Audeze LCD-X 2021 vs Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed: which needs more amplifier?

The Audeze LCD-X 2021 is 20Ω at 103.0 dB/mW; the Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed is 13Ω at 90.0 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.

The Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed needs 13.0 dB more than the Audeze LCD-X 2021 to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 0.50 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAudeze LCD-X 2021Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed
Impedance20 Ω13 Ω
Sensitivity103.0 dB/mW90.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)120.0 dB/V108.9 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.50 mW10 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.10 V0.36 V
Current for 100 dB5.0 mA27.7 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.50 Ω1.62 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280272

Where the two part company

8 of the 280 sources have the power for the Audeze LCD-X 2021 but not for the Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Zoom AMS-22, Audient EVO 4, 5 more.

5 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Audeze LCD-X 2021 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+, Astell&Kern HC3, 2 more).

272 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-X 2021 and Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed. Every figure on this page comes from what Audeze and Dan Clark Audio published, or is derived from it — what Audeze publishes and what Dan Clark Audio publishes, both counted.