PURE vs Zero: which needs more amplifier?

The Truthear PURE is 13.8Ω at 105.4 dB/mW; the Truthear Zero is 10Ω at 97.5 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.

The Zero needs 7.9 dB more than the PURE to reach the same loudness — 1.8 mW against 0.29 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationPUREZero
Impedance13.8 Ω10 Ω
Sensitivity105.4 dB/mW97.5 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)124.0 dB/V117.5 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.29 mW1.8 mW
Voltage for 100 dB63 mV0.13 V
Current for 100 dB4.6 mA13.3 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.73 Ω1.25 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.

4 sources are low enough in output impedance for the PURE under the one-eighth rule but not for the Zero (FiiO KA13, FiiO M11S, Singxer SA-1, 1 more).

5 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Zero but cross it with the PURE (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Schiit Valhalla 3, 2 more).

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

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The Zero is more demanding than 42% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the PURE than 18%.

dB SPLPURE powerPURE voltageZero powerZero voltage
802.9 µW6 mV0.02 mW13 mV
859.1 µW11 mV0.06 mW24 mV
900.03 mW20 mV0.18 mW42 mV
950.09 mW35 mV0.56 mW75 mV
1000.29 mW63 mV1.8 mW0.13 V
1050.91 mW0.11 V5.6 mW0.24 V

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, PUREHeadroom, ZeroOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2016.5 dB7.2 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2928.6 dB19.4 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR13$5925.5 dB16.3 dB0.6 Ω1.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 61 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 61 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 16.5 dB of headroom on the PURE and 7.2 dB on the Zero, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.73 Ω and 1.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 11 dB and 18 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
PURE7-40kHz (IEC61094, Free Field)not printedIEC61094 (free field)
 20-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)-3 dBIEC60318-4
Zero20Hz - 39500Hz (IEC61094, Free Field)not printedIEC61094 (free field)

Truthear prints two ranges, “7-40kHz (IEC61094, Free Field)” and “20-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)”, for the PURE and 20Hz - 39500Hz (IEC61094, Free Field) for the Zero.

Zero: The label is printed "Frequency Responce", with the spelling as it stands on the page.

Only one of the two is a specification. The range printed for the PURE comes with a tolerance; the one printed for the Zero does not, and a range without a ±dB figure says nothing about how loud that model is at either end of it. The two cannot be compared number against number, however similar they look in the table. Of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print the tolerance.

Not a measurement; maker by maker.

Both pages in full

Both have a page of their own. In full: Truthear PURE and Truthear Zero. Every figure on this page comes from what Truthear published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

↑