Both are portable players, $800 against $949. This page puts them side by side on the only three things a maker can be held to — power, output impedance and noise — and then asks the question that actually matters: which headphones do they treat differently?
The iBasso DX260 reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here, the Astell&Kern SR35 on 565.
| Specification | Astell&Kern SR35 | iBasso DX260 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 300 mW | 262 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 64 mW | 56 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 32 mW | 28 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 16 mW | 14 mW |
| Output impedance | 1.1 Ω | 0.6 Ω |
| Output noise | 4 µV unverified | not published |
| Price | $800 | $949 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 565 | 566 |
A figure marked not published is missing from the maker’s own material, which is not the same as being good or bad. Where one of these two publishes a number and the other does not, the comparison on that axis cannot be made at all — and saying so is more useful than guessing.
| Load | Astell&Kern SR35 | iBasso DX260 |
|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | Upper bound | Derived |
| 150 Ω | Upper bound | Derived |
| 300 Ω | Upper bound | Derived |
| 600 Ω | Upper bound | Derived |
Neither column is a power rating, and the two are not even weak in the same way. The Astell&Kern SR35 figures are ceilings worked out from a maximum output voltage, on the assumption that the amplifier holds it into the load. The iBasso DX260 figures are worked out from figures its maker did publish — power at other loads, or the voltage printed beside it. The second method understates; the first flatters. That is the wrong way round for reading the table straight across, so a gap in favour of the Astell&Kern SR35 is the one to doubt.
What each of these labels means, and why a derived figure is still worth printing, is set out in how this data was built.
1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the iBasso DX260 but not on the Astell&Kern SR35 — Moondrop PARA.
27 headphones are left alone by the iBasso DX260 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Astell&Kern SR35 (64 Audio Nio, 64 Audio U18s, 64 Audio Volur, 24 more).
565 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both. That is a power count and nothing more; whether either source suits a given headphone also depends on the two lines above.
The counts above say how many models the two treat differently. This says by how much. The same 8 headphones appear on every page of this kind, ordered from the easiest to drive to the hardest, so a row can be read across pages as well as across columns. Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.
The widest gap on the list is the Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020: iBasso DX260 has +19 dB of headroom there against +13 dB. 5 dB is about 3.5 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.
The hiss columns are empty for Astell&Kern SR35 and iBasso DX260 because neither maker publishes no output noise figure. That is a gap in the specification, not a quiet amplifier, and it is left blank here rather than filled with a plausible number.
| Headphone | Impedance | Needs | Astell&Kern SR35 headroom | iBasso DX260 headroom | Astell&Kern SR35 hiss | iBasso DX260 hiss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 0.04 mW | +33 dB | +39 dB | not published | not published |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 4.0 mW | +13 dB | +19 dB | not published | not published |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 0.79 mW | +22 dB | +22 dB | not published | not published |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 0.63 mW | +18 dB | +17 dB | not published | not published |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 7.9 mW | +15 dB | +16 dB | not published | not published |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 1.6 mW | +11 dB | +11 dB | not published | not published |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 6.6 mW | +7 dB | +6 dB | not published | not published |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 50 mW | +5 dB | +4 dB | not published | not published |
The iBasso DX260 costs $149 more than the Astell&Kern SR35. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 1 more model driven to 100 dB and 27 more models left alone under the one-eighth rule.
Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.
Everything in this paragraph counts only figures the two makers published. An advantage on an axis one of them leaves blank cannot be counted, and is not counted — how often that happens is its own page.
Each has a page of its own with every power figure traced to what the maker published and a full headphone list: Astell&Kern SR35 and iBasso DX260. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.