is fun, and its a legacy piece. ff1 is ok without foam, but its the one i have used the least tbh.
iems that broke: kz kzn (the first) - shell sealing gave in, leading to complete bass rolloff. nostalgia value:0/10. moondrop lan - was rained over, oxidated and driver died (my complete fault). it was good but bland. nostalgia value:0. quarks - bad fit for me since its ventless, sound ok. cable modded it, but since it was mmcx it ended up becoming a bit loose. i recommend 2pin for cable mods. nostalgia: value 1.
iems that were sold: moondrop aria 1 (blue variant) - first iem that was good, i really do regret selling. sound was nice and cold metal was comfortable on the ear. nostalgia value: 10. etymotic er2se: insane sound, terrific design. a single knowles filter meant maximum durability over the years. just replace the filter and its good as it ever was. better than b2 in this department, since for that one e. wax can still get in the other tubes, in which case big F. Ended up selling because it was kinda a bother to wear. nostalgia value: 5. 7hz timeless - ultra detail and bass definition, but treble was too much. Was cool af to listen to though. dont regret selling, nostalgia value: 3. Moondrop SSR - I swear this IEM is insane. It was ultra detailed, sounds way too similar to blessing 2 (but no sub bass which b2 actually has). I would no problem use that and not complain never. but its finicky to wear and hard to get a good fit. no brainer for small ear people that like DF. Important to note that this model has seen huge unit variation on the magnitude of the pinna gain. dont regret selling, nostalgia value: 4.
As of now im officially retired from this hobby. i also use an akg k702 which on paper is the over ear equivalent of b2, but in practice has a sound profile that is locally kinda different even if with similar treble / mid / bass proportions. never spent serious cash on the game but this doesnt mean i didnt have my chunk of fun!