ddHiFi TC35AL vs DUNU DTC 480

Short answer

  • More power: the ddHiFi TC35AL, with 210 mW into 32 Ω; the DUNU DTC 480 has 65 mW. The ddHiFi TC35AL drives 10 headphones to 100 dB that the DUNU DTC 480 cannot (HiFiMAN HE-6se V2, HiFiMAN HE6 Remastered, HiFiMAN Susvara, 7 more).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
  • Price: the ddHiFi TC35AL costs $24 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the DUNU DTC 480 shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are dongles, $46 against $70.

The ddHiFi TC35AL reaches 100 dB on 564 of the 567 models here, the DUNU DTC 480 on 554.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationddHiFi TC35ALDUNU DTC 480
Power into 32Ω210 mW65 mW
Power into 150Ω45 mW14 mW
Power into 300Ω22 mW6.9 mW
Power into 600Ω11 mW3.5 mW
Output impedancenot publishednot published
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$46$70
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
564554

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

BalancedddHiFi TC35ALDUNU DTC 480
Socketno separate rating4.4mm
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 TC35AL 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

LoadddHiFi TC35ALDUNU DTC 480
32 ΩPublishedPublished
150 ΩDerivedDerived
300 ΩDerivedDerived
600 ΩDerivedDerived

Both makers publish a power rating. ddHiFi TC35AL 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.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

10 headphones reach 100 dB on the ddHiFi TC35AL 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 and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Sennheiser HD 600: ddHiFi TC35AL 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 TC35AL and DUNU DTC 480 because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsddHiFi TC35AL headroomDUNU DTC 480 headroomddHiFi TC35AL hissDUNU DTC 480 hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+32 dB+27 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+12 dB+7 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+21 dB+16 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+16 dB+11 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+13 dB+8 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+10 dB+4 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+5 dB+0 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+3 dB-2 dBnot publishednot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The DUNU DTC 480 costs $24 more than the ddHiFi TC35AL, 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 TC35AL does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper ddHiFi TC35AL drives 10 models to 100 dB that the DUNU DTC 480 does not.

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

Both pages in full

Each in full: ddHiFi TC35AL and DUNU DTC 480.

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