Short answer
Both are dongles, $46 against $70.
The ddHiFi TC35Air reaches 100 dB on 564 of the 567 models here, the DUNU DTC 480 on 554.
| Specification | ddHiFi TC35Air | DUNU DTC 480 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 210 mW | 65 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 45 mW | 14 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 22 mW | 6.9 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 11 mW | 3.5 mW |
| Output impedance | not published | not published |
| Output noise | not published | not published |
| Price | $46 | $70 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 564 | 554 |
Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.
| Balanced | ddHiFi TC35Air | DUNU DTC 480 |
|---|---|---|
| Socket | no separate rating | 4.4mm |
| Power into 32Ω | — | 150 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | — | 16 mW derived |
| Output impedance | — | not published |
| Output noise | — | not published |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | — | 563 |
Only the DUNU DTC 480 has a separate balanced rating from its maker; through it, it reaches 100 dB on 563 of the 567 models here. The ddHiFi TC35Air 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.
| Load | ddHiFi TC35Air | DUNU DTC 480 |
|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | Published | Published |
| 150 Ω | Derived | Derived |
| 300 Ω | Derived | Derived |
| 600 Ω | Derived | Derived |
Both makers publish a power rating. ddHiFi TC35Air publishes at 32 Ω; DUNU DTC 480 at 32 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.
The two publish at the same loads, which is the one case where the rows of this table can be read straight across.
10 headphones reach 100 dB on the ddHiFi TC35Air but not on the DUNU DTC 480 — HiFiMAN HE-6se V2, HiFiMAN HE6 Remastered, HiFiMAN Susvara, 7 more.
554 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.
Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.
The widest gap on the list is the Sennheiser HD 600: ddHiFi TC35Air has +5 dB of headroom there against +0 dB. 5 dB is about 3.2 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.
The hiss columns are empty for ddHiFi TC35Air and DUNU DTC 480 because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.
| Headphone | Impedance | Needs | ddHiFi TC35Air headroom | DUNU DTC 480 headroom | ddHiFi TC35Air hiss | DUNU DTC 480 hiss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 0.04 mW | +32 dB | +27 dB | not published | not published |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 4.0 mW | +12 dB | +7 dB | not published | not published |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 0.79 mW | +21 dB | +16 dB | not published | not published |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 0.63 mW | +16 dB | +11 dB | not published | not published |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 7.9 mW | +13 dB | +8 dB | not published | not published |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 1.6 mW | +10 dB | +4 dB | not published | not published |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 6.6 mW | +5 dB | +0 dB | not published | not published |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 50 mW | +3 dB | -2 dB | not published | not published |
The DUNU DTC 480 costs $24 more than the ddHiFi TC35Air, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the DUNU DTC 480 handles and the ddHiFi TC35Air does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper ddHiFi TC35Air drives 10 models to 100 dB that the DUNU DTC 480 does not.
Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.
Each in full: ddHiFi TC35Air and DUNU DTC 480.