Meze 99 Classics vs Sennheiser HD 560S: which needs more amplifier?

The Meze 99 Classics is 32Ω at 103.0 dB/mW; the Sennheiser HD 560S is 120Ω at 100.8 dB/mW. 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 Sennheiser HD 560S needs 2.2 dB more than the Meze 99 Classics to reach the same loudness — 0.83 mW against 0.50 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationMeze 99 ClassicsSennheiser HD 560S
Impedance32 Ω120 Ω
Sensitivity103.0 dB/mW100.8 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)117.9 dB/V110.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.50 mW0.83 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.13 V0.32 V
Current for 100 dB4.0 mA2.6 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω15.00 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

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.

18 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Sennheiser HD 560S under the one-eighth rule but not for the Meze 99 Classics (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 15 more).

280 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: Meze 99 Classics and Sennheiser HD 560S. Every figure on this page comes from what Meze and Sennheiser published, or is derived from it — what Meze publishes and what Sennheiser publishes, both counted.