Short answer
Both are dongles, $29 against $22.
The FiiO KA11 reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here, the FiiO SnowSky Tiny A on 550.
| Specification | FiiO KA11 | FiiO SnowSky Tiny A |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 200 mW | 34 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 43 mW | 7.3 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 22 mW | 3.6 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 11 mW | 1.8 mW |
| Output impedance | 0.7 Ω | 0.5 Ω |
| Output noise | 1.7 µV | not published |
| Price | $29 | $22 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 566 | 550 |
Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.
| As published | FiiO KA11 | FiiO SnowSky Tiny A |
|---|---|---|
| Outputs | 3.5 mm | 3.5 mm |
| Connection | USB-C or Lightning (separate editions), attached cable | Direct plug-in USB-C (no cable); extra USB-C charging port for listen-and-charge |
| Formats | PCM 384 kHz/32-bit, DSD256 | PCM 384 kHz/32-bit, DSD256 |
| Microphone | No in-line microphone support | In-line controls and call recording supported |
| Weight | 8.5 g | not published |
| Dimensions | About 44.5 x 9.7 x 10.5 mm; cable about 65.5 mm | not published |
Copied from the makers’ own pages: jadeaudio.com/details, fiio.com/tiny. Battery life is the maker’s own test figure.
| Load | FiiO KA11 | FiiO SnowSky Tiny A |
|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | Published | Published |
| 150 Ω | Derived | Derived |
| 300 Ω | Published | Derived |
| 600 Ω | Derived | Derived |
Both makers publish a power rating. FiiO KA11 publishes at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω; FiiO SnowSky Tiny A at 32 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 FiiO KA11 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.
16 headphones reach 100 dB on the FiiO KA11 but not on the FiiO SnowSky Tiny A — Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω), Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition (600Ω), HiFiMAN HE-6se V2, 13 more.
3 headphones are left alone by the FiiO SnowSky Tiny A under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the FiiO KA11 (Campfire Audio Chimera, Moondrop Armature Art 12, Softears Volume).
550 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: FiiO KA11 has +5 dB of headroom there against -3 dB. 8 dB is about 6.1 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.
The hiss columns are empty for FiiO SnowSky Tiny A because that maker publishes no output noise figure.
| Headphone | Impedance | Needs | FiiO KA11 headroom | FiiO SnowSky Tiny A headroom | FiiO KA11 hiss | FiiO SnowSky Tiny A hiss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 0.04 mW | +35 dB | +28 dB | 19 dB | not published |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 4.0 mW | +15 dB | +8 dB | -1 dB | not published |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 0.79 mW | +21 dB | +13 dB | -3 dB | not published |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 0.63 mW | +16 dB | +8 dB | -7 dB | not published |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 7.9 mW | +14 dB | +7 dB | -8 dB | not published |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 1.6 mW | +9 dB | +2 dB | -14 dB | not published |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 6.6 mW | +5 dB | -3 dB | -18 dB | not published |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 50 mW | +3 dB | -4 dB | -20 dB | not published |
The FiiO KA11 costs $7 more than the FiiO SnowSky Tiny A. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 16 more models driven to 100 dB.
It does not run one way only: the cheaper FiiO SnowSky Tiny A leaves 3 models alone under the one-eighth rule that the FiiO KA11 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.
Each in full: FiiO KA11 and FiiO SnowSky Tiny A.