AKG K371 vs ZMF Verite Closed: which needs more amplifier?

The AKG K371 is 32Ω at 99.1 dB/mW; the ZMF Verite Closed is 300Ω at 99.0 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.

In amplifier terms these two are the same headphone. The gap between what they need for 100 dB is under half a decibel, which is smaller than the step between two clicks of most volume controls.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAKG K371ZMF Verite Closed
Impedance32 Ω300 Ω
Sensitivity99.1 dB/mW99.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)114.0 dB/V104.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.2 mW1.3 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.20 V0.61 V
Current for 100 dB6.2 mA2.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω37.50 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

Where the two part company

Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.

20 sources are low enough in output impedance for the ZMF Verite Closed under the one-eighth rule but not for the AKG K371 (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 17 more).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.

Both pages in full

Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: AKG K371 and ZMF Verite Closed. Every figure on this page comes from what AKG and ZMF published, or is derived from it — what AKG publishes and what ZMF publishes, both counted.