FT1 Pro vs JT1: which needs more amplifier?

The FiiO FT1 Pro is 20Ω at 95.0 dB/mW; the FiiO JT1 is 32Ω at 88.1 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 JT1 needs 6.9 dB more than the FT1 Pro to reach the same loudness — 15 mW against 3.2 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationFT1 ProJT1
Impedance20 Ω32 Ω
Sensitivity95.0 dB/mW88.1 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)112.0 dB/V103.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB3.2 mW15 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.25 V0.70 V
Current for 100 dB12.6 mA22.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.50 Ω4.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280278

Where the two part company

2 of the 280 sources have the power for the FT1 Pro but not for the JT1 — Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Steinberg UR22C.

278 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 FT1 Pro and FiiO JT1. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones FiiO never published — what that maker publishes, counted.