Will a portable player drive the Shure SE215?

On power, yes — all of them. Every one of the 39 portable players in this database reaches 100 dB SPL on the Shure SE215, which needs 0.20 mW at its 17Ω.

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 37 mW into 17Ω — 23 dB of headroom over the 0.20 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 0.01 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 Shure SE215 wants a source below 2.12Ω. Of the 26 portable players here that publish an output impedance, 25 are under it and 1 are not.

The furthest over is the Shanling H5 at 4.7Ω, which is 2× 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 107.0 dB/mW and 17Ω, the Shure SE215 turns one microvolt of source noise into about 5 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 17ΩOutput impedanceHiss in thesePower verdict
Hidizs AP80 Pro Max$17937 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
TempoTec Variations V3 Blaze$179438 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Surfans F28$18066 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Hidizs AP80 Pro-X$18937 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
FiiO JM21$199346 mW1 Ω9 dB SPLComfortable
Shanling M1 Plus$209104 mW0.6 Ωnot publishedComfortable
Moondrop DISCDREAM2 ULTRA$35060 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Sony NW-A306$35033 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
TempoTec Variations V6$369175 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Shanling M3 Ultra$47974 mW1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
iBasso DX180$480494 mW0.6 Ωnot publishedComfortable
FiiO M11S$499288 mW1.5 Ω10 dB SPLComfortable

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 Shure SE215 on other categories: Bluetooth receivers · desktop amplifiers · desktop DAC/amps · audio interfaces.

The Shure SE215 page has every source in the database against this headphone, and the matcher takes your own numbers.