Shure SE846 vs Truthear Zero:RED: which needs more amplifier?

The Shure SE846 is 9Ω at 114.0 dB/mW; the Truthear Zero:RED is 17.5Ω at 99.9 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 Truthear Zero:RED needs 14.1 dB more than the Shure SE846 to reach the same loudness — 1.0 mW against 0.04 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationShure SE846Truthear Zero:RED
Impedance9 Ω17.5 Ω
Sensitivity114.0 dB/mW99.9 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)134.5 dB/V117.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.04 mW1.0 mW
Voltage for 100 dB19 mV0.13 V
Current for 100 dB2.1 mA7.6 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.12 Ω2.19 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.

11 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Truthear Zero:RED under the one-eighth rule but not for the Shure SE846 (FiiO KA13, FiiO K11, Schiit Vali 2+, 8 more).

41 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Truthear Zero:RED but cross it with the Shure SE846 (Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO BTR11, FiiO KA13, 38 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 SE846 and Truthear Zero:RED. Every figure on this page comes from what Shure and Truthear published, or is derived from it — what Shure publishes and what Truthear publishes, both counted.