FA19 vs FH19: which needs more amplifier?

The FiiO FA19 is 10Ω at 106.0 dB/mW; the FiiO FH19 is 16Ω at 109.0 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 FA19 needs 3.0 dB more than the FH19 to reach the same loudness — 0.25 mW against 0.13 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationFA19FH19
Impedance10 Ω16 Ω
Sensitivity106.0 dB/mW109.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)126.0 dB/V127.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.25 mW0.13 mW
Voltage for 100 dB50 mV45 mV
Current for 100 dB5.0 mA2.8 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.25 Ω2.00 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.

8 sources are low enough in output impedance for the FH19 under the one-eighth rule but not for the FA19 (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+, Astell&Kern HC3, 5 more).

2 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the FA19 but cross it with the FH19 (Grace Design m900, FiiO K17).

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: FiiO FA19 and FiiO FH19. Every figure on this page comes from what FiiO published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.