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Shure KSE1200 Analog Electrostatic Earphone and Amplifier System for Use In‐Line with Portable Media Players

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42 ratings

| 15 answered questions

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$1,999.00 & FREE Returns

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The KSE1200 is a premium electrostatic earphone and amplifier system for use in-line with portable Media players
The single-driver electrostatic Sound Isolating earphones provide an astounding level of clarity and detail for the most discerning audio aficionados.
For the purest, most transparent listening experience.
Integrated USB rechargeable battery with up to 12 hours life on one charge
Seamless integration with premium audio players

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All Product Information Customer Q&A's Customer Reviews

From the manufacturer

An astounding level of clarity and detail for the most discerning audio aficionados.

High Fidelity That Fits In Your Pocket.

For the purest, most transparent listening experience
Integrated USB rechargeable battery with up to 12 hours life on one charge
Seamless integration with premium audio players

KSE1200 Electrostatic Earphone System

Analog Electrostatic Amplifier System

The KSE1200 Electrostatic Earphone System is a premium Sound Isolating electrostatic earphone and amplifier system for use in‐line with portable media players. Featuring a pair of single‐driver electrostatic Sound Isolating earphones and matched, high voltage amplifier. The input stage of the system is designed for seamless integration with premium audio players common in today’s high quality portable audio market.

Providing an unrivaled level clarity and detail, the KSE1200 system brings the award winning performance of Shure’s electrostatic technology into a more compact, efficient, and affordable solution. Both the Shure KSE1500 and KSE1200 systems make portable high fidelity audio a reality.


	KSE1200	KSE1500	SHA900
Description	Analog Electrostatic Earphone System	Electrostatic Earphone System	Portable Listening Amplifier
Earphones Included?	✓	✓	-

Product description

style:KSE1200

The KSE1200 Electrostatic Earphone System is a premium Sound Isolating electrostatic earphone system for use in‐line with portable media players. Featuring a pair of single‐driver electrostatic Sound Isolating earphones and matched, high voltage amplifier. The input stage of the System is designed for seamless integration with premium audio players common in today’s high quality portable audio market. Providing an unrivaled level clarity and detail, the KSE1200 system brings the award winning performance of Shure’s electrostatic technology into a more compact, efficient, and affordable solution. Both the Shure KSE1500 and KSE1200 systems make portable high fidelity audio a reality.

Product information

style:KSE1200

Item Weight

1.98 pounds

Product Dimensions

6.58 x 5.44 x 5.04 inches

ASIN

B07CYRWG5K

Item model number

KSE1200SYS

Batteries

1 Lithium ion batteries required. (included)

Customer Reviews

42 ratings

3.9 out of 5 stars

Best Sellers Rank

#41,413 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
#55 in Recording In-Ear Audio Monitors

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer

Date First Available

May 4, 2018

Color Name

Black

Battery type

Lithium Ion

Technical Specification

User Manual [PDF ]

Warranty & Support

Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here

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Customer Questions & Answers

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Customer reviews

5 star		54%
4 star		12%
3 star		11%
2 star		15%
1 star		8%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

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Andy Catanzaro

The best IEM I've heard!

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2019

style: KSE1500Verified Purchase

I'm comparing the KSE1500's with the latest Etymotic Research ER4XD, Ultimate Ears 11, and Stax SR-L700's. The Shure's have superb definition as one would expect from an electrostatic transducer. The tonal balance is excellent, and the bass is nigh onto unbelievable. I have an unusual configuration in my ear canals and require the pediatric sleeves with the ER-4's. Because Shure doesn't offer such, I took advantage of their affiliation with Sensaphonics. I went to an audiologist, who made molds that I sent in. I received custom-made sleeves with a pocket for the transducers. The isolation is so good that I can wear these when I mow the grass with a conventional gas mower and I can hear the softest notes in orchestral music. The biggest difference between the Shure and Stax electrostatics is the listening perspective. Like all IEM's the KSE 1500's sound like they're in my head, where the Stax over-the-ear stats have an airier image. But for something small and easy to carry on an airplane or when walking, when I don't want to look like a spaceman waking down the street with over-the ear headphones, the KSE's are the best ticket! Battery life is better than I expected for an amplifier that puts out 200 volts. I've had several 2-hour listening sessions off of one charge. The sound is excellent using a USB connection to my LG V30 phone. These are costly, but if you are interested in in-ear-monitors, you won't be looking to replace these in the foreseeable future. They are good with head-banging rock and with Beethoven violin sonatas. One caveat: these are so distortion free that it's sometimes hard to know how loud they are playing. They will player louder than is safe for anyone's ears over the long-term, so don't try to make your eardrums bleed.

5 people found this helpful

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Zhuyaj

Takes some patience as a listener and you will be rewarded with something that is unmatched.

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2016

style: KSE1500Verified Purchase

I can see why some people here have rated this product very low. This is a very sensitive iem that pairs with sources and pretty much absorbs its sound signature. Pair it with Chord Mojo and it becomes warm and musical; pair it with Hugo and its detailed and neutral and airy. Make sure you finest with the usb/line out options and your source, and once you do, the sound quality is unmatched, and personally, this is worth the price. It didn't really resonate with me the first couple of minutes that i was listening to this iem, because i was working and couldn't really concentrate on the sound. it took about another 3-4 hours of carefully listening when i realize that this iem is even more detail than all iems and closed back headphones that Ive heard. Its great to listen to a nice pair of cans/iem and you just can't quite put your finger on it; as it grows on you with every different song you listen to. I ordered this from amazon expecting to return it as a skeptic, hoping for it to wow me in the first minute with crazy bass or whatever. The Kse1500 is so much more worth it than say, something that wows you at first but you progressively loose interest as you mature into a more analytical listener-This is one of those experience!

53 people found this helpful

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Tetsu Noguchi

Too expensive by far for most people. But a uniquely superfast IEM worth chasing for a few

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2018

style: KSE1200

There are a lot of amazing headphones and IEMs on the market, and I own a fair number. From my cheap TR80/250, up to my most expensive Utopias, I love all my headphones for different characteristics.

One characteristic I enjoy is speed. By speed, I mean a headphone or IEM so effective at reproducing sound that for songs with a lot of different sounds at the same time (e.g. large classical orchestral pieces, big band jazz, electronica with a ton of different sounds), every instrument coming through clearly. That's not easy in a headphone or IEM. Most end up starting to muffle, or blend different sounds together, and makes concentrating on different instruments, in some cases even hearing them, rather difficult.

It's fair to say that every type of headphone and IEM type of technology improves across all sound characteristics and of course, speed is also continues to improve. But most still struggle with the most complex pieces. With so many different technologies in reproducing sound from a headphone or IEM, there's an answer for every sought after characteristic. The ultimate answer for "speed" has traditionally been electrostats. I owned Stax electrostats in the 90's, and while they really are very fast, they have some drawbacks.

- Electrostats require a lot of electrical power, or volts, so the amps needed to drive them have traditionally been very large.

- The other sacrifice is power, or impact, or grandeur. Electrostats have a light, airy feel, and a common complaint is that the bass frequencies (under 100Hz) are barely there. You can hear the bass, the instruments, the sounds, but there is no depth, strength, power, behind any of the songs that require it.

- The third sacrifice is lack of IEMs. It's hard to make electrostats into IEMs. I'm not sure why, but they've traditionally not been available, and only started emerging a few years ago.

- Fourth is the cable. Traditionally, electrostat headphones required thick, flat cables. I believe that has something to do with the sheer amount of power, and how the power is delivered to vibrate the membrane in the headphone that produces sound.

- Finally, traditionally, electrostats have been open back headphones, not closed. Which is fine when in the office, but not so great when on the go.

The KSE1500 (predecessor to the KSE1200), fixed all that. They produced IEM sized electrostats, with lots of bass, and a fullness to the sound, with all the speed that electrostats are known for, a carefully constructed cable that looks almost normal (but not quite), in a closed back setup (yes, believe it or not, there are IEM electrostats that are open back, weird, huh?), and requiring significantly less power and therefore able to run on a small lithium ion battery.

The KSE1500 included the IEMs, and an integrated DAC/AMP. Which was great for iPhone users who had to use the lightning cable now anyway. The iPhone could offload the DAC portion of the sound chain to the KSE1500DAC, which then was handed off to the AMP, which then sent the electrical signals to the IEM driver, and produced sound.

Great. Except that it was $3000. Out of my budget for sure.

Then the KSE1200 came out earlier this year. The IEMs themselves are identical, and the AMP portion of the unit itself is identical. The only difference is that the DAC portion of the unit is removed (which also means the screen from the KSE1500 unit, the volume dial no longer includes the push button capability, and the equalizer function no longer exists)

And tadaa, finally, there were electrostat IEMs I could scrounge and save for.

The KSE1200 doesn't disappoint. There is bass there, with impact and power. Certainly good enough for the electronica, rock, hiphop, rap, house, etc. that I sometimes listen to. But more importantly, I finally had an IEM that was sort of portable (still requires its own AMP unit, unlike IEMs in general, which require no AMP), that was also incredibly fast. I can listen to full orchestral pieces on the road, and hear every single instrument. Since it's a closed back, and naturally sound isolating, I can listen to them on the plane, in a coffee shop, on the subway.

You can pair this with anything. In the photo, I pair the KSE1200 with the MojoPoly, but I often pair it with the R6 as well. It pairs with anything that has a 3.5mm stereo out jack. So, pairs with just about any Android smart phone. For iPhone, you could get the lightning to 3.5mm jack adaptor, or you could put another dac in between (e.g. Chord Mojo, Hugo 2, Blutooth audio module, Fiio, etc.).

If you do any searches on the Shure KSE1500/1200, you'll find that R&D for the product started long before expensive IEMs were a thing. It took several years, and was really a passion project that Shure was uniquely qualified to develop, as they were already developers of high end ribbon mics. They reversed the concept to create audio listening IEMs with a "ribbon" (or electrostat) instead of audio recording gear. Rather brilliant. And the end result is stunningly impressive.

I rarely take the KSE1200 when traveling for fear of losing them, so the great idea of flying with them is sadly not in the cards. But, at -37db sound isolation, they'd be ideal for flights. For me, they're ideal for listening in bed, and also when walking the neighborhood.

At $2K, they are still unrealistically and stupidly expensive. Most folks couldn't justify spending that kind of money on a pair of headphones, especially when excellent headphones could be had for a fraction of the cost. Some folks are more than satisfied with the sound of $20 blutooth IEMs. And you know, that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. I love my inexpensive IEMs ($40), my rather expensive Sony 1000XM2's ($250), and all my headphones and IEMs below $300.

But when chasing the very unique sound characteristic of speed, there's just no way around the challenge of cost. It just gets expensive. If you can somehow afford the KSE1200, and speed is a characteristic you desire so strongly that it's worth it to spend, you'd be hard pressed to find another portable option as ideally suited to large orchestral pieces, big bang jazz, and other complex pieces as the Shure KSE1200.

Rock on Shure. You've developed a jewel at an almost but not quite affordable price.

37 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Zisaan Malik

Sounds so good it makes me dance to the music.

Reviewed in Canada on May 19, 2019

style: KSE1500Verified Purchase

Absolutely amazing sounding earbuds from Shure. The response is flat, a rich neutral, perfectly reproduces instruments, is very fast, and is portable. I've owned the Sennheiser HD 800 + HDVD 800, and the IE800 before and none of them compare to the clarity, speed, and realism in sound produced by the Shure KSE1500. I absolutely recommend it to anyone who is able to afford this.

2 people found this helpful

Nevin

The best headphones unbelievably beautiful sound, that unfortunately died in four days.

Reviewed in Canada on October 20, 2020

style: KSE1200Verified Purchase

These are flat out the best earphones I've ever heard. I cannot accurately describe the sound, I'm not that guy, sorry. Besides I have extremely damaged ears from time in the Army. But music is extremely important to me. I upgraded from SE846s based on the Amazon Prime Day sale.

They are unbelievably detailed, with a flatter response than the SE846s. Bassheads will likely not enjoy these. They function as monitors not for "fun" listening. This can cause problems with bad recordings, or just poor file support. If you're using heavily compressed music, you will hear extremely unpleasant distortions and cut off music. I can hear studio interactions and electronic noise as well, they're *very* sensitive.

Shure seems aware of this, and the power supply includes a -10dba signal adjustment which softens the effect, almost entirely, but limits the detail retrieval, basically turning them in my SE846s with a different listening curve.

The entire unit is extremely well built. The power supply is heavy, dense, the volume knob is butter smooth. If I had one complaint, it would be the knob is at the end of the unit, so your pocket will occasionally cause some volume changes. A small edge guard would help.

I wasn't sure I would keep these. It was unbelievable hearing these for the first time. I can't explain just how happy it made me. But in practice, its a stationary device only, if you start moving around or on a bus or reading, your brain will miss some details, and then you're back at SE846s. The power pack itself is impractical and forces the classic audiophile "stack" whereby you have multiple electronics held together by elastics (DAC, DAP and now a power supply). Elastics are included, but it comes with elastics to tie it to your gear together, but then its not that portable. What's the point? Its an incredible piece of engineering, but ultimately impractical. Its more mobile than over ears, a DAC, DAP, but human nature being what it is...will you actually hear the details walking about?

Then it died. Four days in, I woke up, and it wouldn't turn on. Shure engineers said its probably DOA and to send it back. So I am. It's so close to perfection, in a small package, but then it died. I am crushingly disappointed.

Romeo Lian

The best earphone!

Reviewed in Canada on June 20, 2020

style: KSE1500Verified Purchase

I have lots of earphones, this one KSE1500 is the best! The best sound!