iBasso DX270 vs Lotoo PAW 6000

Short answer

More power: the iBasso DX270, with 416 mW into 32 Ω; the Lotoo PAW 6000 has 300 mW (balanced: 1.58 W against 300 mW). The iBasso DX270 drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the Lotoo PAW 6000 cannot (Moondrop PARA).
Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the iBasso DX270 publishes no noise figure.
Price: the iBasso DX270 costs $51 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the Lotoo PAW 6000 shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are portable players, $1149 against $1200.

The iBasso DX270 reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here, the Lotoo PAW 6000 on 565.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

Specification	iBasso DX270	Lotoo PAW 6000
Power into 32Ω	416 mW	300 mW
Power into 150Ω	89 mW	64 mW
Power into 300Ω	44 mW	32 mW
Power into 600Ω	22 mW	16 mW
Output impedance	0.5 Ω	not published
Output noise	not published	0.975 µV
Price	$1149	$1200
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	566	565

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

Balanced output

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

Balanced	iBasso DX270	Lotoo PAW 6000
Socket	4.4mm	4.4mm
Power into 32Ω	1.6 W	300 mW
Power into 300Ω	168 mW derived	32 mW derived
Output impedance	0.7 Ω	not published
Output noise	not published	0.775 µV
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	567	565

Through the balanced sockets the iBasso DX270 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here and the Lotoo PAW 6000 on 565. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

Load	iBasso DX270	Lotoo PAW 6000
32 Ω	Published	Published
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Derived	Derived
600 Ω	Derived	Derived

Both makers publish a power rating. iBasso DX270 publishes at 32 Ω; Lotoo PAW 6000 at 32 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

The two publish at the same loads, which is the one case where the rows of this table can be read straight across.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the iBasso DX270 but not on the Lotoo PAW 6000 — Moondrop PARA.

565 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

On real headphones

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Audio-Technica ATH-R70X: iBasso DX270 has +13 dB of headroom there against +11 dB. 1 dB is about 1.4 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for iBasso DX270 because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	iBasso DX270 headroom	Lotoo PAW 6000 headroom	iBasso DX270 hiss	Lotoo PAW 6000 hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+35 dB	+33 dB	not published	14 dB
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+15 dB	+13 dB	not published	-6 dB
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+24 dB	+22 dB	not published	-8 dB
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+19 dB	+18 dB	not published	-12 dB
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+16 dB	+15 dB	not published	-13 dB
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+13 dB	+11 dB	not published	-19 dB
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+8 dB	+7 dB	not published	-23 dB
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+6 dB	+5 dB	not published	-25 dB

What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Lotoo PAW 6000 costs $51 more than the iBasso DX270, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the Lotoo PAW 6000 handles and the iBasso DX270 does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper iBasso DX270 drives one model to 100 dB that the Lotoo PAW 6000 does not.

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

Both pages in full

Each in full: iBasso DX270 and Lotoo PAW 6000.

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