ART HeadAmp 4 Pro vs Schiit Vali 2+

Both are desktop amplifiers, $130 against $149. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?

The Schiit Vali 2+ reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the ART HeadAmp 4 Pro on 561.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationART HeadAmp 4 ProSchiit Vali 2+
Power into 32Ω98 mW1.5 W
Power into 150Ω67 mW496 mW
Power into 300Ω33 mW400 mW
Power into 600Ω17 mW200 mW
Output impedance47.0 Ω1.8 Ω
Output noisenot published25 µV unverified
Price$130$149
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
561567

A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.

The headphones that tell them apart

6 headphones reach 100 dB on the Schiit Vali 2+ but not on the ART HeadAmp 4 Pro — Moondrop COSMO, Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Crimson, 3 more.

489 headphones are left alone by the Schiit Vali 2+ under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the ART HeadAmp 4 Pro (64 Audio Solo, 7Hz Legato, 7Hz Salnotes Zero, 486 more).

561 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.

Both pages in full

Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: ART HeadAmp 4 Pro and Schiit Vali 2+. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.