Freya Vanir vs Mimisbrunnr: which needs more amplifier?

The Kinera Freya Vanir is 16Ω at 88.0 dB/mW; the Kinera Mimisbrunnr is 43Ω at 88.3 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

In amplifier terms these two are the same headphone. The gap between what they need for 100 dB is under half a decibel, which is smaller than the step between two clicks of most volume controls.

Side by side

The numbers that decide it

Specification	Freya Vanir	Mimisbrunnr
Impedance	16 Ω	43 Ω
Sensitivity	88.0 dB/mW	88.3 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)	106.0 dB/V	102.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB	16 mW	15 mW
Voltage for 100 dB	0.50 V	0.80 V
Current for 100 dB	31.5 mA	18.5 mA
Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)	2.00 Ω	5.38 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280	262	277

What separates them

Where the two part company

1 of the 280 sources has the power for the Freya Vanir but not for the Mimisbrunnr — Sony NW-A306.

16 of the 280 sources have the power for the Mimisbrunnr but not for the Freya Vanir — Apple USB-C dongle (US), JadeAudio JA11, Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, 13 more.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Mimisbrunnr under the one-eighth rule but not for the Freya Vanir (Shanling H5).

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

At the level you actually listen at

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Mimisbrunnr is more demanding than 96% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Freya Vanir than 87%.

dB SPL	Freya Vanir power	Freya Vanir voltage	Mimisbrunnr power	Mimisbrunnr voltage
80	0.16 mW	50 mV	0.15 mW	80 mV
85	0.50 mW	90 mV	0.47 mW	0.14 V
90	1.6 mW	0.16 V	1.5 mW	0.25 V
95	5.0 mW	0.28 V	4.7 mW	0.45 V
100	16 mW	0.50 V	15 mW	0.80 V
105	50 mW	0.90 V	47 mW	1.42 V

What drives both

The cheapest source that satisfies both

Source	Price	Headroom, Freya Vanir	Headroom, Mimisbrunnr	Output impedance	Noise
FiiO KA11	$29	11.9 dB	10.0 dB	0.7 Ω	1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11	$36	4.5 dB	1.8 dB	0.5 Ω	8.0 µV
FiiO BTR13	$59	8.8 dB	7.0 dB	0.6 Ω	1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 261 reach 100 dB on both. 69 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 69 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 11.9 dB of headroom on the Freya Vanir and 10.0 dB on the Mimisbrunnr, its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.00 Ω and 5.38 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 29 dB and 33 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

Frequency response

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

Model	As printed	Tolerance	Standard
Freya Vanir	20Hz – 20kHz	not printed	not printed
Mimisbrunnr	20Hz – 40kHz	not printed	not printed

Kinera prints 20Hz – 20kHz for the Freya Vanir and 20Hz – 40kHz for the Mimisbrunnr.

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: Kinera Freya Vanir and Kinera Mimisbrunnr. Every figure on this page comes from what Kinera published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.