The Moondrop PARA is 8Ω at 80.0 dB/mW; the Moondrop Stellaris is 36Ω at 102.6 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The PARA needs 22.6 dB more than the Stellaris to reach the same loudness — 100 mW against 0.55 mW.
| Specification | PARA | Stellaris |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 8 Ω | 36 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 80.0 dB/mW | 102.6 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 101.0 dB/V | 117.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 100 mW | 0.55 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.89 V | 0.14 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 111.8 mA | 3.9 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 1.00 Ω | 4.50 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 130 | 280 |
150 of the 280 sources have the power for the Stellaris but not for the PARA — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), Generic CX31993 dongles, 147 more.
12 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Stellaris under the one-eighth rule but not for the PARA (FiiO KA13, FiiO K11, Schiit Vali 2+, 9 more).
1 source stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the PARA but crosses it with the Stellaris (Schiit Mjolnir 3).
130 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The PARA is more demanding than 100% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Stellaris than 44%.
| dB SPL | PARA power | PARA voltage | Stellaris power | Stellaris voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1.0 mW | 89 mV | 5.5 µW | 14 mV |
| 85 | 3.2 mW | 0.16 V | 0.02 mW | 25 mV |
| 90 | 10 mW | 0.28 V | 0.05 mW | 44 mV |
| 95 | 32 mW | 0.50 V | 0.17 mW | 79 mV |
| 100 | 100 mW | 0.89 V | 0.55 mW | 0.14 V |
| 105 | 316 mW | 1.59 V | 1.7 mW | 0.25 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, PARA | Headroom, Stellaris | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 0.9 dB | 25.1 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| JDS Labs Atom+ (2nd gen) | $99 | 4.0 dB | 32.3 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.99 µV |
| FiiO KA15 | $109 | 1.6 dB | 24.6 dB | 0.8 Ω | 1.7 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 130 reach 100 dB on both. 52 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 52 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 0.9 dB of headroom on the PARA and 25.1 dB on the Stellaris, its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.00 Ω and 4.50 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 34 dB and 18 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| PARA | 15-53kHz (IEC61094, Free Field) | not printed | IEC61094 (free field) |
| 20-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB) | -3 dB | IEC60318-4 | |
| Stellaris | 10Hz-50kHz | not printed | not printed |
| 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB) | 3 dB | IEC60318-4 |
Moondrop prints two ranges, “15-53kHz (IEC61094, Free Field)” and “20-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)”, for the PARA and two ranges, “10Hz-50kHz” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB)”, for the Stellaris.
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 have a page of their own. In full: Moondrop PARA and Moondrop Stellaris. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.