Audient EVO 16 vs RME Babyface Pro FS

Short answer

  • More power: the RME Babyface Pro FS, with 374 mW into 32 Ω; the Audient EVO 16 has 87 mW. The RME Babyface Pro FS drives 7 headphones to 100 dB that the Audient EVO 16 cannot (Moondrop COSMO, Moondrop PARA 2, Moondrop VENUS, 4 more).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the Audient EVO 16 publishes no noise figure.
  • Output impedance: 51 headphones are left alone by the RME Babyface Pro FS under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Audient EVO 16 (AKG K612 Pro, Audeze LCD-3, Audeze LCD-4, 48 more).
  • Price: the RME Babyface Pro FS costs $149 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are audio interfaces, $750 against $899.

The RME Babyface Pro FS reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here, the Audient EVO 16 on 558.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationAudient EVO 16RME Babyface Pro FS
Power into 32Ω87 mW374 mW
Power into 150Ω49 mW80 mW
Power into 300Ω32 mW40 mW
Power into 600Ω24 mW20 mW
Output impedance50 Ω10 Ω
Output noisenot published6.3 µV
Price$750$899
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
558565

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

Where each power figure comes from

LoadAudient EVO 16RME Babyface Pro FS
32 ΩDerivedUpper bound
150 ΩDerivedUpper bound
300 ΩDerivedUpper bound
600 ΩPublishedUpper bound

These two columns are not the same kind of number, and that matters more than the gap between them. Audient EVO 16 publishes a power rating (at 600 Ω); RME Babyface Pro FS publishes no power figure at any load, only a maximum output voltage, so every milliwatt in its column is a ceiling worked out from that voltage.

A ceiling assumes the amplifier holds that voltage into the load, and nothing on RME Babyface Pro FS’s own sheet says it does. It is the most flattering reading available, and it is used here only because the alternative is a blank. Where the RME Babyface Pro FS column looks the stronger of the two, treat the difference as unproven rather than measured. 24 of the 280 sources here are in that position, with no published power rating at any load.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

7 headphones reach 100 dB on the RME Babyface Pro FS but not on the Audient EVO 16 — Moondrop COSMO, Moondrop PARA 2, Moondrop VENUS, 4 more.

51 headphones are left alone by the RME Babyface Pro FS under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Audient EVO 16 (AKG K612 Pro, Audeze LCD-3, Audeze LCD-4, 48 more).

558 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 HE400se: RME Babyface Pro FS has +16 dB of headroom there against +10 dB. 6 dB is about 4.1 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Audient EVO 16 because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsAudient EVO 16 headroomRME Babyface Pro FS headroomAudient EVO 16 hissRME Babyface Pro FS hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+28 dB damping+34 dB dampingnot published30 dB
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+8 dB damping+14 dB dampingnot published10 dB
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+21 dB damping+23 dB dampingnot published9 dB
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+17 dB damping+19 dBnot published4 dB
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+10 dB damping+16 dB dampingnot published3 dB
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+12 dB+12 dBnot published-3 dB
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+7 dB damping+8 dBnot published-7 dB
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+3 dB damping+6 dB dampingnot published-9 dB

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The RME Babyface Pro FS costs $149 more than the Audient EVO 16. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 7 more models driven to 100 dB and 51 more models left alone under the one-eighth rule.

Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.

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

Both pages in full

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