EarMen Colibri vs iBasso DC07 Pro

Short answer

  • More power: the iBasso DC07 Pro, with 118 mW into 32 Ω; the EarMen Colibri has 75 mW (balanced: 430 mW against 280 mW). The EarMen Colibri drives 4 headphones to 100 dB that the iBasso DC07 Pro cannot (Moondrop COSMO, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios, 1 more). The iBasso DC07 Pro drives 2 headphones to 100 dB that the EarMen Colibri cannot (HiFiMAN Susvara, Moondrop SKYLAND).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
  • Price: the EarMen Colibri costs $100 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are dongles, $299 against $199.

The EarMen Colibri reaches 100 dB on 563 of the 567 models here, the iBasso DC07 Pro on 561.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationEarMen ColibriiBasso DC07 Pro
Power into 32Ω75 mW118 mW
Power into 150Ω16 mW25 mW
Power into 300Ω8.0 mW13 mW
Power into 600Ω4.0 mW6.3 mW
Output impedancenot publishednot published
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$299$199
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
563561

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

BalancedEarMen ColibriiBasso DC07 Pro
Socket4.4mm4.4mm
Power into 32Ω280 mW430 mW
Power into 300Ω30 mW derived46 mW derived
Output impedancenot publishednot published
Output noisenot publishednot published
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
565566

Through the balanced sockets the iBasso DC07 Pro reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here and the EarMen Colibri on 565. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

Where each power figure comes from

LoadEarMen ColibriiBasso DC07 Pro
32 ΩPublishedPublished
150 ΩDerivedDerived
300 ΩDerivedDerived
600 ΩDerivedDerived

Both makers publish a power rating. EarMen Colibri publishes at 32 Ω; iBasso DC07 Pro 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

4 headphones reach 100 dB on the EarMen Colibri but not on the iBasso DC07 Pro — Moondrop COSMO, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios, 1 more.

2 headphones reach 100 dB on the iBasso DC07 Pro but not on the EarMen Colibri — HiFiMAN Susvara, Moondrop SKYLAND.

559 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 Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020: EarMen Colibri has +13 dB of headroom there against +9 dB. 4 dB is about 2.5 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for EarMen Colibri and iBasso DC07 Pro because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsEarMen Colibri headroomiBasso DC07 Pro headroomEarMen Colibri hissiBasso DC07 Pro hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+33 dB+29 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+13 dB+9 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+16 dB+18 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+12 dB+14 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+11 dB+11 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+5 dB+7 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+1 dB+3 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW-1 dB+1 dBnot publishednot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The EarMen Colibri costs $100 more than the iBasso DC07 Pro. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 4 more models driven to 100 dB.

It does not run one way only: the cheaper iBasso DC07 Pro drives 2 models to 100 dB that the EarMen Colibri does not, which is the part worth checking against your own headphones before paying the difference.

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

Both pages in full

Each in full: EarMen Colibri and iBasso DC07 Pro.

↑