The Dan Clark Audio AEON RT is 13Ω at 90.0 dB/mW; the Dan Clark Audio E3 is 27Ω at 90.0 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
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.
| Specification | AEON RT | E3 |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 13 Ω | 27 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 90.0 dB/mW | 90.0 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 108.9 dB/V | 105.7 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 10 mW | 10 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.36 V | 0.52 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 27.7 mA | 19.2 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 1.62 Ω | 3.38 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 272 | 280 |
8 of the 280 sources have the power for the E3 but not for the AEON RT — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Zoom AMS-22, Audient EVO 4, 5 more.
5 sources are low enough in output impedance for the E3 under the one-eighth rule but not for the AEON RT (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+, Astell&Kern HC3, 2 more).
272 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The E3 is more demanding than 87% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the AEON RT than 80%.
| dB SPL | AEON RT power | AEON RT voltage | E3 power | E3 voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.10 mW | 36 mV | 0.10 mW | 52 mV |
| 85 | 0.32 mW | 64 mV | 0.32 mW | 92 mV |
| 90 | 1.0 mW | 0.11 V | 1.0 mW | 0.16 V |
| 95 | 3.2 mW | 0.20 V | 3.2 mW | 0.29 V |
| 100 | 10 mW | 0.36 V | 10 mW | 0.52 V |
| 105 | 32 mW | 0.64 V | 32 mW | 0.92 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, AEON RT | Headroom, E3 | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 0.9 dB | 4.0 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 13.0 dB | 13.1 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR11 | $36 | 5.6 dB | 5.1 dB | 0.5 Ω | 8.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 272 reach 100 dB on both. 69 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both.
The cheapest of the 69 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 0.9 dB of headroom on the AEON RT and 4.0 dB on the E3, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.62 Ω and 3.38 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 27 dB and 30 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| AEON RT | “Yes, it has one” | not printed | not printed |
| E3 | “Yes, it has one” | not printed | not printed |
Dan Clark Audio prints the same thing for both the AEON RT and the E3: “Yes, it has one”.
For both: The specification table has a frequency-response row. The value printed in it is the sentence "Yes, it has one".
Neither sheet prints a frequency range, and in both cases that is on purpose: the row is there and what stands in it is a sentence rather than a number. It is a better argument than most of this page. A range printed without a tolerance says nothing about how loud a headphone is at either end of it, and of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print the ±dB figure that would make the range mean something.
Not a measurement; maker by maker.
Both have a page of their own. In full: Dan Clark Audio AEON RT and Dan Clark Audio E3. Every figure on this page comes from what Dan Clark Audio published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.