Audeze LCD-5 vs Sennheiser HD 560S: which needs more amplifier?

The Audeze LCD-5 is 14Ω at 90.0 dB/mW; the Sennheiser HD 560S is 120Ω at 100.8 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.

The Audeze LCD-5 needs 10.8 dB more than the Sennheiser HD 560S to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 0.83 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAudeze LCD-5Sennheiser HD 560S
Impedance14 Ω120 Ω
Sensitivity90.0 dB/mW100.8 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)108.5 dB/V110.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB10 mW0.83 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.37 V0.32 V
Current for 100 dB26.7 mA2.6 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.75 Ω15.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
274280

Where the two part company

6 of the 280 sources have the power for the Sennheiser HD 560S but not for the Audeze LCD-5 — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Zoom AMS-22, Steinberg UR22C, 3 more.

22 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Sennheiser HD 560S under the one-eighth rule but not for the Audeze LCD-5 (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 19 more).

274 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: Audeze LCD-5 and Sennheiser HD 560S. Every figure on this page comes from what Audeze and Sennheiser published, or is derived from it — what Audeze publishes and what Sennheiser publishes, both counted.