FiiO K19 vs Violectric V226: Which Drives More Headphones?

FiiO K19 vs Violectric V226

Short answer

Power: about the same. The FiiO K19 has 2.30 W into 32 Ω, the Violectric V226 2.20 W (balanced: 8.00 W and 2.20 W). Both drive 567 of the 567 non-electrostatic headphones here to 100 dB, so on that test the difference changes nothing.
Quieter with sensitive IEMs: the FiiO K19. 72 headphones stay below audible hiss on it but not on the Violectric V226 (64 Audio Nio, 64 Audio U12t, 64 Audio U18s, 69 more).
Output impedance: 1 headphone is left alone by the Violectric V226 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the FiiO K19 (Symphonium Titan).
Price: the Violectric V226 costs $170 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are desktop DAC/amps, $1430 against $1600.

On raw power they are level: each reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 non-electrostatic models here.

Specification	FiiO K19	Violectric V226
Power into 32Ω	2.3 W	2.2 W
Power into 150Ω	512 mW	2.6 W
Power into 300Ω	270 mW	1.8 W
Power into 600Ω	135 mW	900 mW
Output impedance	0.6 Ω	0.25 Ω
Output noise	3.5 µV	6.15 µV
Price	$1430	$1600
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	567	567

Specification

FiiO K19

Violectric V226

Power into 32Ω

2.3 W

2.2 W

Power into 150Ω

512 mW

2.6 W

Power into 300Ω

270 mW

1.8 W

Power into 600Ω

135 mW

900 mW

Output impedance

0.6 Ω

0.25 Ω

Output noise

3.5 µV

6.15 µV

Price

$1430

$1600

Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567

567

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

Balanced	FiiO K19	Violectric V226
Socket	4.4mm / XLR4	balanced
Power into 32Ω	8.0 W	2.2 W
Power into 300Ω	1.1 W	1.8 W
Output impedance	0.6 Ω	0.5 Ω
Output noise	6.0 µV	6.15 µV
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	567	567

Through the balanced sockets the two are level on the same test: each reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here.

Where each power figure comes from

Load	FiiO K19	Violectric V226
32 Ω	Published	Published
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Published	Published
600 Ω	Derived	Published

Both makers publish a power rating. FiiO K19 publishes at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω; Violectric V226 at 32 Ω, at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 600 Ω only the Violectric V226 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

On power they are interchangeable across this whole database: there is no headphone here that one reaches 100 dB on and the other does not.

1 headphone is left alone by the Violectric V226 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the FiiO K19 (Symphonium Titan).

72 headphones stay below the audible-hiss threshold on the FiiO K19 but cross it on the Violectric V226 (64 Audio Nio, 64 Audio U12t, 64 Audio U18s, 69 more).

567 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: Violectric V226 has +24 dB of headroom there against +16 dB. 8 dB is about 6.7 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.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	FiiO K19 headroom	Violectric V226 headroom	FiiO K19 hiss	Violectric V226 hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+48 dB	+43 dB	25 dB	30 dB
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+28 dB	+23 dB	5 dB	10 dB
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+31 dB	+36 dB	3 dB	8 dB
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+27 dB	+35 dB	-1 dB	4 dB
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+25 dB	+24 dB	-2 dB	3 dB
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+20 dB	+29 dB	-8 dB	-3 dB
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+16 dB	+24 dB	-12 dB	-7 dB
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+14 dB	+18 dB	-14 dB	-9 dB

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Violectric V226 costs $170 more than the FiiO K19. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 1 more model left alone under the one-eighth rule.

It does not run one way only: the cheaper FiiO K19 keeps 72 models below the audible-hiss threshold that the Violectric V226 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.