The Moondrop PARA is 8Ω at 80.0 dB/mW; the Moondrop VENUS is 18Ω at 82.6 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The PARA needs 2.6 dB more than the VENUS to reach the same loudness — 100 mW against 55 mW.
| Specification | PARA | VENUS |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 8 Ω | 18 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 80.0 dB/mW | 82.6 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 101.0 dB/V | 100.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 100 mW | 55 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.89 V | 0.99 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 111.8 mA | 55.3 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 1.00 Ω | 2.25 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 130 | 225 |
95 of the 280 sources have the power for the VENUS but not for the PARA — FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, Tanchjim Stargate II, ddHiFi TC35Air, 92 more.
12 sources are low enough in output impedance for the VENUS under the one-eighth rule but not for the PARA (FiiO KA13, FiiO K11, Schiit Vali 2+, 9 more).
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 VENUS than 98%.
| dB SPL | PARA power | PARA voltage | VENUS power | VENUS voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1.0 mW | 89 mV | 0.55 mW | 99 mV |
| 85 | 3.2 mW | 0.16 V | 1.7 mW | 0.18 V |
| 90 | 10 mW | 0.28 V | 5.5 mW | 0.31 V |
| 95 | 32 mW | 0.50 V | 17 mW | 0.56 V |
| 100 | 100 mW | 0.89 V | 55 mW | 0.99 V |
| 105 | 316 mW | 1.59 V | 174 mW | 1.77 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, PARA | Headroom, VENUS | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 0.9 dB | 6.3 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| JDS Labs Atom+ (2nd gen) | $99 | 4.0 dB | 10.1 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.99 µV |
| FiiO KA15 | $109 | 1.6 dB | 6.8 dB | 0.8 Ω | 1.7 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 130 reach 100 dB on both. 53 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 53 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 0.9 dB of headroom on the PARA and 6.3 dB on the VENUS, its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.00 Ω and 2.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 34 dB and 35 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 | |
| VENUS | 6Hz-80kHz | 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, “6Hz-80kHz” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, ±3dB)”, for the VENUS.
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 VENUS. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.