How can a student of Islamic knowledge memorize through audial reception, following the example of the righteous early scholars, despite being accustomed to memorizing from books?

If the purpose of the Salaf's preservation was to receive knowledge from scholars and not merely rely on books, then this is true. However, if the intent is that they preserved knowledge simply by hearing without writing, then this is not universally applicable. Among them were those endowed with perfect memorization, but they were few. The majority used writing to aid in preserving knowledge, as Abdullah ibn Amr did by the command of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: "Write, for by Him in whose hand is my soul, nothing but truth comes out of it." And as he said: "Tie down knowledge with writing." Al-Mawardi and others have emphasized the importance of writing for preservation and comprehension of knowledge.