DB2 vs F1 Pro: which needs more amplifier?

The NiceHCK DB2 is 16Ω at 107.0 dB/mW; the NiceHCK F1 Pro 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 F1 Pro needs 3.0 dB more than the DB2 to reach the same loudness — 0.40 mW against 0.20 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDB2F1 Pro
Impedance16 Ω16 Ω
Sensitivity107.0 dB/mW104.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)125.0 dB/V122.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.20 mW0.40 mW
Voltage for 100 dB57 mV80 mV
Current for 100 dB3.5 mA5.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.00 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.

6 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the F1 Pro but cross it with the DB2 (FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, Lake People G111 Mk II, 3 more).

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: NiceHCK DB2 and NiceHCK F1 Pro. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones NiceHCK never published — what that maker publishes, counted.