EA FORCE vs OLA II: which needs more amplifier?

The Tanchjim EA FORCE is 17Ω at 120.0 dB (no reference unit printed); the Tanchjim OLA II is 30Ω at 105.8 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The OLA II needs 14.2 dB more than the EA FORCE to reach the same loudness — 0.26 mW against 0.01 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationEA FORCEOLA II
Impedance17 Ω30 Ω
Sensitivity120.0 dB105.8 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)137.7 dB/V121.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.01 mW0.26 mW
Voltage for 100 dB13 mV89 mV
Current for 100 dB0.8 mA3.0 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.12 Ω3.75 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. Tanchjim EA FORCE printed a decibel figure with no reference unit, so this page reads it as per milliwatt. If it is really per volt, that model needs far more than the table says. Why the two readings differ by so much.

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.

67 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the OLA II but cross it with the EA FORCE (JadeAudio JA11, Kiwi Ears Allegro Mini, FiiO KA11, 64 more).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The OLA II is more demanding than 27% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the EA FORCE than 0%.

dB SPLEA FORCE powerEA FORCE voltageOLA II powerOLA II voltage
800.1 µW1 mV2.6 µW9 mV
850.3 µW2 mV8.3 µW16 mV
901.0 µW4 mV0.03 mW28 mV
953.2 µW7 mV0.08 mW50 mV
1000.01 mW13 mV0.26 mW89 mV
1050.03 mW23 mV0.83 mW0.16 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, EA FORCEHeadroom, OLA IIOutput impedanceNoise
FiiO BTR13$5940.7 dB25.8 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV
iBasso DC03 Pro$6937.2 dB25.4 dB0.12 Ω0.9 µV
Topping L30 II$14955.3 dB40.2 dB0.1 Ω0.3 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 11 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both.

The cheapest of the 11 is the FiiO BTR13, at $59. It leaves 40.7 dB of headroom on the EA FORCE and 25.8 dB on the OLA II, its output impedance is 0.6 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.12 Ω and 3.75 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 2 dB and 19 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Try any other source.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
EA FORCE8-48 kHZnot printednot printed
OLA II8-48 kHZnot printednot printed

Tanchjim prints the same thing for both the EA FORCE and the OLA II: 8-48 kHZ.

For both: Tanchjim prints this row in Chinese and puts the unit only on the upper figure. Read strictly, “8-48 kHZ” starts at 8 kHz; read the way everyone reads it, at 8 Hz. The maker does not say which.

Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, so the matching numbers say little.

Not a measurement; maker by maker.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Tanchjim EA FORCE and Tanchjim OLA II. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Tanchjim never published — what that maker publishes, counted.

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