Hype 10 vs Oracle MKII: which needs more amplifier?

The Thieaudio Hype 10 is 18Ω at 87.6 dB/mW; the Thieaudio Oracle MKII is 15Ω at 104.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all). 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 Hype 10 needs 16.4 dB more than the Oracle MKII to reach the same loudness — 17 mW against 0.40 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationHype 10Oracle MKII
Impedance18 Ω15 Ω
Sensitivity87.6 dB/mW104.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)105.0 dB/V122.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB17 mW0.40 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.56 V77 mV
Current for 100 dB31.1 mA5.2 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.25 Ω1.88 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
264280

One caution before reading the rows. For Thieaudio Oracle MKII the maker publishes no sensitivity figure at all. The number in the table was collected when this database was first built and has never been traced to a manufacturer document, so treat every row below it as an estimate rather than a specification.

Where the two part company

16 of the 280 sources have the power for the Oracle MKII but not for the Hype 10 — Apple USB-C dongle (US), Apple USB-C dongle (EU), JadeAudio JA11, 13 more.

3 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Hype 10 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Oracle MKII (Astell&Kern HC3, RME Fireface UFX II, RME Fireface UFX III).

2 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Hype 10 but cross it with the Oracle MKII (FiiO BTR11, Rupert Neve RNHP).

264 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: Thieaudio Hype 10 and Thieaudio Oracle MKII. 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.