HE-4XX (Drop) vs HE-6se V2: which needs more amplifier?

The HiFiMAN HE-4XX (Drop) is 35Ω at 93.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all); the HiFiMAN HE-6se V2 is 50Ω at 83.5 dB (no reference unit printed). 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 HE-6se V2 needs 9.5 dB more than the HE-4XX (Drop) to reach the same loudness — 45 mW against 5.0 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationHE-4XX (Drop)HE-6se V2
Impedance35 Ω50 Ω
Sensitivity93.0 dB83.5 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)107.6 dB/V96.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB5.0 mW45 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.42 V1.49 V
Current for 100 dB12.0 mA29.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.38 Ω6.25 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280240

One caution before reading the rows. HiFiMAN HE-6se V2 printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, that model needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much. For HiFiMAN HE-4XX (Drop) the maker publishes no sensitivity figure at all. The number in the table was collected when this database was first built and has never been traced to a manufacturer document, so treat every row below it as an estimate rather than a specification.

Where the two part company

40 of the 280 sources have the power for the HE-4XX (Drop) but not for the HE-6se V2 — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Generic CX31993 dongles, 37 more.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the HE-6se V2 under the one-eighth rule but not for the HE-4XX (Drop) (Shanling H5).

240 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: HiFiMAN HE-4XX (Drop) and HiFiMAN HE-6se V2. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones HiFiMAN never published — what that maker publishes, counted.