The Moondrop PARA is 8Ω with a sensitivity of 80.0 dB/mW, which is 101.0 dB/V. To reach 100 dB SPL — genuinely loud, louder than most people listen — it needs 100 mW, or 0.89 V across the drivers.
That is a demanding load — not impossible from a portable source, but you want a good one. 38 of the 280 sources have at least 10 dB of headroom, 65 more have enough, 27 are marginal and 150 fall short.
Sensitivity here is in dB per milliwatt. Why the unit matters.
Moondrop publishes this as 101 dB/Vrms (@1kHz) — a figure per volt, not per milliwatt. At 8Ω the two differ by 21.0 dB, so the 80.0 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 21 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 Range | 15-53kHz (IEC61094, Free Field) | not printed | IEC61094 (free field) |
| Effective Frequency Range | 20-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB) | -3 dB | IEC60318-4 |
Moondrop prints two frequency ranges for the Moondrop PARA. 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.
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 | 3.2 mW | 0.16 V | 19.9 mA |
| 95 dB SPL | normal listening | 32 mW | 0.50 V | 62.9 mA |
| 100 dB SPL | loud listening | 100 mW | 0.89 V | 111.8 mA |
| 105 dB SPL | very loud | 316 mW | 1.59 V | 198.8 mA |
| 110 dB SPL | peaks on dynamic music | 1.0 W | 2.83 V | 353.6 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 8Ω 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 8Ω | Headroom | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schiit Magni Heresy | desktop amplifier | $99 | 1.4 W | +11 dB | Comfortable |
| Schiit Magni Unity | desktop amplifier | $119 | 1.5 W | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Topping L30 II | desktop amplifier | $149 | 1.8 W | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| SMSL HO100 | desktop amplifier | $160 | 1.5 W | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| SMSL C200 | desktop DAC/amp | $219 | 1.3 W | +11 dB | Comfortable |
| Schiit Midgard | desktop amplifier | $219 | 2.8 W | +14 dB | Comfortable |
| Topping L50 | desktop amplifier | $229 | 1.8 W | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Topping A30 Pro | desktop amplifier | $249 | 3.0 W | +15 dB | Comfortable |
| Schiit Asgard 3 | desktop amplifier | $279 | 2.5 W | +14 dB | Comfortable |
| SMSL SH-9 | desktop amplifier | $289 | 3.0 W | +15 dB | Comfortable |
| SMSL H300 | desktop amplifier | $296 | 5.0 W | +17 dB | Comfortable |
| Geshelli Archel 3S Pro | desktop amplifier | $370 | 1.0 W | +10 dB | Comfortable |
| SMSL H200 | desktop amplifier | $399 | 1.3 W | +11 dB | Comfortable |
| SMSL HO200 | desktop amplifier | $399 | 3.0 W | +15 dB | Comfortable |
| Schiit Lyr+ | desktop amplifier | $449 | 4.5 W | +17 dB | Comfortable |
Hiss. At 101.0 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 9 dB SPL in these headphones — faintly audible in a silent room. Check your own source.
Output impedance. At 8Ω these want a source output impedance below 1.00Ω to satisfy the one-eighth rule; 50 of the 192 sources that publish one miss it. Check yours here.
Volume is not the test. Plenty of weak sources will play these loud enough. What runs out first is control on bass peaks, where the current demand spikes well above the average figures in the table. If it sounds loud but soft, that is what you are hearing.
9Ω · 85.5 dB/mW · Moderate
See requirements →15Ω · 81.8 dB/mW · Moderate
See requirements →18Ω · 82.6 dB/mW · Moderate
See requirements →60Ω · 83.0 dB · Demanding
See requirements →50Ω · 83.5 dB · Demanding
See requirements →50Ω · 83.5 dB · Demanding
See requirements →Compared with its stablemates: vs COSMO · vs HORIZON · vs JOKER · vs Old Fashioned · vs PARA 2 · vs SKYLAND · vs Stellaris · vs VENUS · vs Void.