Beoplay H95 vs Beoplay H9i: which needs more amplifier?

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 is 12Ω at 101.5 dB/mW; the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9i is 24Ω at 95.0 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 Beoplay H9i needs 6.5 dB more than the Beoplay H95 to reach the same loudness — 3.2 mW against 0.71 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationBeoplay H95Beoplay H9i
Impedance12 Ω24 Ω
Sensitivity101.5 dB/mW95.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)120.7 dB/V111.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.71 mW3.2 mW
Voltage for 100 dB92 mV0.28 V
Current for 100 dB7.7 mA11.5 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.50 Ω3.00 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.

5 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Beoplay H9i under the one-eighth rule but not for the Beoplay H95 (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+, Astell&Kern HC3, 2 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: Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 and Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9i. Every figure on this page comes from what Bang & Olufsen published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.