IE 200 vs IE 400 PRO: which needs more amplifier?

The Sennheiser IE 200 is 18Ω at 101.6 dB/mW; the Sennheiser IE 400 PRO is 16Ω at 105.0 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 IE 200 needs 3.4 dB more than the IE 400 PRO to reach the same loudness — 0.69 mW against 0.32 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationIE 200IE 400 PRO
Impedance18 Ω16 Ω
Sensitivity101.6 dB/mW105.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)119.0 dB/V123.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.69 mW0.32 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.11 V71 mV
Current for 100 dB6.2 mA4.4 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.25 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.

3 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the IE 200 but cross it with the IE 400 PRO (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, 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: Sennheiser IE 200 and Sennheiser IE 400 PRO. Every figure on this page comes from what Sennheiser published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.