Focusrite Vocaster Two vs Steinberg UR22C

Short answer

  • More power: the Focusrite Vocaster Two, with 27 mW into 32 Ω; the Steinberg UR22C has 12 mW. The Focusrite Vocaster Two drives 38 headphones to 100 dB that the Steinberg UR22C cannot (AKG K612 Pro, Abyss AB-1266 Phi CC, Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC, 35 more).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
  • Price: the Focusrite Vocaster Two costs $51 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are audio interfaces, $250 against $199.

The Focusrite Vocaster Two reaches 100 dB on 550 of the 567 models here, the Steinberg UR22C on 512.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationFocusrite Vocaster TwoSteinberg UR22C
Power into 32Ω27 mW12 mW
Power into 150Ω10 mW4.0 mW
Power into 300Ω7.7 mW2.0 mW
Power into 600Ω3.8 mW1.0 mW
Output impedancenot publishednot published
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$250$199
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
550512

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

Where each power figure comes from

LoadFocusrite Vocaster TwoSteinberg UR22C
32 ΩDerivedDerived
150 ΩDerivedDerived
300 ΩDerivedDerived
600 ΩDerivedDerived

Neither column is a maker’s power rating at these loads. Of the 280 sources here, 209 publish a figure at at least one load; these two do not, so every row above is derived — between or beyond the loads each maker did publish, holding output voltage as the maker’s own figures imply. The method understates rather than flatters, but it is still arithmetic rather than a rating.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

38 headphones reach 100 dB on the Focusrite Vocaster Two but not on the Steinberg UR22C — AKG K612 Pro, Abyss AB-1266 Phi CC, Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC, 35 more.

512 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: Focusrite Vocaster Two has +1 dB of headroom there against -5 dB. 6 dB is about 3.8 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Focusrite Vocaster Two and Steinberg UR22C because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsFocusrite Vocaster Two headroomSteinberg UR22C headroomFocusrite Vocaster Two hissSteinberg UR22C hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+23 dB+19 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+3 dB-1 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+13 dB+10 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+11 dB+6 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+4 dB+1 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+5 dB-1 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+1 dB-5 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW-5 dB-7 dBnot publishednot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Focusrite Vocaster Two costs $51 more than the Steinberg UR22C. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 38 more models driven to 100 dB.

Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.

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

Both pages in full

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