FiiO Q15 vs xDuoo XD05 Bal

Both are portable amplifiers, $440 against $499.

The FiiO Q15 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the xDuoo XD05 Bal on 566.

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Through the balanced sockets the FiiO Q15 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here and the xDuoo XD05 Bal on 566. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

Both makers publish a power rating. FiiO Q15 publishes at 32 Ω and at 300 Ω; xDuoo XD05 Bal 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 Q15 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What the labels mean.

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the FiiO Q15 but not on the xDuoo XD05 Bal — Symphonium Titan.

566 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 HiFiMAN Susvara: xDuoo XD05 Bal has +10 dB of headroom there against +8 dB. 2 dB is about 1.6 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for xDuoo XD05 Bal because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

The xDuoo XD05 Bal costs $59 more than the FiiO Q15, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the xDuoo XD05 Bal handles and the FiiO Q15 does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper FiiO Q15 drives one model to 100 dB that the xDuoo XD05 Bal does not.

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

Each in full: FiiO Q15 and xDuoo XD05 Bal.