The Moondrop Armature Art 12 is 5Ω at 98.0 dB/mW; the Moondrop S8 is 16Ω at 104.0 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The Armature Art 12 needs 6.0 dB more than the S8 to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.40 mW.
| Specification | Armature Art 12 | S8 |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 5 Ω | 16 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 98.0 dB/mW | 104.0 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 121.0 dB/V | 122.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 1.6 mW | 0.40 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 89 mV | 80 mV |
| Current for 100 dB | 17.8 mA | 5.0 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 0.62 Ω | 2.00 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 S8 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Armature Art 12 (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA11, FiiO KA13, 51 more).
2 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Armature Art 12 but cross it with the S8 (FiiO BTR11, 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 S8 than 26%.
| dB SPL | Armature Art 12 power | Armature Art 12 voltage | S8 power | S8 voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.02 mW | 9 mV | 4.0 µW | 8 mV |
| 85 | 0.05 mW | 16 mV | 0.01 mW | 14 mV |
| 90 | 0.16 mW | 28 mV | 0.04 mW | 25 mV |
| 95 | 0.50 mW | 50 mV | 0.13 mW | 45 mV |
| 100 | 1.6 mW | 89 mV | 0.40 mW | 80 mV |
| 105 | 5.0 mW | 0.16 V | 1.3 mW | 0.14 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Armature Art 12 | Headroom, S8 | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 4.7 dB | 15.8 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 13.7 dB | 24.8 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
| iBasso DC03 Pro | $69 | 9.9 dB | 20.9 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 15.8 dB on the S8, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 0.62 Ω and 2.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 14 dB and 13 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 | |
| S8 | 20-40kHz | not printed | not printed |
| 20-20kHz | not printed | not printed |
Moondrop prints two ranges, “6Hz-34kHz” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)”, for the Armature Art 12 and two ranges, “20-40kHz” and “20-20kHz”, for the S8.
Only one of the two is a specification. The range printed for the Armature Art 12 comes with a tolerance; the one printed for the S8 does not, and a range without a ±dB figure says nothing about how loud that model is at either end of it. The two cannot be compared number against number, however similar they look in the table. Of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print the tolerance.
Not a measurement; maker by maker.
Both have a page of their own. In full: Moondrop Armature Art 12 and Moondrop S8. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.