Psyche vs S8: which needs more amplifier?

The Moondrop Psyche is 17.5Ω at 97.4 dB/mW; the Moondrop S8 is 16Ω at 104.0 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 Psyche needs 6.6 dB more than the S8 to reach the same loudness — 1.8 mW against 0.40 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationPsycheS8
Impedance17.5 Ω16 Ω
Sensitivity97.4 dB/mW104.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)115.0 dB/V122.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.8 mW0.40 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.18 V80 mV
Current for 100 dB10.2 mA5.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.19 Ω2.00 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.

2 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Psyche but cross it with the S8 (FiiO BTR11, Rupert Neve RNHP).

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 Psyche and Moondrop S8. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.