So 2023 was something of a miserable year for me, including the end of a long-term relationship and suddenly moving to a smaller place. And as such, the front-end of my setup is the same as it was in 2022: the same headphones, the same amp, and the same DAC.
The Allnic HPA 3000 GT and the Mystique V3 have served me really well over this period, and to be honest, I’m somewhat reluctant to upgrade them—imagine a universe where I upgrade my amp: then I’ll need nicer power cables, I’ll probably need to buy upgraded tubes, I’ll want a nicer DAC to pair with it, that nicer DAC would want nicer power cables, etc etc and down the line, and I don’t think I can actually afford to move up an entire tier from where I am. (Note: If I upgraded the Mystique V3 to an EVO Pro, I think I /might/ be able to get away with it, but I’d probably still be leaving a decent amount of performance on the table.)
That said, every once in a while, I’ve managed to snipe a good deal here on the forums and make some meaningful upgrades!
Early in the year, I bought a Stellar Power Plant 3 and a Berkeley Alpha USB, and a few months later, I also picked up an FTA Callisto. The Power Plant and Callisto were fairly straightforward upgrades from what I had before, but I’ve been back and forth on the Alpha USB. I preferred it in my chain when I first bought it, then after buying the Callisto, I preferred the Callisto straight into my DAC, and with my most recent upgrade, I think I prefer having the Alpha USB in the chain again, but the jury’s still out.
That most recent upgrade being the Sonore opticalRendu. Last year, my favorite upgrade of 2022 was the ultraRendu, and so again, my favorite upgrade of 2023 is the opticalRendu. These streamers are just so good, and each jump from micro->ultra->optical is a genuinely meaningful upgrade over the previous model.
I also tried to do the IEM and DAP thing this year, purchasing a Lotoo PAW 6000 and a Hyla Sarda, and the timing was apropos with my living situation being in flux shortly after. The experiment was met with mixed success; I like the Lotoo PAW quite a bit, but it turns out that even when I’m in hotel rooms or couchsurfing or whatnot, I still turn to full-size headphones. I ended up doing a lot of my DAP listening with my Diana V2 or my HD600, and I eventually sold the Hyla Sarda later in the year.
I’ve actually been selling a few things since I’ve mostly lost the ability to have a secondary setup. I said goodbye to the Kennerton Gjallarhorn GH50, the Hyla Sarda, and the RNHP, which goes to show that apparently people like audio gear with red accents, lol. I’ll probably be looking to sell the Exogal as well, but at least for now, I’m still keeping the Quicksilver. It’ll be tough to let that one go.
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So where does that leave me for 2024?
To be honest, I’ll probably be in a similar place to 2023, where I’m not looking to make any major moves, but just sitting and waiting, and buying something every once in a while when the stars align. Maybe it’ll make sense to buy another TOTL headphone and I’ll buy Polygon’s 1266, or maybe it’ll make sense to get a TOTL DAP and I’ll buy Eskamo’s P6 Pro or something. Or maybe I won’t buy anything.
Even still, I’m having a great time listening to music, hanging out on the forum, and chatting with friends. You all have been awesome. 
Maybe what’ll actually happen in 2024 is I’ll finally turn that HQPlayer wiki post into a proper article that we can put on the front page to pay it forward and contribute a bit more to keeping the forum alive.