The Thieaudio Hype 10 is 18Ω at 87.6 dB/mW; the Thieaudio Monarch MK3 is 20Ω at 99.0 dB (no reference unit printed). This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
The Hype 10 needs 11.4 dB more than the Monarch MK3 to reach the same loudness — 17 mW against 1.3 mW.
| Specification | Hype 10 | Monarch MK3 |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 18 Ω | 20 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 87.6 dB/mW | 99.0 dB |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 105.0 dB/V | 116.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 17 mW | 1.3 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.56 V | 0.16 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 31.1 mA | 7.9 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 2.25 Ω | 2.50 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 264 | 280 |
One caution before reading the rows. Thieaudio Monarch MK3 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.
16 of the 280 sources have the power for the Monarch MK3 but not for the Hype 10 — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), JadeAudio JA11, 13 more.
1 source stays below the audible-hiss threshold with the Hype 10 but crosses it with the Monarch MK3 (Schiit Mjolnir 3).
264 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The Hype 10 is more demanding than 88% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Monarch MK3 than 49%.
| dB SPL | Hype 10 power | Hype 10 voltage | Monarch MK3 power | Monarch MK3 voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0.17 mW | 56 mV | 0.01 mW | 16 mV |
| 85 | 0.55 mW | 99 mV | 0.04 mW | 28 mV |
| 90 | 1.7 mW | 0.18 V | 0.13 mW | 50 mV |
| 95 | 5.5 mW | 0.31 V | 0.40 mW | 89 mV |
| 100 | 17 mW | 0.56 V | 1.3 mW | 0.16 V |
| 105 | 55 mW | 0.99 V | 4.0 mW | 0.28 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Hype 10 | Headroom, Monarch MK3 | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 11.3 dB | 22.5 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR11 | $36 | 3.8 dB | 14.9 dB | 0.5 Ω | 8.0 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 8.2 dB | 19.4 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 264 reach 100 dB on both. 68 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 68 is the FiiO KA11, at $29. It leaves 11.3 dB of headroom on the Hype 10 and 22.5 dB on the Monarch MK3, its output impedance is 0.7 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.25 Ω and 2.50 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 30 dB and 19 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
Both have a page of their own. In full: Thieaudio Hype 10 and Thieaudio Monarch MK3. Each figure on this page is labelled on those pages with where it came from, including the ones Thieaudio never published — what that maker publishes, counted.