Roland Rubix22: power output and what it will drive

The Roland Rubix22 is an audio interface at $210. It delivers 19 mW into 32Ω and 9.4 mW into 300Ω, which ranks it 275 of 280 for raw power among the sources in this database.

Measured at 100 dB SPL it has comfortable headroom on 350 of the 571 dynamic and planar headphones catalogued here, enough but not generous on 168, only marginal on 28 and not enough power for 25. Power here is worked out from the one published figure and the published 47Ω output impedance, which is what actually governs this amplifier. Output noise is not published, so the hiss estimate cannot be run.

What it actually puts out

TypeAudio interface
Price$210
Power into 32 Ω19 mW
Power into 150 Ω14 mW
Power into 300 Ω9.4 mW
Power into 600 Ω5.4 mW
Output impedance47 Ω
Output noisenot published
Comfortable headroom on 350 of 571 headphones (61%) · short of power on 25

Where these numbers come from

The manufacturer publishes 20 mW into 47Ω. Everything else in the table above is worked out from those figures, and this table says which is which.

Derivation holds output voltage steady between and beyond the published loads rather than output power, because that is what an amplifier actually does. The full method is written up here.

Source: roland.com.

LoadPowerStatusHow it was arrived at
32 Ω19 mWDerivedworked out from the published figure and the published output impedance, through the divider that impedance creates
47 Ω20 mWPublishedthe manufacturer publishes this figure at this exact load
150 Ω14 mWDerivedworked out from the published figure and the published output impedance, through the divider that impedance creates
300 Ω9.4 mWDerivedworked out from the published figure and the published output impedance, through the divider that impedance creates
600 Ω5.4 mWDerivedworked out from the published figure and the published output impedance, through the divider that impedance creates

Against 40 well-known headphones

Ordered from easiest to hardest to drive. Headroom is measured at 100 dB SPL, which is louder than almost anyone listens — a small negative number means the source still plays loud, just without reserve for peaks.

These figures come from each manufacturer's own sensitivity rating. A handful of planars — the HiFiMAN Susvara and HE-6se and the Abyss AB-1266 in particular — are widely reported to need far more than their published sensitivity implies, so treat a bare pass on those as optimistic rather than settled.

HeadphoneImpedancedB/mWNeedsHeadroomVerdict
Shure SE8469 Ω114.00.04 mW+21 dBComfortable damping
64 Audio U12t12.6 Ω108.00.16 mW+17 dBComfortable damping
Shure SE21517 Ω107.00.20 mW+17 dBComfortable damping
Moondrop Aria32 Ω107.10.19 mW+20 dBComfortable damping
Audeze LCD-X 202120 Ω103.00.50 mW+14 dBComfortable damping
Truthear Hexa20.5 Ω103.10.49 mW+14 dBComfortable damping
Sennheiser IE 20018 Ω101.60.69 mW+12 dBComfortable damping
Sony MDR-750663 Ω106.00.25 mW+18 dBComfortable damping
Meze 99 Classics32 Ω103.00.50 mW+16 dBComfortable damping
Focal Clear MG55 Ω104.00.40 mW+17 dBComfortable damping
Philips SHP950032 Ω101.00.79 mW+14 dBComfortable damping
Focal Utopia80 Ω104.00.40 mW+16 dBComfortable damping
Meze Empyrean32 Ω100.01.0 mW+13 dBComfortable damping
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω94.04.0 mW+1 dBMarginal damping
Etymotic ER2SE15 Ω96.02.5 mW+6 dBEnough damping
AKG K37132 Ω99.11.2 mW+12 dBComfortable damping
Audio-Technica ATH-M50X38 Ω99.01.3 mW+12 dBComfortable damping
Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X48 Ω100.01.0 mW+13 dBComfortable damping
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω101.00.79 mW+13 dBComfortable damping
Grado SR80x38 Ω98.01.6 mW+11 dBComfortable damping
Sennheiser HD 560S120 Ω100.80.83 mW+12 dBComfortable damping
HiFiMAN Edition XS18 Ω92.06.3 mW+2 dBMarginal damping
HiFiMAN Arya Stealth32 Ω94.04.0 mW+7 dBEnough damping
Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed13 Ω90.010 mW-1 dBNot enough damping
Audeze LCD-514 Ω90.010 mW-1 dBNot enough damping
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω102.00.63 mW+12 dBComfortable damping
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω91.07.9 mW+3 dBMarginal damping
HiFiMAN Sundara32 Ω92.06.3 mW+5 dBEnough damping
Dan Clark Audio Stealth23 Ω90.010 mW+1 dBMarginal damping
Fostex T50RP MK350 Ω92.06.3 mW+5 dBEnough damping
AKG K70262 Ω92.95.1 mW+5 dBEnough damping
ZMF Verite Closed300 Ω99.01.3 mW+9 dBEnough damping
Sennheiser HD 650300 Ω97.81.7 mW+8 dBEnough damping
Sennheiser HD 800S300 Ω96.82.1 mW+7 dBEnough damping
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω96.02.5 mW+6 dBEnough damping
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω98.01.6 mW+6 dBEnough
ZMF Atrium300 Ω96.02.5 mW+6 dBEnough damping
Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC50 Ω88.016 mW+1 dBMarginal damping
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω91.86.6 mW+2 dBMarginal damping
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω83.050 mW-4 dBNot enough damping

Will it hiss?

The manufacturer does not publish an output noise figure for this source, so the hiss estimate that runs on every other page here cannot be run on this one. Rather than substitute a plausible number, this page leaves the question open.

If you know the noise figure from a measurement you trust, the hiss calculator takes it directly and tells you where that noise lands in your own in-ears.

Output impedance and the one-eighth rule

At 47 Ω output impedance, the one-eighth rule says this source suits headphones of 376.0Ω and above. 565 of the 571 models here fall below that. That is most of the database, not a niche — 222 of them multi-driver in-ears, and the mismatch tilts the frequency response audibly rather than subtly.

The rule is a rule of thumb, not physics: a source impedance below one eighth of the headphone's keeps the interaction under about 1 dB. The checker works it out for any pair.

Other audio interfaces at a similar price

Or put any two side by side in the source comparison tool, or run your own headphones through the amplifier matcher. Or see every Roland source in the database, and how much of what this site says about them came from Roland’s own documents.