Arturia MiniFuse 4 vs IK Multimedia AXE I/O

Short answer

Power: about the same. The Arturia MiniFuse 4 has 139 mW into 32 Ω, the IK Multimedia AXE I/O 115 mW. The Arturia MiniFuse 4 drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the IK Multimedia AXE I/O cannot (Symphonium Zenith).
Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
Output impedance: 510 headphones are left alone by the IK Multimedia AXE I/O under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Arturia MiniFuse 4 (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Nio, 507 more).
Price: the IK Multimedia AXE I/O costs $101 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are audio interfaces, $299 against $400.

The Arturia MiniFuse 4 reaches 100 dB on 562 of the 567 models here, the IK Multimedia AXE I/O on 561.

Every published figure, next to each other

Specification	Arturia MiniFuse 4	IK Multimedia AXE I/O
Power into 32Ω	139 mW	115 mW
Power into 150Ω	45 mW	60 mW
Power into 300Ω	24 mW	30 mW
Power into 600Ω	12 mW	15 mW
Output impedance	10 Ω	<0.1 Ω
Output noise	not published	not published
Price	$299	$400
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	562	561

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Where each power figure comes from

Load	Arturia MiniFuse 4	IK Multimedia AXE I/O
32 Ω	Derived	Derived
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Derived	Derived
600 Ω	Derived	Derived

Neither column is a maker’s power rating at these loads. Of the 280 sources here, 209 publish a figure at at least one load; these two do not, so every row above is derived — between or beyond the loads each maker did publish, holding output voltage as the maker’s own figures imply. The method understates rather than flatters, but it is still arithmetic rather than a rating.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the Arturia MiniFuse 4 but not on the IK Multimedia AXE I/O — Symphonium Zenith.

510 headphones are left alone by the IK Multimedia AXE I/O under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Arturia MiniFuse 4 (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Nio, 507 more).

561 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the HiFiMAN Susvara: IK Multimedia AXE I/O has +5 dB of headroom there against +2 dB. 3 dB is about 1.8 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Arturia MiniFuse 4 and IK Multimedia AXE I/O because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	Arturia MiniFuse 4 headroom	IK Multimedia AXE I/O headroom	Arturia MiniFuse 4 hiss	IK Multimedia AXE I/O hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+30 dB damping	+29 dB	not published	not published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+10 dB damping	+9 dB	not published	not published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+20 dB damping	+22 dB	not published	not published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+17 dB	+18 dB	not published	not published
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+11 dB damping	+11 dB	not published	not published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+10 dB	+11 dB	not published	not published
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+6 dB	+7 dB	not published	not published
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+2 dB damping	+5 dB	not published	not published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The IK Multimedia AXE I/O costs $101 more than the Arturia MiniFuse 4. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 510 more models left alone under the one-eighth rule.

It does not run one way only: the cheaper Arturia MiniFuse 4 drives one model to 100 dB that the IK Multimedia AXE I/O does not, which is the part worth checking against your own headphones before paying the difference.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.