SPL Phonitor se vs Violectric V222

Short answer

More power: the Violectric V222, with 2.70 W into 32 Ω; the SPL Phonitor se has 1.00 W. The Violectric V222 drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the SPL Phonitor se cannot (Symphonium Titan).
Quieter with sensitive IEMs: the SPL Phonitor se. 23 headphones stay below audible hiss on it but not on the Violectric V222 (64 Audio Volur, AFUL Performer 5, Audeze LCD-i4, 20 more).
Price: the SPL Phonitor se costs $355 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are desktop amplifiers, $1600 against $1245.

The Violectric V222 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the SPL Phonitor se on 566.

Specification	SPL Phonitor se	Violectric V222
Power into 32Ω	1.0 W	2.7 W
Power into 150Ω	3.1 W	2.7 W
Power into 300Ω	4.2 W	1.8 W
Power into 600Ω	2.1 W	1.1 W
Output impedance	0.18 Ω	0.25 Ω
Output noise	5.48 µV	6.15 µV
Price	$1600	$1245
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	566	567

Specification

SPL Phonitor se

Violectric V222

Power into 32Ω

1.0 W

2.7 W

Power into 150Ω

3.1 W

2.7 W

Power into 300Ω

4.2 W

1.8 W

Power into 600Ω

2.1 W

1.1 W

Output impedance

0.18 Ω

0.25 Ω

Output noise

5.48 µV

6.15 µV

Price

$1600

$1245

Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567

566

567

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

Balanced	SPL Phonitor se	Violectric V222
Socket	no separate rating	balanced
Power into 32Ω	—	2.7 W
Power into 300Ω	—	1.8 W
Output impedance	—	0.5 Ω
Output noise	—	6.15 µV
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567	—	567

Only the Violectric V222 has a separate balanced rating from its maker; through it, it reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here. The SPL Phonitor se may still have a balanced socket — its spec sheet simply gives no figure for one, so there is nothing to put beside it.

Where each power figure comes from

Load	SPL Phonitor se	Violectric V222
32 Ω	Published	Published
150 Ω	Derived	Derived
300 Ω	Derived	Published
600 Ω	Derived	Published

Both makers publish a power rating. SPL Phonitor se publishes at 32 Ω; Violectric V222 at 32 Ω, at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω and at 600 Ω only the Violectric V222 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the Violectric V222 but not on the SPL Phonitor se — Symphonium Titan.

23 headphones stay below the audible-hiss threshold on the SPL Phonitor se but cross it on the Violectric V222 (64 Audio Volur, AFUL Performer 5, Audeze LCD-i4, 20 more).

566 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 Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020: Violectric V222 has +24 dB of headroom there against +18 dB. 5 dB is about 3.2 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

Hiss below about 20 dB SPL is inaudible in a quiet room.

Headphone	Impedance	Needs	SPL Phonitor se headroom	Violectric V222 headroom	SPL Phonitor se hiss	Violectric V222 hiss
Shure SE846	9 Ω	0.04 mW	+38 dB	+44 dB	29 dB	30 dB
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	4.0 mW	+18 dB	+24 dB	9 dB	10 dB
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	0.79 mW	+33 dB	+36 dB	7 dB	8 dB
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	0.63 mW	+39 dB	+35 dB	3 dB	4 dB
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	7.9 mW	+20 dB	+24 dB	2 dB	3 dB
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	1.6 mW	+32 dB	+29 dB	-4 dB	-3 dB
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	6.6 mW	+28 dB	+24 dB	-8 dB	-7 dB
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	50 mW	+15 dB	+18 dB	-10 dB	-9 dB

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The SPL Phonitor se costs $355 more than the Violectric V222. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 23 more models kept below the audible-hiss threshold.

It does not run one way only: the cheaper Violectric V222 drives one model to 100 dB that the SPL Phonitor se does not, which is the part worth checking against your own headphones before paying the difference.

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