Merging Anubis vs RME Fireface UFX II

Short answer

  • More power: the Merging Anubis, with 961 mW into 32 Ω; the RME Fireface UFX II has 200 mW. The Merging Anubis drives 2 headphones to 100 dB that the RME Fireface UFX II cannot (Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Crimson).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
  • Output impedance: 89 headphones are left alone by the Merging Anubis under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the RME Fireface UFX II (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Nio, 86 more).
  • Price: the Merging Anubis costs $9 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the RME Fireface UFX II shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are audio interfaces, $2790 against $2799.

The Merging Anubis reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here, the RME Fireface UFX II on 564.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationMerging AnubisRME Fireface UFX II
Power into 32Ω961 mW200 mW
Power into 150Ω205 mW43 mW
Power into 300Ω103 mW21 mW
Power into 600Ω51 mW11 mW
Output impedance0.035 Ω2 Ω
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$2790$2799
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
566564

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

Where each power figure comes from

LoadMerging AnubisRME Fireface UFX II
32 ΩUpper boundPublished
150 ΩUpper boundDerived
300 ΩUpper boundDerived
600 ΩUpper boundDerived

These two columns are not the same kind of number, and that matters more than the gap between them. RME Fireface UFX II publishes a power rating (at 32 Ω); Merging Anubis publishes no power figure at any load, only a maximum output voltage, so every milliwatt in its column is a ceiling worked out from that voltage.

A ceiling assumes the amplifier holds that voltage into the load, and nothing on Merging Anubis’s own sheet says it does. It is the most flattering reading available, and it is used here only because the alternative is a blank. Where the Merging Anubis column looks the stronger of the two, treat the difference as unproven rather than measured. 24 of the 280 sources here are in that position, with no published power rating at any load.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

2 headphones reach 100 dB on the Merging Anubis but not on the RME Fireface UFX II — Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Crimson.

89 headphones are left alone by the Merging Anubis under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the RME Fireface UFX II (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Nio, 86 more).

564 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: Merging Anubis has +12 dB of headroom there against +5 dB. 7 dB is about 4.8 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Merging Anubis and RME Fireface UFX II because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsMerging Anubis headroomRME Fireface UFX II headroomMerging Anubis hissRME Fireface UFX II hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+38 dB+32 dB dampingnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+18 dB+12 dB dampingnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+27 dB+21 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+23 dB+16 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+20 dB+13 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+16 dB+9 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+12 dB+5 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+10 dB+3 dBnot publishednot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The RME Fireface UFX II costs $9 more than the Merging Anubis, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the RME Fireface UFX II handles and the Merging Anubis does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper Merging Anubis drives 2 models to 100 dB and leaves 89 alone under the one-eighth rule that the RME Fireface UFX II does not.

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

Both pages in full

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