My portable setup: Samsung S9+, Chord Mojo, KSE1200. The Dac on the KSE1500 sucks compared to the Mojo. Both interconnects solid platinum silver. I agree with you. Not exactly ultra portable but you can absolutely get lost in the sound while on a walk along the beach!! The speed of these earbuds is addicting!!
You can have a look at the Shanling - UA1 it features an ESS Sabre DAC chip that offers best-in-class audiophile-grade sound quality and can be paired Shure - SE215. It's like the best budget setup of all time.
All are good options and they all come with different sound signatures. The KZ - ZST X offers a detailed sound. And the RHA's and Sennheiser's offers a warm sound with little enhanced bass.
I have been using Audio Technica ATH-M20X from last 4 years and i am very much satisfied with it's sound signature....now i want to upgrade my headphones within tge budget of Rs.10 to 12k... I've zero down on it's another varient of X50 but it's now too old...so just let me know if there's any alternative for X50 or still X50 is the ultimate winner in this range...if not X50 then please suggest me best wired headphone within this budget...thanks
It's worth every penny as there is no other electrostatic product on the market. Electrostatic headphones have the clearest sound you can get. If you compare it to other headphones like the Layla or the SE846, it's like opening the window you were looking through. I have the Shure KSE1200 and the SE846 and the AirPods Pro. For home listening i only use the Shure KSE1200.
There exists a alternative to kse1200 at a much lower price: srs002 from Stax Adding a ces-a1, it will become a closed back iem If you have more budget, try sr003 + srm d10 with ces-a1. A little more than half the price of kse1200, but sounds compatible with kse1200, although a little bit less portable than kse1200 and shorter battery life
