Audient Horizon 8P vs Lynx Aurora(n)

Short answer

  • More power: the Lynx Aurora(n), with 1.30 W into 32 Ω; the Audient Horizon 8P has 986 mW. The Lynx Aurora(n) drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the Audient Horizon 8P cannot (Symphonium Titan).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
  • Price: the Lynx Aurora(n) costs $1 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the Audient Horizon 8P shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are audio interfaces, $3500 against $3499.

The Lynx Aurora(n) reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Audient Horizon 8P on 566.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationAudient Horizon 8PLynx Aurora(n)
Power into 32Ω986 mW1.3 W
Power into 150Ω278 mW277 mW
Power into 300Ω140 mW138 mW
Power into 600Ω71 mW69 mW
Output impedance10 Ωnot published
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$3500$3499
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
566567

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

Where each power figure comes from

LoadAudient Horizon 8PLynx Aurora(n)
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 Horizon 8P publishes a power rating (at 600 Ω); Lynx Aurora(n) 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 Lynx Aurora(n)’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 Lynx Aurora(n) 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

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the Lynx Aurora(n) but not on the Audient Horizon 8P — Symphonium Titan.

566 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: Lynx Aurora(n) has +21 dB of headroom there against +20 dB. 1 dB is about 1.2 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Audient Horizon 8P and Lynx Aurora(n) because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsAudient Horizon 8P headroomLynx Aurora(n) headroomAudient Horizon 8P hissLynx Aurora(n) hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+39 dB damping+40 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+19 dB damping+20 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+29 dB damping+29 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+24 dB+24 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+20 dB damping+21 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+18 dB+17 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+13 dB+13 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+11 dB damping+11 dBnot publishednot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Audient Horizon 8P costs $1 more than the Lynx Aurora(n), and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the Audient Horizon 8P handles and the Lynx Aurora(n) does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper Lynx Aurora(n) drives one model to 100 dB that the Audient Horizon 8P does not.

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

Both pages in full

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