AONIC 5 vs SE315: which needs more amplifier?

The Shure AONIC 5 is 36Ω at 119.0 dB/mW; the Shure SE315 is 27Ω at 116.0 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 SE315 needs 3.0 dB more than the AONIC 5 to reach the same loudness — 0.03 mW against 0.01 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationAONIC 5SE315
Impedance36 Ω27 Ω
Sensitivity119.0 dB/mW116.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)133.4 dB/V131.7 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.01 mW0.03 mW
Voltage for 100 dB21 mV26 mV
Current for 100 dB0.6 mA1.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.50 Ω3.38 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.

4 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the SE315 but cross it with the AONIC 5 (FiiO KA13, Fosi Audio K7, Chord Hugo 2, 1 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: Shure AONIC 5 and Shure SE315. Every figure on this page comes from what Shure published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.