Arturia MiniFuse 4 vs MOTU M4

Short answer

  • More power: the MOTU M4, with 333 mW into 32 Ω; the Arturia MiniFuse 4 has 139 mW. The MOTU M4 drives 3 headphones to 100 dB that the Arturia MiniFuse 4 cannot (Moondrop COSMO, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
  • Price: the MOTU M4 costs $20 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the Arturia MiniFuse 4 shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are audio interfaces, $299 against $279.

The MOTU M4 reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here, the Arturia MiniFuse 4 on 562.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationArturia MiniFuse 4MOTU M4
Power into 32Ω139 mW333 mW
Power into 150Ω45 mW71 mW
Power into 300Ω24 mW36 mW
Power into 600Ω12 mW18 mW
Output impedance10 Ωnot published
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$299$279
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567		562565

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

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

LoadArturia MiniFuse 4MOTU M4
32 ΩDerivedUpper bound
150 ΩDerivedUpper bound
300 ΩDerivedUpper bound
600 ΩDerivedUpper bound

Neither column is a power rating, and the two are not even weak in the same way. The MOTU M4 figures are ceilings worked out from a maximum output voltage, on the assumption that the amplifier holds it into the load. The Arturia MiniFuse 4 figures are worked out from figures its maker did publish — power at other loads, or the voltage printed beside it. The second method understates; the first flatters. That is the wrong way round for reading the table straight across, so a gap in favour of the MOTU M4 is the one to doubt.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

3 headphones reach 100 dB on the MOTU M4 but not on the Arturia MiniFuse 4 — Moondrop COSMO, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios.

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

On real headphones

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 HE400se: MOTU M4 has +15 dB of headroom there against +11 dB. 4 dB is about 2.4 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 MOTU M4 because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsArturia MiniFuse 4 headroomMOTU M4 headroomArturia MiniFuse 4 hissMOTU M4 hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+30 dB damping+34 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+10 dB damping+14 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+20 dB damping+23 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+17 dB+18 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+11 dB damping+15 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+10 dB+12 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+6 dB+7 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+2 dB damping+5 dBnot publishednot published
What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Arturia MiniFuse 4 costs $20 more than the MOTU M4, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the Arturia MiniFuse 4 handles and the MOTU M4 does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper MOTU M4 drives 3 models to 100 dB that the Arturia MiniFuse 4 does not.

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

Next

Both pages in full

Each in full: Arturia MiniFuse 4 and MOTU M4.

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