IE 300 vs IE 400 PRO: which needs more amplifier?

The Sennheiser IE 300 is 16Ω at 106.0 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 400 PRO needs 1.0 dB more than the IE 300 to reach the same loudness — 0.32 mW against 0.25 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationIE 300IE 400 PRO
Impedance16 Ω16 Ω
Sensitivity106.0 dB/mW105.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)124.0 dB/V123.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.25 mW0.32 mW
Voltage for 100 dB63 mV71 mV
Current for 100 dB4.0 mA4.4 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.

1 source stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the IE 400 PRO but crosses it with the IE 300 (Lake People G111 Mk II).

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 300 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.