Kadenz vs KATO: which needs more amplifier?

The Moondrop Kadenz is 35Ω at 107.4 dB/mW; the Moondrop KATO is 32Ω at 108.1 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 Kadenz needs 0.7 dB more than the KATO to reach the same loudness — 0.18 mW against 0.15 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationKadenzKATO
Impedance35 Ω32 Ω
Sensitivity107.4 dB/mW108.1 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)122.0 dB/V123.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.18 mW0.15 mW
Voltage for 100 dB80 mV70 mV
Current for 100 dB2.3 mA2.2 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.38 Ω4.00 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 stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the Kadenz but crosses it with the KATO (FiiO K11 R2R).

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