Short answer
Both are dongles, $160 against $190.
The Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here, the ddHiFi TC44Grip on 557.
| Specification | ddHiFi TC44Grip | Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 80 mW | 280 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 17 mW | 79 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 8.5 mW | 53 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 4.3 mW | 26 mW |
| Output impedance | not published | not published |
| Output noise | not published | 1.5 µV |
| Price | $160 | $190 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 557 | 565 |
Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.
| Balanced | ddHiFi TC44Grip | Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti |
|---|---|---|
| Socket | 4.4mm | no separate rating |
| Power into 32Ω | 330 mW | — |
| Power into 300Ω | 35 mW derived | — |
| Output impedance | not published | — |
| Output noise | not published | — |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 565 | — |
Only the ddHiFi TC44Grip has a separate balanced rating from its maker; through it, it reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here. The Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti 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 TC44Grip | Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti |
|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | Published | Published |
| 150 Ω | Derived | Derived |
| 300 Ω | Derived | Published |
| 600 Ω | Derived | Derived |
Both makers publish a power rating. ddHiFi TC44Grip publishes at 32 Ω; Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.
So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω only the Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.
8 headphones reach 100 dB on the Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti but not on the ddHiFi TC44Grip — HiFiMAN Susvara, Moondrop COSMO, Moondrop PARA 2, 5 more.
557 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: Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti has +9 dB of headroom there against +1 dB. 8 dB is about 6.2 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.
The hiss columns are empty for ddHiFi TC44Grip because that maker publishes no output noise figure.
| Headphone | Impedance | Needs | ddHiFi TC44Grip headroom | Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti headroom | ddHiFi TC44Grip hiss | Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti hiss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 0.04 mW | +28 dB | +33 dB | not published | 18 dB |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 4.0 mW | +8 dB | +13 dB | not published | -2 dB |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 0.79 mW | +17 dB | +22 dB | not published | -4 dB |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 0.63 mW | +12 dB | +20 dB | not published | -8 dB |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 7.9 mW | +9 dB | +14 dB | not published | -9 dB |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 1.6 mW | +5 dB | +13 dB | not published | -15 dB |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 6.6 mW | +1 dB | +9 dB | not published | -19 dB |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 50 mW | -1 dB | +5 dB | not published | -21 dB |
The Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti costs $30 more than the ddHiFi TC44Grip. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 8 more models driven to 100 dB.
Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.
Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.
Each in full: ddHiFi TC44Grip and Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti.