Mystic 8 vs S12 Pro: which needs more amplifier?

The Letshuoer Mystic 8 is 18Ω at 107.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Letshuoer S12 Pro is 16Ω at 102.0 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The S12 Pro needs 5.0 dB more than the Mystic 8 to reach the same loudness — 0.63 mW against 0.20 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationMystic 8S12 Pro
Impedance18 Ω16 Ω
Sensitivity107.0 dB102.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)124.4 dB/V120.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.20 mW0.63 mW
Voltage for 100 dB60 mV0.10 V
Current for 100 dB3.3 mA6.3 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.25 Ω2.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. Letshuoer Mystic 8 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

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.

9 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the S12 Pro but cross it with the Mystic 8 (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 6 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The S12 Pro is more demanding than 33% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Mystic 8 than 17%.

dB SPLMystic 8 powerMystic 8 voltageS12 Pro powerS12 Pro voltage
802.0 µW6 mV6.3 µW10 mV
856.3 µW11 mV0.02 mW18 mV
900.02 mW19 mV0.06 mW32 mV
950.06 mW34 mV0.20 mW57 mV
1000.20 mW60 mV0.63 mW0.10 V
1050.63 mW0.11 V2.0 mW0.18 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, Mystic 8Headroom, S12 ProOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2019.3 dB13.8 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2930.7 dB25.9 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5927.6 dB22.8 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 62 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 62 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 19.3 dB of headroom on the Mystic 8 and 13.8 dB on the S12 Pro, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.25 Ω and 2.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 11 dB and 15 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
Mystic 8nothing printed——
S12 Pronothing printed——

Letshuoer prints the same thing for both the Mystic 8 and the S12 Pro: nothing at all.

There is nothing here to compare, and that is worth saying plainly rather than filling the gap with somebody else’s measurement. Of the 578 models checked against a maker document so far, 490 carry a printed range and only 58 of those print the ±dB tolerance that would make a range mean anything.

Not a measurement; maker by maker.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Letshuoer Mystic 8 and Letshuoer S12 Pro. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Letshuoer never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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