Both are desktop DAC/amps, $2499 against $1600. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?
On raw power they are level: each reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 non-electrostatic models here.
| Specification | RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE | Violectric V226 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 1.9 W | 2.2 W |
| Power into 150Ω | 405 mW | 2.6 W |
| Power into 300Ω | 203 mW | 1.8 W |
| Power into 600Ω | 101 mW | 900 mW |
| Output impedance | 0.1 Ω | 0.25 Ω |
| Output noise | 1.09 µV | 6.15 µV |
| Price | $2499 | $1600 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 567 | 567 |
A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.
| Load | RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE | Violectric V226 |
|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | Published | Published |
| 150 Ω | Derived | Derived |
| 300 Ω | Derived | Published |
| 600 Ω | Derived | Published |
Both makers publish a power rating, which is less common than the table above makes it look: of the 280 sources here, 209 publish a figure at at least one load and only 2 publish one at all four. RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE publishes at 32 Ω; Violectric V226 at 32 Ω, at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω. Every other row is worked out from those — between two published loads, or beyond them holding voltage constant, which understates rather than flatters.
So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω only the Violectric V226 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.
What each of these labels means, and why a derived figure is still worth printing, is set out in how this data was built.
On power they are interchangeable across this whole database: there is no headphone here that one reaches 100 dB on and the other does not.
97 headphones stay below the audible-hiss threshold on the RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE but cross it on the Violectric V226 (64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Nio, 64 Audio U12t, 94 more).
567 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.
The counts above say how many models the two treat differently. This says by how much. The same 8 headphones appear on every page of this kind, ordered from the easiest to drive to the hardest, so a row can be read across pages as well as across columns. Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.
The widest gap on the list is the Audio-Technica ATH-R70X: Violectric V226 has +29 dB of headroom there against +19 dB. 9 dB is about 8.9 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.
Hiss is this source’s own noise, in decibels SPL, in that headphone — not a rating. Below about 20 dB SPL it is under the threshold of hearing in a quiet room; a negative figure means it is far below it.
| Headphone | Impedance | Needs | RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE headroom | Violectric V226 headroom | RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE hiss | Violectric V226 hiss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 0.04 mW | +41 dB | +43 dB | 15 dB | 30 dB |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 4.0 mW | +21 dB | +23 dB | -5 dB | 10 dB |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 0.79 mW | +30 dB | +36 dB | -7 dB | 8 dB |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 0.63 mW | +26 dB | +35 dB | -11 dB | 4 dB |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 7.9 mW | +23 dB | +24 dB | -12 dB | 3 dB |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 1.6 mW | +19 dB | +29 dB | -18 dB | -3 dB |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 6.6 mW | +15 dB | +24 dB | -22 dB | -7 dB |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 50 mW | +13 dB | +18 dB | -24 dB | -9 dB |
The RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE costs $899 more than the Violectric V226. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 97 more models kept below the audible-hiss threshold.
Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.
Everything in this paragraph counts only figures the two makers published. An advantage on an axis one of them leaves blank cannot be counted, and is not counted — how often that happens is its own page.
Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE and Violectric V226. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.