Both are audio interfaces, $249 against $229. 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 2 MkII reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here, the Audient EVO 8 on 543.
| Specification | Audient EVO 8 | SSL 2 MkII |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 22 mW | 374 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 14 mW | 80 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 11 mW | 40 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 10 mW | 20 mW |
| Output impedance | 50 Ω | 1 Ω |
| Output noise | not published | not published |
| Price | $249 | $229 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 543 | 565 |
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.
22 headphones reach 100 dB on the SSL 2 MkII but not on the Audient EVO 8 — Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed, Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire, Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Open, 19 more.
546 headphones are left alone by the SSL 2 MkII under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Audient EVO 8 (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Ocean, 543 more).
543 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 8 and SSL 2 MkII. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.