EPZ TP50 vs Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti

Short answer

  • More power: the Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti, with 280 mW into 32 Ω; the EPZ TP50 has 121 mW. The Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti drives 4 headphones to 100 dB that the EPZ TP50 cannot (Moondrop COSMO, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios, 1 more).
  • Quieter with sensitive IEMs: the EPZ TP50. 1 headphone stays below audible hiss on it but not on the Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti (Tanchjim EA FORCE).
  • Price: the EPZ TP50 costs $20 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are dongles, $210 against $190.

The Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here, the EPZ TP50 on 561.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationEPZ TP50Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti
Power into 32Ω121 mW280 mW
Power into 150Ω26 mW79 mW
Power into 300Ω13 mW53 mW
Power into 600Ω6.5 mW26 mW
Output impedancenot publishednot published
Output noise1.0 µV1.5 µV
Price$210$190
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
561565

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

BalancedEPZ TP50Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti
Socket4.4mmno separate rating
Power into 32Ω240 mW—
Power into 300Ω26 mW derived—
Output impedancenot published—
Output noise1.0 µV—
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
565—

Only the EPZ TP50 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.

Where each power figure comes from

LoadEPZ TP50Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti
32 ΩPublishedPublished
150 ΩDerivedDerived
300 ΩDerivedPublished
600 ΩDerivedDerived

Both makers publish a power rating. EPZ TP50 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.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

4 headphones reach 100 dB on the Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti but not on the EPZ TP50 — Moondrop COSMO, Symphonium Crimson, Symphonium Helios, 1 more.

1 headphone stays below the audible-hiss threshold on the EPZ TP50 but crosses it on the Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti (Tanchjim EA FORCE).

561 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: Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti has +9 dB of headroom there against +3 dB. 6 dB is about 4.1 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

Hiss below about 20 dB SPL is inaudible in a quiet room.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsEPZ TP50 headroomMoondrop Moonriver 2 Ti headroomEPZ TP50 hissMoondrop Moonriver 2 Ti hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+29 dB+33 dB14 dB18 dB
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+9 dB+13 dB-6 dB-2 dB
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+18 dB+22 dB-7 dB-4 dB
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+14 dB+20 dB-12 dB-8 dB
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+11 dB+14 dB-13 dB-9 dB
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+7 dB+13 dB-19 dB-15 dB
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+3 dB+9 dB-23 dB-19 dB
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+1 dB+5 dB-25 dB-21 dB

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The EPZ TP50 costs $20 more than the Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 1 more model kept below the audible-hiss threshold.

It does not run one way only: the cheaper Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti drives 4 models to 100 dB that the EPZ TP50 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

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