On power: 33 of the 39 portable players here reach 100 dB SPL on the HiFiMAN Susvara. It needs 50 mW at its 60Ω, and 6 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.
The 6 that fall short are Hidizs AP80 Pro Max, Hidizs AP80 Pro-X, Sony NW-A306, Sony NW-ZX707, 2 more. The closest of them, the Hidizs AP80 Pro Max, delivers 37 mW into 60Ω against the 50 mW needed — 1.3 dB short.
The cheapest one that does reach it is the TempoTec Variations V3 Blaze at $179, which delivers 440 mW into 60Ω — 9 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.
Under the one-eighth rule the HiFiMAN Susvara wants a source below 7.50Ω. Of the 26 portable players here that publish an output impedance, 26 are under it and 0 are not.
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.
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 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.
| Source | Price | Into 60Ω | Output impedance | Hiss in these | Power verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO M27 | $1799 | 964 mW | 0.5 Ω | -13 dB SPL | Comfortable |
| TempoTec Variations V3 Blaze | $179 | 440 mW | not published | not published | Enough |
| FiiO JM21 | $199 | 133 mW | 1 Ω | -21 dB SPL | Enough |
| Shanling M1 Plus | $209 | 104 mW | 0.6 Ω | not published | Enough |
| Shanling H5 | $369 | 121 mW | 4.7 Ω | not published | Enough |
| TempoTec Variations V6 | $369 | 176 mW | not published | not published | Enough |
| iBasso DX180 | $480 | 140 mW | 0.6 Ω | not published | Enough |
| FiiO M11S | $499 | 108 mW | 1.5 Ω | -20 dB SPL | Enough |
| FiiO M21 | $599 | 217 mW | 1 Ω | -19 dB SPL | Enough |
| Cayin N3 Ultra | $649 | 133 mW | 0.5 Ω | not published | Enough |
| FiiO M33 R2R | $730 | 256 mW | 0.8 Ω | -10 dB SPL | Enough |
| HiBy R6 Pro II | $750 | 464 mW | not published | not published | 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 HiFiMAN Susvara on other categories: USB dongles · Bluetooth receivers · 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.