Dan Clark Audio Expanse vs Sony MDR-MV1: which needs more amplifier?

The Dan Clark Audio Expanse is 26Ω at 90.0 dB/mW; the Sony MDR-MV1 is 24Ω at 100.0 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 Expanse needs 10.0 dB more than the Sony MDR-MV1 to reach the same loudness — 10 mW against 1.0 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDan Clark Audio ExpanseSony MDR-MV1
Impedance26 Ω24 Ω
Sensitivity90.0 dB/mW100.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)105.9 dB/V116.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB10 mW1.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.51 V0.15 V
Current for 100 dB19.6 mA6.5 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
3.25 Ω3.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
279280

Where the two part company

1 of the 280 sources has the power for the Sony MDR-MV1 but not for the Dan Clark Audio Expanse — Steinberg UR22C.

279 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: Dan Clark Audio Expanse and Sony MDR-MV1. Every figure on this page comes from what Dan Clark Audio and Sony published, or is derived from it — what Dan Clark Audio publishes and what Sony publishes, both counted.