Etymotic ER4XR vs Truthear Hexa: which needs more amplifier?

The Etymotic ER4XR is 45Ω at 98.0 dB/mW; the Truthear Hexa is 20.5Ω at 103.1 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 Etymotic ER4XR needs 5.1 dB more than the Truthear Hexa to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.49 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationEtymotic ER4XRTruthear Hexa
Impedance45 Ω20.5 Ω
Sensitivity98.0 dB/mW103.1 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)111.5 dB/V120.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.6 mW0.49 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.27 V0.10 V
Current for 100 dB5.9 mA4.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
5.62 Ω2.56 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.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Etymotic ER4XR under the one-eighth rule but not for the Truthear Hexa (Shanling H5).

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: Etymotic ER4XR and Truthear Hexa. Every figure on this page comes from what Etymotic and Truthear published, or is derived from it — what Etymotic publishes and what Truthear publishes, both counted.