Lotoo PAW 6000 vs Sony NW-WM1AM2

Short answer

  • More power: the Lotoo PAW 6000, with 300 mW into 32 Ω; the Sony NW-WM1AM2 has 30 mW (balanced: 300 mW against 125 mW). The Lotoo PAW 6000 drives 13 headphones to 100 dB that the Sony NW-WM1AM2 cannot (Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω), Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition (600Ω), HiFiMAN HE-6se V2, 10 more).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: no headphone here hisses audibly on one and not on the other.
  • Price: the Lotoo PAW 6000 costs $199 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the Sony NW-WM1AM2 shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are portable players, $1200 against $1399.

The Lotoo PAW 6000 reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here, the Sony NW-WM1AM2 on 552.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationLotoo PAW 6000Sony NW-WM1AM2
Power into 32Ω300 mW30 mW
Power into 150Ω64 mW6.4 mW
Power into 300Ω32 mW3.2 mW
Power into 600Ω16 mW1.6 mW
Output impedancenot published1 Ω unverified
Output noise0.975 µV3 µV unverified
Price$1200$1399
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
565552

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

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

BalancedLotoo PAW 6000Sony NW-WM1AM2
Socket4.4mm4.4mm
Power into 32Ω300 mW125 mW derived
Power into 300Ω32 mW derived13 mW derived
Output impedancenot publishednot published
Output noise0.775 µVnot published
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
565561

Through the balanced sockets the Lotoo PAW 6000 reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here and the Sony NW-WM1AM2 on 561. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

Where each power figure comes from

LoadLotoo PAW 6000Sony NW-WM1AM2
32 ΩPublishedDerived
150 ΩDerivedDerived
300 ΩDerivedDerived
600 ΩDerivedDerived

Only one of these two columns starts from a power rating. Lotoo PAW 6000 publishes one at 32 Ω; Sony NW-WM1AM2 publishes none at any of these four loads, so its column is worked out from power it published at other loads. Both are arithmetic on a maker’s own figures rather than guesses, and the method used for the Sony NW-WM1AM2 understates rather than flatters — but at 32 Ω is the only load here at which its maker can be held to a figure.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

13 headphones reach 100 dB on the Lotoo PAW 6000 but not on the Sony NW-WM1AM2 — Beyerdynamic DT 880 Edition (600Ω), Beyerdynamic DT 990 Edition (600Ω), HiFiMAN HE-6se V2, 10 more.

552 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 Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω): Lotoo PAW 6000 has +18 dB of headroom there against +8 dB. 10 dB is about 10 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Sony NW-WM1AM2 because that maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsLotoo PAW 6000 headroomSony NW-WM1AM2 headroomLotoo PAW 6000 hissSony NW-WM1AM2 hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+33 dB+29 dB14 dBnot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+13 dB+9 dB-6 dBnot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+22 dB+12 dB-8 dBnot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+18 dB+8 dB-12 dBnot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+15 dB+7 dB-13 dBnot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+11 dB+1 dB-19 dBnot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+7 dB-3 dB-23 dBnot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+5 dB-5 dB-25 dBnot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The Sony NW-WM1AM2 costs $199 more than the Lotoo PAW 6000, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the Sony NW-WM1AM2 handles and the Lotoo PAW 6000 does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper Lotoo PAW 6000 drives 13 models to 100 dB that the Sony NW-WM1AM2 does not.

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

Both pages in full

Each in full: Lotoo PAW 6000 and Sony NW-WM1AM2.

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