[Ivabign]

I have watched as the portable headphone (I'm thinking IEM's here) industry has gone from an afterthought - Apple buds, Bose generic junk, etc... - to every company having a $400 - $500 IEM - in addition, the types of technology are getting more and more advanced (Multi-BA, Hybrid Dynamic/BA, Adjustable ports, etc..)
 
The market for ultra expensive product is growing at a rapid clip - What I want to know is if there is a portable player that combines the finest in reproduction (I guess 24bit 96K) as well as a clean high power amplifier. Something that was made of metal and glass that was fashionable and that could sell for $2K - I mean if there are people who can shell out $1299 for a AKG 3003 - $2-3K for a source shouldn't be a stretch. Plus there would be a nice amount of margin at those prices - something that uses the best chipset and a decent battery. It wouldn't necessarily have to play for 10 hours on a charge - it could get half that and have a USB cable for charging anywhere.
 
Is there something like that out there?

 

[StyleElements]

Hmm. Dunno about the $2k sticker price and the metal and glass, but the iBasso DX100 is well regarded around here as a high quality, high power DAP with a very, very nice internal amp.

Its battery is as you describe, it's a bit of a brick and its Android UI is a little funny, but I've read in a fair few places that its sound rivals the huge audiophile stacks (iPod - bulky amp - CLAS -dB, or something like that) in a relatively smaller package.
 
Other than that... Colorfly and Hisound Audio might have other players, but I haven't read up on them. I use an entry level Cowon

 

[Satellite_6]

Sure there are plenty of overpriced junk players out there. 

 

[proton007]

Amplifiers are about gain. Not that batteries can't do it, the problem is the form factor.
I've used Li-Po batteries before that were 24V each, you can make a decent amp out of that. But, they were huge, weigh a lot, and not portable in any way. 
Unless you can have a phone battery that gives out 18V, its going to be hard to make your dream device.