Will a Bluetooth receiver drive the HiFiMAN Susvara?

On power: 9 of the 13 Bluetooth receivers here reach 100 dB SPL on the HiFiMAN Susvara. It needs 50 mW at its 60Ω, and 4 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 4 that fall short are FiiO BTR11, EarStudio ES100 MK2, FiiO BTR5 2021, HiBy W5. The closest of them, the FiiO BTR5 2021, delivers 43 mW into 60Ω against the 50 mW needed — 0.7 dB short.

The cheapest one that does reach it is the Fosi Audio N3 at $50, which delivers 74 mW into 60Ω — 2 dB of headroom over the 50 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 1.6 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 HiFiMAN Susvara wants a source below 7.50Ω. Of the 7 Bluetooth receivers here that publish an output impedance, 7 are under it and 0 are not.

The other 6 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 83.0 dB and 60Ω, the HiFiMAN Susvara turns one microvolt of source noise into about -25 dB SPL — and the threshold where that stops being noticeable in a quiet room is around 20 dB SPL.

Of the 6 Bluetooth receivers here that publish a noise figure, 6 stay below that threshold with this headphone and 0 cross it.

The remaining 7 publish no noise figure, so they cannot be placed on either side.

The 12 best matches in this category

SourcePriceInto 60ΩOutput impedanceHiss in thesePower verdict
FiiO BTR17$199149 mW1 Ω-15 dB SPLEnough
Shanling UP6$199334 mWnot publishednot publishedEnough
Fosi Audio N3$5074 mWnot publishednot publishedMarginal
FiiO BTR13$5953 mW0.6 Ω-25 dB SPLMarginal
FiiO BTR15$10968 mW1 Ω-19 dB SPLMarginal
Qudelix 5K$10967 mWnot publishednot publishedMarginal
Shanling UP5$17960 mWnot publishednot publishedMarginal
FiiO BTR7$19986 mW1.2 Ω-15 dB SPLMarginal
iFi GO blu$21988 mW1 Ωnot publishedMarginal
FiiO BTR11$3616 mW0.5 Ω-7 dB SPLNot enough
EarStudio ES100 MK2$9036 mWnot publishednot publishedNot enough
FiiO BTR5 2021$10943 mW1 Ω-19 dB SPLNot enough

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 HiFiMAN Susvara on other categories: USB dongles · portable players · desktop amplifiers · desktop DAC/amps · audio interfaces.

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