Both are audio interfaces, $229 against $150. 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 2 MkII reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here, the Zoom AMS-24 on 549.
| Specification | SSL 2 MkII | Zoom AMS-24 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 374 mW | 30 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 80 mW | 9.7 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 40 mW | 5.2 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 20 mW | 2.7 mW |
| Output impedance | 1 Ω | 10 Ω |
| Output noise | not published | not published |
| Price | $229 | $150 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 565 | 549 |
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.
16 headphones reach 100 dB on the SSL 2 MkII but not on the Zoom AMS-24 — HiFiMAN HE-6se V2, HiFiMAN HE6 Remastered, HiFiMAN Susvara, 13 more.
495 headphones are left alone by the SSL 2 MkII under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Zoom AMS-24 (64 Audio Aspire 1, 64 Audio Fourte, 64 Audio Ocean, 492 more).
549 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.
Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: SSL 2 MkII and Zoom AMS-24. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.