Milliwatts into 32 Ω divided by the asking price. It is the most honest list here and the least useful one, and both halves of that are the point.
Honest, because every figure in it is published and the division is arithmetic anyone can repeat. Useless, because the median headphone in this database needs 1.0 mW for 100 dB SPL — so almost everything on this list is buying you power you will never use, and none of these columns knows anything about output impedance, noise or whether the thing is pleasant to own. Power is the specification that stops mattering first, and a ranking by power per dollar is a ranking by the thing that stopped mattering.
| Source | Price | Type | Into 32 Ω | Per dollar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schiit Magni Heresy | $99 | desktop amplifier | 2.4 W | 24 mW |
| Topping A30 Pro | $249 | desktop amplifier | 5.5 W | 22 mW |
| Schiit Midgard | $219 | desktop amplifier | 4.8 W | 22 mW |
| Schiit Magni Unity | $119 | desktop amplifier | 2.5 W | 21 mW |
| JDS Labs Atom Amp 2 | $129 | desktop amplifier | 2.6 W | 21 mW |
| Schiit Magni+ | $109 | desktop amplifier | 2.0 W | 18 mW |
| Topping L30 II | $149 | desktop amplifier | 2.7 W | 18 mW |
| SMSL H300 | $296 | desktop amplifier | 5.0 W | 17 mW |
| Schiit Lyr+ | $449 | desktop amplifier | 6.0 W | 13 mW |
| Gustard H20 | $929 | desktop amplifier | 12.0 W | 13 mW |
| Schiit Asgard 3 | $279 | desktop amplifier | 3.5 W | 13 mW |
| Topping L50 | $229 | desktop amplifier | 2.8 W | 12 mW |
| xDuoo MT-604 | $169 | desktop amplifier | 2.0 W | 12 mW |
| SMSL SH-9 | $289 | desktop amplifier | 3.0 W | 10 mW |
| JDS Labs Atom+ (2nd gen) | $99 | desktop amplifier | 1.0 W | 10 mW |
The table shows the first 15 of 280. The rest are in the full source list, where every figure is labelled with where it came from.
Nothing in the database had to be left off this list.
This is not a ranking of sound quality and cannot be. It sorts one number that manufacturers printed, and manufacturers do not print anything about how their products sound. Every row links to that product’s own page, where each figure is labelled with the document it came from.
Quietest sources for sensitive in-ears · Lowest published output impedance · Most power into 300 Ω · Sources that drive everything here · Audio interfaces as headphone amplifiers · Sources under $100 · Hardest headphones to drive · Most sensitive in-ears · Quietest desktop sources · What balanced actually gains · Portable players by power · High-impedance headphones