Aria Snow Edition vs Kadenz: which needs more amplifier?

The Moondrop Aria Snow Edition is 32Ω at 104.1 dB/mW; the Moondrop Kadenz is 35Ω at 107.4 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 Aria Snow Edition needs 3.3 dB more than the Kadenz to reach the same loudness — 0.39 mW against 0.18 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAria Snow EditionKadenz
Impedance32 Ω35 Ω
Sensitivity104.1 dB/mW107.4 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)119.0 dB/V122.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.39 mW0.18 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.11 V80 mV
Current for 100 dB3.5 mA2.3 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω4.38 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.

2 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Aria Snow Edition but cross it with the Kadenz (FiiO BTR11, Rupert Neve RNHP).

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: Moondrop Aria Snow Edition and Moondrop Kadenz. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.