The Moondrop JOKER is 68Ω with a sensitivity of 94.3 dB/mW, which is 106.0 dB/V. To reach 100 dB SPL — genuinely loud, louder than most people listen — it needs 3.7 mW, or 0.50 V across the drivers.
That is a moderate load. Most USB dongles handle it without complaint; the weakest phone outputs will run out of volume before they run out of quality. 280 of 280 sources here have enough headroom. 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.
Moondrop publishes this as 106 dB/Vrms (@1kHz) — a figure per volt, not per milliwatt. At 68Ω the two differ by 11.7 dB, so the 94.3 dB/mW above is that published number converted, not a different measurement.
This is the conversion that online calculators skip. Quote the per-volt number as if it were per-milliwatt and this headphone looks 12 dB easier to drive than it is — which is roughly the difference between a dongle being enough and not being enough.
Source: moondroplab.com. How this data was built.
| As it is labelled | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency Response Range | 15Hz- 22kHz | not printed | not printed |
| Effective Frequency Response Range | 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB) | -3 dB | IEC60318-4 |
Moondrop prints two frequency ranges for the Moondrop JOKER. The wide one carries no conditions at all; the narrow one names a measurement standard and a tolerance. Only the second is a specification — the first is a headline.
The wide range Moondrop prints for the Joker stops at 22 kHz — narrower than the headline range on most of its own models.
This is one of only 58 models — out of the 490 whose maker prints a range at all — that also print the tolerance. That is what makes it a specification rather than a headline.
Only what the maker printed; maker by maker.
| Level | What it is | Power | Voltage | Current |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 85 dB SPL | quiet background listening | 0.12 mW | 89 mV | 1.3 mA |
| 95 dB SPL | normal listening | 1.2 mW | 0.28 V | 4.2 mA |
| 100 dB SPL | loud listening | 3.7 mW | 0.50 V | 7.4 mA |
| 105 dB SPL | very loud | 12 mW | 0.89 V | 13.1 mA |
| 110 dB SPL | peaks on dynamic music | 37 mW | 1.59 V | 23.4 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 68Ω 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 68Ω | Headroom | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO KA11 | USB dongle | $29 | 95 mW | +14 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC35AL | USB dongle | $46 | 99 mW | +14 dB | Comfortable |
| ddHiFi TC35Air | USB dongle | $46 | 99 mW | +14 dB | Comfortable |
| Fosi Audio N3 | Bluetooth receiver | $50 | 65 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| FiiO BTR13 | Bluetooth receiver | $59 | 47 mW | +11 dB | Comfortable |
| Tempotec Sonata BHD Pro | USB dongle | $60 | 132 mW | +15 dB | Comfortable |
| iBasso DC03 Pro | USB dongle | $69 | 46 mW | +11 dB | Comfortable |
| EPZ TP35 Pro | USB dongle | $70 | 53 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Tanchjim Space | USB dongle | $70 | 59 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Truthear SHIO | USB dongle | $70 | 59 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Aiyima A2 Pro | desktop DAC/amp | $75 | 71 mW | +13 dB | Comfortable |
| Moondrop Dawn Pro | USB dongle | $75 | 59 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| FiiO KA3 | USB dongle | $79 | 61 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| FiiO KA5 | USB dongle | $99 | 58 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| HiBy FC4 | USB dongle | $99 | 52 mW | +11 dB | Comfortable |
Hiss. At 106.0 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 14 dB SPL in these headphones — clearly audible in quiet passages. Check your own source.
Output impedance. At 68Ω these want a source output impedance below 8.50Ω to satisfy the one-eighth rule; 34 of the 192 sources that publish one miss it. Check yours here.
64Ω · 98.1 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →60Ω · 83.8 dB/mW · Demanding
See requirements →36Ω · 102.6 dB/mW · Easy
See requirements →32Ω · 91.0 dB/mW · Moderate
See requirements →50Ω · 93.0 dB · Moderate
See requirements →50Ω · 93.0 dB/mW · Moderate
See requirements →Compared with its stablemates: vs COSMO · vs PARA · vs PARA 2 · vs SKYLAND · vs Stellaris · vs VENUS.