Meze 99 Classics vs Sony MDR-7506: which needs more amplifier?

The Meze 99 Classics is 32Ω at 103.0 dB/mW; the Sony MDR-7506 is 63Ω at 106.0 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 Meze 99 Classics needs 3.0 dB more than the Sony MDR-7506 to reach the same loudness — 0.50 mW against 0.25 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationMeze 99 ClassicsSony MDR-7506
Impedance32 Ω63 Ω
Sensitivity103.0 dB/mW106.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)117.9 dB/V118.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.50 mW0.25 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.13 V0.13 V
Current for 100 dB4.0 mA2.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω7.88 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.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Sony MDR-7506 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Meze 99 Classics (Shanling H5).

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 Sony MDR-7506. Every figure on this page comes from what Meze and Sony published, or is derived from it — what Meze publishes and what Sony publishes, both counted.