The Moondrop Armature Art 12 is 5Ω at 98.0 dB/mW; the Moondrop KATO is 32Ω at 108.1 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The Armature Art 12 needs 10.1 dB more than the KATO to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.15 mW.
| Specification | Armature Art 12 | KATO |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 5 Ω | 32 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 98.0 dB/mW | 108.1 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 121.0 dB/V | 123.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 1.6 mW | 0.15 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 89 mV | 70 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 17.8 mA | 2.2 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 0.62 Ω | 4.00 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
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.
54 sources are low enough in output impedance for the KATO under the one-eighth rule but not for the Armature Art 12 (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA11, FiiO KA13, 51 more).
3 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Armature Art 12 but cross it with the KATO (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Rupert Neve RNHP).
280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The Armature Art 12 is more demanding than 28% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the KATO than 21%.
| dB SPL | Armature Art 12 power | Armature Art 12 voltage | KATO power | KATO voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.02 mW | 9 mV | 1.5 µW | 7 mV |
| 85 | 0.05 mW | 16 mV | 4.9 µW | 13 mV |
| 90 | 0.16 mW | 28 mV | 0.02 mW | 22 mV |
| 95 | 0.50 mW | 50 mV | 0.05 mW | 40 mV |
| 100 | 1.6 mW | 89 mV | 0.15 mW | 70 mV |
| 105 | 5.0 mW | 0.16 V | 0.49 mW | 0.13 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Armature Art 12 | Headroom, KATO | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 4.7 dB | 22.9 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 13.7 dB | 28.1 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
| iBasso DC03 Pro | $69 | 9.9 dB | 28.0 dB | 0.12 Ω | 0.9 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 37 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 37 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 4.7 dB of headroom on the Armature Art 12 and 22.9 dB on the KATO, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 0.62 Ω and 4.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 14 dB and 12 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armature Art 12 | 6Hz-34kHz | not printed | not printed |
| 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB) | -3 dB | IEC60318-4 | |
| KATO | 10Hz-45kHz (IEC61094, Free Field) | not printed | IEC61094 (free field) |
| 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB) | -3 dB | IEC60318-4 |
Moondrop prints two ranges, “6Hz-34kHz” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)”, for the Armature Art 12 and two ranges, “10Hz-45kHz (IEC61094, Free Field)” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)”, for the KATO.
Both sheets print a tolerance, which is rare enough to be worth pointing at: only 58 of the 490 models with a printed range do. These two ranges can be set against each other, because each of them says how far down the response is allowed to be at the ends.
Not a measurement; maker by maker.
Both have a page of their own. In full: Moondrop Armature Art 12 and Moondrop KATO. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.