The Dan Clark Audio ÆON Core is 17Ω with a sensitivity of 94.0 dB/mW, which is 111.7 dB/V. To reach 100 dB SPL — genuinely loud, louder than most people listen — it needs 4.0 mW, or 0.26 V across the drivers.
That puts it in the easy category. A phone, a laptop headphone jack or the cheapest USB dongle will drive it to painful levels. Of the 280 sources in the database, 242 have at least 10 dB of headroom and another 37 have enough. The cheapest portable source that does the job is the Apple USB-C dongle (US) at $9.
Sensitivity here is in dB per milliwatt. Why the unit matters.
Dan Clark Audio publishes this directly as 94 dB/mW (printed with a tilde: "~94 dB/mW"), per milliwatt, so nothing was converted.
Source: danclarkaudio.com. How this data was built.
Dan Clark Audio's specification table has a frequency-response row for the Dan Clark Audio ÆON Core. What it prints in that row is: “Yes, it has one”. Source: danclarkaudio.com.
It is a joke, and it is a better argument than most of this page. A frequency range printed without a tolerance carries almost no information, and this maker would rather say nothing than say something meaningless. Of the 578 models checked so far, 490 have a maker-printed range and 58 of those come with the ±dB figure that would make the range mean something.
Only what the maker printed; maker by maker.
| Level | What it is | Power | Voltage | Current |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85 dB SPL | quiet background listening | 0.13 mW | 46 mV | 2.7 mA |
| 95 dB SPL | normal listening | 1.3 mW | 0.15 V | 8.6 mA |
| 100 dB SPL | loud listening | 4.0 mW | 0.26 V | 15.3 mA |
| 105 dB SPL | very loud | 13 mW | 0.46 V | 27.2 mA |
| 110 dB SPL | peaks on dynamic music | 40 mW | 0.82 V | 48.4 mA |
Most people listen between 75 and 85 dB; the 100 dB row leaves room for peaks.
The 15 cheapest of the 280 sources here that reach 100 dB SPL into 17Ω with at least 10 dB of headroom and no known hiss or output-impedance problem with these headphones. All 280 sources, judged for these headphones.
| Source | Type | Price | Power into 17Ω | Headroom | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO SnowSky Tiny A | USB dongle | $22 | 44 mW | +10 dB | Comfortable |
| FiiO SnowSky Tiny B | USB dongle | $22 | 64 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| FiiO KA11 | USB dongle | $29 | 239 mW | +18 dB | Comfortable |
| Tanchjim Stargate II | USB dongle | $40 | 81 mW | +13 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC35AL | USB dongle | $46 | 112 mW | +14 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC35Air | USB dongle | $46 | 112 mW | +14 dB | Comfortable |
| Fosi Audio N3 | Bluetooth receiver | $50 | 73 mW | +13 dB | Comfortable |
| FiiO BTR13 | Bluetooth receiver | $59 | 117 mW | +15 dB | Comfortable |
| iBasso DC03 Pro | USB dongle | $69 | 52 mW | +11 dB | Comfortable |
| EPZ TP35 Pro | USB dongle | $70 | 60 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Tanchjim Space | USB dongle | $70 | 66 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Truthear SHIO | USB dongle | $70 | 66 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Aiyima A2 Pro | desktop DAC/amp | $75 | 80 mW | +13 dB | Comfortable |
| Moondrop Dawn Pro | USB dongle | $75 | 66 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| FiiO KA13 | USB dongle | $79 | 67 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
Hiss. At 111.7 dB/V these are sensitive enough to reveal a source's own noise floor. The noisiest source in the database, the Schiit Mjolnir 3, would put its hiss at roughly 20 dB SPL in these headphones — clearly audible in quiet passages. Check your own source.
Output impedance. At 17Ω these want a source output impedance below 2.12Ω to satisfy the one-eighth rule; 35 of the 192 sources that publish one miss it. Check yours here.
13Ω · 90.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →13Ω · 90.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →13Ω · 90.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →35Ω · 97.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →28Ω · 96.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →45Ω · 98.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →Compared with its stablemates: vs AEON 2 Closed · vs AEON 2 Noire · vs AEON 2 Open · vs AEON RT · vs Noire X · vs NOIRE XO.