would you want to walk around with such an expensive headphone in public? plus as durable and well built as ZMFs are, they are wood, and will show signs of wear quicker than plastic if you're bumping them around a bit. imo a portable set would make more sense, though i'm very conservative and anxious with my stuff. when i want to move around the house with my headphones, i run them through a Grace m9xx dac/amp combo, which has a fair amount of power, more than most portable setups, and it struggles to bring out the full dynamics and capabilities of them. i note a noticeable uptick in performance (not volume, more dynamics and driver control) when running them through a proper desktop amp.
i'm sure i'll be run out of this thread for saying this, but a basic sennheiser momentum 2.0, or whatever they're calling it now, is a good portable alternative to ZMF. they're warm, slightly rolled off up top, and non-fatiguing. if you want a cheap portable solution that can easily be powered by any dap out there, that's a really decent option. i'm not saying the momentum is anywhere near ZMF performance, just that it has a similar tuning and tonality. and they can be beat down hard! i've had my 2.0 for ages now and it's seen quite a few drops and rough handling, and it's still working fine. the stock cable is crap though, i think i could sneeze and snap it. i swapped it out for a generic amazon cable the week i got them.
He he, yeah I wouldn't be running around with it though .
It would be for sitting at my desk while working but as you said I may look into a more portable set for that first (Aeon Closed 2 maybe).
However ZMF are still my dream cans with those beautiful woods. Zach really did an excellent job with ZMF. It's an amazing product in my opinion (heard an Eikon before and they were great).