MK10 ArcSonics vs MP145: which needs more amplifier?

The Hidizs MK10 ArcSonics is 32Ω at 113.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Hidizs MP145 is 30Ω at 104.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The MP145 needs 9.0 dB more than the MK10 ArcSonics to reach the same loudness — 0.40 mW against 0.05 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationMK10 ArcSonicsMP145
Impedance32 Ω30 Ω
Sensitivity113.0 dB104.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)127.9 dB/V119.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.05 mW0.40 mW
Voltage for 100 dB40 mV0.11 V
Current for 100 dB1.3 mA3.6 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω3.75 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. Hidizs MK10 ArcSonics and Hidizs MP145 printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, each of them needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.

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.

16 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the MP145 but cross it with the MK10 ArcSonics (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 13 more).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The MP145 is more demanding than 35% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the MK10 ArcSonics than 7%.

dB SPLMK10 ArcSonics powerMK10 ArcSonics voltageMP145 powerMP145 voltage
800.5 µW4 mV4.0 µW11 mV
851.6 µW7 mV0.01 mW19 mV
905.0 µW13 mV0.04 mW35 mV
950.02 mW23 mV0.13 mW61 mV
1000.05 mW40 mV0.40 mW0.11 V
1050.16 mW71 mV1.3 mW0.19 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, MK10 ArcSonicsHeadroom, MP145Output impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2027.8 dB18.5 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2936.0 dB27.1 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5933.0 dB24.0 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 55 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both.

The cheapest of the 55 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 27.8 dB of headroom on the MK10 ArcSonics and 18.5 dB on the MP145, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 4.00 Ω and 3.75 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 7 dB and 16 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
MK10 ArcSonics20Hz-40kHznot printednot printed
MP14520Hz-40kHz effective frequency rangenot printednot printed

Hidizs prints 20Hz-40kHz for the MK10 ArcSonics and 20Hz-40kHz effective frequency range for the MP145.

MK10 ArcSonics: Hidizs prints this figure in the body copy of the product page, under a heading about Hi-Res certification, and not in a specification table.

MP145: The figure appears in the product description, not in a specification table, and carries no row label of its own.

Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, so a wider range on one sheet is not deeper bass or more treble.

Not a measurement; maker by maker.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Hidizs MK10 ArcSonics and Hidizs MP145. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Hidizs never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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