Fostex T50RP MK3 vs Sony MDR-MV1: which needs more amplifier?

The Fostex T50RP MK3 is 50Ω at 92.0 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 Fostex T50RP MK3 needs 8.0 dB more than the Sony MDR-MV1 to reach the same loudness — 6.3 mW against 1.0 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationFostex T50RP MK3Sony MDR-MV1
Impedance50 Ω24 Ω
Sensitivity92.0 dB/mW100.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)105.0 dB/V116.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB6.3 mW1.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.56 V0.15 V
Current for 100 dB11.2 mA6.5 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
6.25 Ω3.00 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.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Fostex T50RP MK3 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Sony MDR-MV1 (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: Fostex T50RP MK3 and Sony MDR-MV1. Every figure on this page comes from what Fostex and Sony published, or is derived from it — what Fostex publishes and what Sony publishes, both counted.