Armature Art 24 vs Meteor: which needs more amplifier?

The Moondrop Armature Art 24 is 5.8Ω at 96.6 dB/mW; the Moondrop Meteor is 18.5Ω at 102.7 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Armature Art 24 needs 6.1 dB more than the Meteor to reach the same loudness — 2.2 mW against 0.54 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationArmature Art 24Meteor
Impedance5.8 Ω18.5 Ω
Sensitivity96.6 dB/mW102.7 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)119.0 dB/V120.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB2.2 mW0.54 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.11 V100 mV
Current for 100 dB19.4 mA5.4 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
0.72 Ω2.31 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
279280

Where the two part company

1 of the 280 sources has the power for the Meteor but not for the Armature Art 24 — Steinberg UR22C.

49 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Meteor under the one-eighth rule but not for the Armature Art 24 (FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA13, FiiO KA15, 46 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Armature Art 24 is more demanding than 37% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Meteor than 31%.

dB SPLArmature Art 24 powerArmature Art 24 voltageMeteor powerMeteor voltage
800.02 mW11 mV5.4 µW10 mV
850.07 mW20 mV0.02 mW18 mV
900.22 mW36 mV0.05 mW32 mV
950.69 mW63 mV0.17 mW56 mV
1002.2 mW0.11 V0.54 mW100 mV
1056.9 mW0.20 V1.7 mW0.18 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, Armature Art 24Headroom, MeteorOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$204.0 dB15.1 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2916.1 dB26.3 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$368.7 dB18.8 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 279 reach 100 dB on both. 43 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 43 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 4.0 dB of headroom on the Armature Art 24 and 15.1 dB on the Meteor, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 0.72 Ω and 2.31 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 16 dB and 15 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 247Hz-35kHznot printednot printed
 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)-3 dBIEC60318-4
Meteor9Hz- 35kHznot printednot printed
 20Hz - 20kHz (IEC60318-4,3dB)3 dBIEC60318-4

Moondrop prints two ranges, “7Hz-35kHz” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)”, for the Armature Art 24 and two ranges, “9Hz- 35kHz” and “20Hz - 20kHz (IEC60318-4,3dB)”, for the Meteor.

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 24 and Moondrop Meteor. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

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