JOKER vs Stellaris: which needs more amplifier?

The Moondrop JOKER is 68Ω at 94.3 dB/mW; the Moondrop Stellaris is 36Ω at 102.6 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 JOKER needs 8.3 dB more than the Stellaris to reach the same loudness — 3.7 mW against 0.55 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationJOKERStellaris
Impedance68 Ω36 Ω
Sensitivity94.3 dB/mW102.6 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)106.0 dB/V117.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB3.7 mW0.55 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.50 V0.14 V
Current for 100 dB7.4 mA3.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
8.50 Ω4.50 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.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the JOKER under the one-eighth rule but not for the Stellaris (Shanling H5).

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