Armature Art 12 vs SOLIS II: which needs more amplifier?

The Moondrop Armature Art 12 is 5Ω at 98.0 dB/mW; the Moondrop SOLIS II is 10Ω at 101.0 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Armature Art 12 needs 3.0 dB more than the SOLIS II to reach the same loudness — 1.6 mW against 0.79 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationArmature Art 12SOLIS II
Impedance5 Ω10 Ω
Sensitivity98.0 dB/mW101.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)121.0 dB/V121.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.6 mW0.79 mW
Voltage for 100 dB89 mV89 mV
Current for 100 dB17.8 mA8.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
0.62 Ω1.25 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.

46 sources are low enough in output impedance for the SOLIS II under the one-eighth rule but not for the Armature Art 12 (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA11, JDS Labs Atom+ (2nd gen), 43 more).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The SOLIS II is more demanding than 28% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Armature Art 12 than 28%.

dB SPLArmature Art 12 powerArmature Art 12 voltageSOLIS II powerSOLIS II voltage
800.02 mW9 mV7.9 µW9 mV
850.05 mW16 mV0.03 mW16 mV
900.16 mW28 mV0.08 mW28 mV
950.50 mW50 mV0.25 mW50 mV
1001.6 mW89 mV0.79 mW89 mV
1055.0 mW0.16 V2.5 mW0.16 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, Armature Art 12Headroom, SOLIS IIOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$204.7 dB10.7 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$369.5 dB15.5 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV
FiiO BTR13$5913.7 dB19.8 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 39 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 39 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 4.7 dB of headroom on the Armature Art 12 and 10.7 dB on the SOLIS II, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 0.62 Ω and 1.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 14 dB and 14 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
Armature Art 126Hz-34kHznot printednot printed
 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)-3 dBIEC60318-4
SOLIS II7Hz-40kHznot printednot printed
 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB)3 dBIEC60318-4

Moondrop prints two ranges, “6Hz-34kHz” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)”, for the Armature Art 12 and two ranges, “7Hz-40kHz” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB)”, for the SOLIS II.

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 pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Moondrop Armature Art 12 and Moondrop SOLIS II. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

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