Will an audio interface drive the 64 Audio U12t?

On power, yes — all of them. Every one of the 65 audio interfaces in this database reaches 100 dB SPL on the 64 Audio U12t, which needs 0.16 mW at its 12.6Ω.

Power is one of three questions and the one that goes wrong least often. The other two — whether the source’s output impedance leaves the frequency response alone, and whether you will hear its noise floor — are answered further down, separately, because a source can pass one and fail another.

Whether it gets loud enough

The cheapest one that does reach it is the Zoom AMS-22 at $100, which delivers 7.9 mW into 12.6Ω — 17 dB of headroom over the 0.16 mW this headphone needs for 100 dB SPL.

100 dB SPL is a peak level, not a listening level. If you listen at 85 dB the same headphone needs 0.01 mW, which is 15 dB less, and the answer above changes for most of the category. The model page has the full ladder.

Whether it changes how they sound

Under the one-eighth rule the 64 Audio U12t wants a source below 1.57Ω. Of the 43 audio interfaces here that publish an output impedance, 13 are under it and 30 are not.

The furthest over is the Tascam US-2x2HR at 66Ω, which is 42× the ceiling. Above that threshold the source stops being a volume control and starts being part of the frequency response. The simulator shows what that looks like.

The other 22 publish nothing at all on this, so they are not on either side of that count. This site leaves them blank rather than assuming a figure.

Whether you will hear it between tracks

Hiss depends on the source’s own noise floor and on how sensitive the headphone is. At 108.0 dB/mW and 12.6Ω, the 64 Audio U12t turns one microvolt of source noise into about 7 dB SPL — and the threshold where that stops being noticeable in a quiet room is around 20 dB SPL.

The one audio interface here that publishes a noise figure does not stay below that threshold with this headphone.

The worst of them is the RME Babyface Pro FS, whose published 6.3 µV works out to 23 dB SPL of hiss in these. The hiss calculator takes your own figures.

The remaining 64 publish no noise figure, so they cannot be placed on either side.

The 12 best matches in this category

SourcePriceInto 12.6ΩOutput impedanceHiss in thesePower verdict
Steinberg IXO22$11913 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
IK Multimedia AXE I/O ONE$13010 mW<0.1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
PreSonus Studio 24c$14911 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Universal Audio Volt 1$14933 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Steinberg UR24C$19432 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Audient iD4 MkII$19947 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
PreSonus Quantum ES 2$19942 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Steinberg UR22C$1994.7 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Universal Audio Volt 2$19933 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
MOTU M2$219131 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
SSL 2 MkII$229147 mW1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
Focusrite Vocaster Two$25011 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable

Sorted by how many of the three questions the source answers well, then by price. A blank in a column is a blank in the manufacturer’s own documentation, not a zero.

The same headphone, other kinds of source

The 64 Audio U12t on other categories: USB dongles · Bluetooth receivers · portable players · desktop amplifiers · desktop DAC/amps.

The 64 Audio U12t page has every source in the database against this headphone, and the matcher takes your own numbers.