Freya Vanir vs Nott Phantom: which needs more amplifier?

The Kinera Freya Vanir is 16Ω at 88.0 dB/mW; the Kinera Nott Phantom is 54Ω at 105.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Freya Vanir needs 17.0 dB more than the Nott Phantom to reach the same loudness — 16 mW against 0.32 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationFreya VanirNott Phantom
Impedance16 Ω54 Ω
Sensitivity88.0 dB/mW105.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)106.0 dB/V117.7 dB/V
Power for 100 dB16 mW0.32 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.50 V0.13 V
Current for 100 dB31.5 mA2.4 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.00 Ω6.75 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
262280

One caution before reading the rows. Kinera Nott Phantom 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.

Where the two part company

18 of the 280 sources have the power for the Nott Phantom but not for the Freya Vanir — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), JadeAudio JA11, 15 more.

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

1 source stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the Freya Vanir but crosses it with the Nott Phantom (Schiit Mjolnir 3).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Freya Vanir is more demanding than 87% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Nott Phantom than 42%.

dB SPLFreya Vanir powerFreya Vanir voltageNott Phantom powerNott Phantom voltage
800.16 mW50 mV3.2 µW13 mV
850.50 mW90 mV0.01 mW23 mV
901.6 mW0.16 V0.03 mW41 mV
955.0 mW0.28 V0.10 mW73 mV
10016 mW0.50 V0.32 mW0.13 V
10550 mW0.90 V1.0 mW0.23 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, Freya VanirHeadroom, Nott PhantomOutput impedanceNoise
FiiO KA11$2911.9 dB25.7 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$364.5 dB17.5 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV
FiiO BTR13$598.8 dB22.7 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 262 reach 100 dB on both. 68 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 68 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 11.9 dB of headroom on the Freya Vanir and 25.7 dB on the Nott Phantom, its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.00 Ω and 6.75 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 29 dB and 18 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
Freya Vanir20Hz – 20kHznot printednot printed
Nott Phantom20Hz - 20kHz full-rangenot printednot printed

Kinera prints 20Hz – 20kHz for the Freya Vanir and 20Hz - 20kHz full-range for the Nott Phantom.

Nott Phantom: The word “full-range” is inside the value, not beside it: Kinera prints it in the same cell as the numbers.

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 Nott Phantom. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Kinera never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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