SSL 12 vs SSL 2 Plus MkII

Both are audio interfaces, $599 against $299. 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?

The SSL 12 reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the SSL 2 Plus MkII on 565.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationSSL 12SSL 2 Plus MkII
Power into 32Ω1.2 W374 mW
Power into 150Ω252 mW80 mW
Power into 300Ω126 mW40 mW
Power into 600Ω63 mW20 mW
Output impedance1 Ω1 Ω
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$599$299
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
567565

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.

The headphones that tell them apart

2 headphones reach 100 dB on the SSL 12 but not on the SSL 2 Plus MkII — Moondrop PARA, Symphonium Titan.

565 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.

Both pages in full

Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: SSL 12 and SSL 2 Plus MkII. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.

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