PreSonus HP4 vs Schiit Vali 2+

Short answer

  • More power: the Schiit Vali 2+, with 1.50 W into 32 Ω; the PreSonus HP4 has 69 mW. The Schiit Vali 2+ drives 9 headphones to 100 dB that the PreSonus HP4 cannot (Moondrop COSMO, Moondrop PARA, Moondrop PARA 2, 6 more).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the PreSonus HP4 publishes no noise figure.
  • Price: the Schiit Vali 2+ costs $1 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the PreSonus HP4 shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are desktop amplifiers, $150 against $149.

The Schiit Vali 2+ reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the PreSonus HP4 on 558.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationPreSonus HP4Schiit Vali 2+
Power into 32Ω69 mW1.5 W
Power into 150Ω52 mW496 mW
Power into 300Ω26 mW400 mW
Power into 600Ω13 mW200 mW
Output impedancenot published1.8 Ω
Output noisenot published25 µV unverified
Price$150$149
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567		558567

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

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

LoadPreSonus HP4Schiit Vali 2+
32 ΩDerivedPublished
150 ΩDerivedDerived
300 ΩDerivedPublished
600 ΩDerivedPublished

Only one of these two columns starts from a power rating. Schiit Vali 2+ publishes one at 32 Ω, at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω; PreSonus HP4 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 PreSonus HP4 understates rather than flatters — but at 32 Ω, at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω are the only loads here at which its maker can be held to a figure.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

9 headphones reach 100 dB on the Schiit Vali 2+ but not on the PreSonus HP4 — Moondrop COSMO, Moondrop PARA, Moondrop PARA 2, 6 more.

558 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 Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020: Schiit Vali 2+ has +20 dB of headroom there against +7 dB. 13 dB is about 22 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for PreSonus HP4 and Schiit Vali 2+ because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsPreSonus HP4 headroomSchiit Vali 2+ headroomPreSonus HP4 hissSchiit Vali 2+ hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+27 dB+40 dB dampingnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+7 dB+20 dB dampingnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+21 dB+30 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+17 dB+28 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+8 dB+22 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+10 dB+22 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+6 dB+18 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+4 dB+12 dBnot publishednot published
What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The PreSonus HP4 costs $1 more than the Schiit Vali 2+, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the PreSonus HP4 handles and the Schiit Vali 2+ does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper Schiit Vali 2+ drives 9 models to 100 dB that the PreSonus HP4 does not.

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

Next

Both pages in full

Each in full: PreSonus HP4 and Schiit Vali 2+.

↑