Will a portable player drive the Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020?

On power, yes — all of them. Every one of the 39 portable players in this database reaches 100 dB SPL on the Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020, which needs 4.0 mW at its 9Ω.

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 Hidizs AP80 Pro Max at $179, which delivers 20 mW into 9Ω — 7 dB of headroom over the 4.0 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 0.13 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 Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 wants a source below 1.12Ω. Of the 26 portable players here that publish an output impedance, 23 are under it and 3 are not.

The furthest over is the Shanling H5 at 4.7Ω, which is 4× 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 13 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 94.0 dB and 9Ω, the Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 turns one microvolt of source noise into about -6 dB SPL — and the threshold where that stops being noticeable in a quiet room is around 20 dB SPL.

Of the 12 portable players here that publish a noise figure, 12 stay below that threshold with this headphone and 0 cross it.

The remaining 27 publish no noise figure, so they cannot be placed on either side.

The 12 best matches in this category

SourcePriceInto 9ΩOutput impedanceHiss in thesePower verdict
TempoTec Variations V3 Blaze$179232 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
FiiO JM21$199202 mW1 Ω-1 dB SPLComfortable
Shanling M1 Plus$20955 mW0.6 Ωnot publishedComfortable
TempoTec Variations V6$36993 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
iBasso DX180$480295 mW0.6 Ωnot publishedComfortable
FiiO M21$599270 mW1 Ω0 dB SPLComfortable
Cayin N3 Ultra$64970 mW0.5 Ωnot publishedComfortable
FiiO M23$699132 mW1 Ω0 dB SPLComfortable
FiiO M33 R2R$730304 mW0.8 Ω9 dB SPLComfortable
HiBy R6 Pro II$750211 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Astell&Kern SR35$80084 mW1.1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
Shanling M6 Ultra$91967 mW1 Ωnot 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 Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 on other categories: USB dongles · Bluetooth receivers · portable amplifiers · desktop amplifiers · desktop DAC/amps · audio interfaces.

The Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 page has every source in the database against this headphone, and the matcher takes your own numbers.