Will an audio interface drive the Etymotic ER2SE?

On power, yes — all of them. Every one of the 65 audio interfaces in this database reaches 100 dB SPL on the Etymotic ER2SE, which needs 2.5 mW at its 15Ω.

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 9.4 mW into 15Ω — 6 dB of headroom over the 2.5 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 0.08 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 Etymotic ER2SE wants a source below 1.88Ω. 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 35× 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 96.0 dB/mW and 15Ω, the Etymotic ER2SE 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.

The one audio interface here that publishes a noise figure stays below that threshold with this headphone.

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

The 12 best matches in this category

SourcePriceInto 15ΩOutput impedanceHiss in thesePower verdict
Universal Audio Volt 1$14939 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Steinberg UR24C$19438 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Audient iD4 MkII$19956 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
PreSonus Quantum ES 2$19949 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Universal Audio Volt 2$19939 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
MOTU M2$219156 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
SSL 2 MkII$229175 mW1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
MOTU M4$279156 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Apogee BOOM$299112 mW0.5 Ωnot publishedComfortable
PreSonus Studio 68c$29940 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
SSL 2 Plus MkII$299175 mW1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
Universal Audio Volt 276$29939 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 Etymotic ER2SE on other categories: USB dongles · portable players · desktop amplifiers · desktop DAC/amps.

The Etymotic ER2SE page has every source in the database against this headphone, and the matcher takes your own numbers.