Audient ORIA vs RME ADI-2 Pro FS R

Short answer

  • More power: the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R, with 2.97 W into 32 Ω; the Audient ORIA has 979 mW. The RME ADI-2 Pro FS R drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the Audient ORIA cannot (Symphonium Titan).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the Audient ORIA publishes no noise figure.
  • Output impedance: 561 headphones are left alone by the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Audient ORIA (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Nio, 558 more).
  • Price: the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R costs $1301 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the Audient ORIA shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are audio interfaces, $3500 against $2199.

The RME ADI-2 Pro FS R reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Audient ORIA on 566.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationAudient ORIARME ADI-2 Pro FS R
Power into 32Ω979 mW3.0 W
Power into 150Ω385 mW634 mW
Power into 300Ω210 mW317 mW
Power into 600Ω123 mW158 mW
Output impedance50 Ω0.1 Ω
Output noisenot published2.18 µV
Price$3500$2199
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
566567

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

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

BalancedAudient ORIARME ADI-2 Pro FS R
Socketno separate ratingbalanced
Power into 32Ω—11.8 W derived
Power into 300Ω—1.3 W derived
Output impedance—0.2 Ω
Output noise—not published
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
—567

Only the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R has a separate balanced rating from its maker; through it, it reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here. The Audient ORIA may still have a balanced socket — its spec sheet simply gives no figure for one, so there is nothing to put beside it. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

Where each power figure comes from

LoadAudient ORIARME ADI-2 Pro FS R
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 ORIA publishes a power rating (at 600 Ω); RME ADI-2 Pro FS R 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 ADI-2 Pro FS R’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 ADI-2 Pro FS R 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 RME ADI-2 Pro FS R but not on the Audient ORIA — Symphonium Titan.

561 headphones are left alone by the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Audient ORIA (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Nio, 558 more).

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 Shure SE846: RME ADI-2 Pro FS R has +43 dB of headroom there against +39 dB. 4 dB is about 2.8 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

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

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsAudient ORIA headroomRME ADI-2 Pro FS R headroomAudient ORIA hissRME ADI-2 Pro FS R hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+39 dB damping+43 dBnot published21 dB
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+19 dB damping+23 dBnot published1 dB
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+30 dB damping+32 dBnot published-1 dB
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+26 dB damping+28 dBnot published-5 dB
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+20 dB damping+25 dBnot published-6 dB
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+20 dB+21 dBnot published-12 dB
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+15 dB damping+17 dBnot published-16 dB
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+13 dB damping+15 dBnot published-18 dB

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Audient ORIA costs $1301 more than the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the Audient ORIA handles and the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper RME ADI-2 Pro FS R drives one model to 100 dB and leaves 561 alone under the one-eighth rule that the Audient ORIA does not.

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

Both pages in full

Each in full: Audient ORIA and RME ADI-2 Pro FS R.

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