Will a USB dongle drive the AKG K612 Pro?

On power: 50 of the 51 USB dongles here reach 100 dB SPL on the AKG K612 Pro. It needs 6.6 mW at its 120Ω, and 1 of them do not get there.

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 1 that fall short are Apple USB-C dongle (EU). The closest of them, the Apple USB-C dongle (EU), delivers 4.7 mW into 120Ω against the 6.6 mW needed — 1.4 dB short.

The cheapest one that does reach it is the Apple USB-C dongle (US) at $9, which delivers 9.5 mW into 120Ω — 2 dB of headroom over the 6.6 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 0.21 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 AKG K612 Pro wants a source below 15.00Ω. Of the 18 USB dongles here that publish an output impedance, 18 are under it and 0 are not.

The other 33 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 91.8 dB/mW and 120Ω, the AKG K612 Pro turns one microvolt of source noise into about -19 dB SPL — and the threshold where that stops being noticeable in a quiet room is around 20 dB SPL.

Of the 16 USB dongles here that publish a noise figure, 16 stay below that threshold with this headphone and 0 cross it.

The remaining 35 publish no noise figure, so they cannot be placed on either side.

The 12 best matches in this category

SourcePriceInto 120ΩOutput impedanceHiss in thesePower verdict
Tempotec Sonata BHD Pro$6075 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
ddHiFi TC44 Pro E2$9967 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Tanchjim LUNA$14093 mWnot published-17 dB SPLComfortable
Moondrop Moonriver 2 Ti$19092 mWnot published-15 dB SPLComfortable
Qudelix T71$229133 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Questyle M15$250121 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Generic CX31993 dongles$1221 mWnot publishednot publishedEnough
FiiO KA11$2954 mW0.7 Ω-14 dB SPLEnough
Tanchjim Stargate II$4020 mWnot publishednot publishedEnough
ddHiFi TC35AL$4656 mWnot publishednot publishedEnough
ddHiFi TC35Air$4656 mWnot publishednot publishedEnough
Hidizs SD2$5019 mWnot publishednot publishedEnough

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 AKG K612 Pro on other categories: portable players · desktop amplifiers · audio interfaces.

The AKG K612 Pro page has every source in the database against this headphone, and the matcher takes your own numbers.