Moondrop Variations vs Sennheiser IE 200: which needs more amplifier?

The Moondrop Variations is 15.2Ω at 99.8 dB/mW; the Sennheiser IE 200 is 18Ω at 101.6 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 Moondrop Variations needs 1.8 dB more than the Sennheiser IE 200 to reach the same loudness — 1.0 mW against 0.69 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationMoondrop VariationsSennheiser IE 200
Impedance15.2 Ω18 Ω
Sensitivity99.8 dB/mW101.6 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)118.0 dB/V119.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB1.0 mW0.69 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.13 V0.11 V
Current for 100 dB8.3 mA6.2 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.90 Ω2.25 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.

3 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Sennheiser IE 200 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Moondrop Variations (Astell&Kern HC3, RME Fireface UFX II, RME Fireface UFX III).

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 Variations and Sennheiser IE 200. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop and Sennheiser published, or is derived from it — what Moondrop publishes and what Sennheiser publishes, both counted.