The Grado Signature S550 is 38Ω with a sensitivity of 112.0 dB/mW, which is 126.2 dB/V. To reach 100 dB SPL — genuinely loud, louder than most people listen — it needs 0.06 mW, or 49 mV 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, 280 have at least 10 dB of headroom and another 0 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.
Grado publishes this directly as 112 dB SPL/mW (1 mW), per milliwatt, so nothing was converted.
Source: gradolabs.com. How this data was built.
| As it is labelled | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency Response | 6Hz - 44kHz | not printed | not printed |
Grado prints 6Hz - 44kHz for the Grado Signature S550, under the heading “Frequency Response”. Source: gradolabs.com.
No tolerance is printed with it, so “6Hz - 44kHz” says nothing about how loud this headphone actually is at 6 Hz.
Only what the maker printed; maker by maker.
| Level | What it is | Power | Voltage | Current |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85 dB SPL | quiet background listening | 0.00 mW | 9 mV | 0.2 mA |
| 95 dB SPL | normal listening | 0.02 mW | 28 mV | 0.7 mA |
| 100 dB SPL | loud listening | 0.06 mW | 49 mV | 1.3 mA |
| 105 dB SPL | very loud | 0.20 mW | 87 mV | 2.3 mA |
| 110 dB SPL | peaks on dynamic music | 0.63 mW | 0.15 V | 4.1 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 38Ω 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 38Ω | Headroom | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO SnowSky Tiny A | USB dongle | $22 | 29 mW | +27 dB | Comfortable |
| FiiO SnowSky Tiny B | USB dongle | $22 | 29 mW | +27 dB | Comfortable |
| Tanchjim Stargate II | USB dongle | $40 | 63 mW | +30 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC35AL | USB dongle | $46 | 177 mW | +34 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC35Air | USB dongle | $46 | 177 mW | +34 dB | Comfortable |
| Fosi Audio N3 | Bluetooth receiver | $50 | 116 mW | +33 dB | Comfortable |
| Hidizs SD2 | USB dongle | $50 | 59 mW | +30 dB | Comfortable |
| iFi GO link | USB dongle | $59 | 60 mW | +30 dB | Comfortable |
| Kiwi Ears Allegro Pro | USB dongle | $60 | 57 mW | +30 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC35Pro (Mountain2) | USB dongle | $66 | 55 mW | +29 dB | Comfortable |
| DUNU DTC 480 | USB dongle | $70 | 55 mW | +29 dB | Comfortable |
| EPZ TP35 Pro | USB dongle | $70 | 94 mW | +32 dB | Comfortable |
| Aiyima A2 Pro | desktop DAC/amp | $75 | 126 mW | +33 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC35Pro (Eye2) | USB dongle | $76 | 55 mW | +29 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC44 Pro E2 | USB dongle | $99 | 211 mW | +35 dB | Comfortable |
Hiss. At 126.2 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 34 dB SPL in these headphones — clearly audible in quiet passages. Check your own source.
Output impedance. At 38Ω these want a source output impedance below 4.75Ω to satisfy the one-eighth rule; 34 of the 192 sources that publish one miss it. Check yours here.
38Ω · 98.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →38Ω · 98.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →38Ω · 98.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →32Ω · 111.1 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →40Ω · 112.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →42Ω · 112.0 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →Compared with its stablemates: vs GS1000 (Classic) · vs GS3000x · vs PS2000e · vs RS1x · vs RS2x · vs SR125x · vs SR225x · vs SR325x · vs SR60x · vs SR80x.