Hype 2 vs Oracle MKII: which needs more amplifier?

The Thieaudio Hype 2 is 16Ω at 104.0 dB (no figure from the maker at all); 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.

In amplifier terms these two are the same headphone. The gap between what they need for 100 dB is under half a decibel, which is smaller than the step between two clicks of most volume controls.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationHype 2Oracle MKII
Impedance16 Ω15 Ω
Sensitivity104.0 dB104.0 dB
Sensitivity (voltage)122.0 dB/V122.2 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.40 mW0.40 mW
Voltage for 100 dB80 mV77 mV
Current for 100 dB5.0 mA5.2 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
2.00 Ω1.88 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

One caution before reading the rows. For Thieaudio Hype 2 and 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

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.

3 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Hype 2 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Oracle MKII (Astell&Kern HC3, RME Fireface UFX II, RME Fireface UFX III).

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: Thieaudio Hype 2 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.