Both are audio interfaces, $750 against $599. 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 SSL 12 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Audient EVO 16 on 558.
| Specification | Audient EVO 16 | SSL 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 87 mW | 1.2 W |
| Power into 150Ω | 49 mW | 252 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 32 mW | 126 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 24 mW | 63 mW |
| Output impedance | 50 Ω | 1 Ω |
| Output noise | not published | not published |
| Price | $750 | $599 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 558 | 567 |
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.
9 headphones reach 100 dB on the SSL 12 but not on the Audient EVO 16 — Moondrop COSMO, Moondrop PARA, Moondrop PARA 2, 6 more.
546 headphones are left alone by the SSL 12 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Audient EVO 16 (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Ocean, 543 more).
558 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: Audient EVO 16 and SSL 12. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.