Both are audio interfaces, $299 against $400. 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 Arturia MiniFuse 4 reaches 100 dB on 562 of the 567 models here, the IK Multimedia AXE I/O on 561.
| 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 |
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.
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. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.
Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: Arturia MiniFuse 4 and IK Multimedia AXE I/O. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.