Both are audio interfaces, $199 against $200. 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 Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen reaches 100 dB on 552 of the 567 models here, the Zoom AMS-44 on 549.
| Specification | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen | Zoom AMS-44 |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 31 mW | 30 mW |
| Power into 150Ω | 19 mW | 9.7 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 22 mW | 5.2 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 11 mW | 2.7 mW |
| Output impedance | 50 Ω | 10 Ω |
| Output noise | not published | not published |
| Price | $199 | $200 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 552 | 549 |
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 | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen | Zoom AMS-44 |
|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | Derived | Published |
| 150 Ω | Derived | Derived |
| 300 Ω | Published | Derived |
| 600 Ω | Derived | Derived |
Both makers publish a power rating, which is less common than the table above makes it look: of the 280 sources here, 209 publish a figure at at least one load and only 2 publish one at all four. Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen publishes at 300 Ω; Zoom AMS-44 at 32 Ω. Every other row is worked out from those — between two published loads, or beyond them holding voltage constant, which understates rather than flatters.
So the two columns are not equally firm row by row: at 300 Ω only the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen figure is the maker’s own and at 32 Ω only the Zoom AMS-44 figure is the maker’s own. On those rows the derived number is the one to doubt first.
What each of these labels means, and why a derived figure is still worth printing, is set out in how this data was built.
3 headphones reach 100 dB on the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen but not on the Zoom AMS-44 — HiFiMAN Susvara Unveiled, Sennheiser HD 600, Thieaudio Hype 10.
51 headphones are left alone by the Zoom AMS-44 under the one-eighth rule but coloured by the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen (AKG K612 Pro, Audeze LCD-3, Audeze LCD-4, 48 more).
549 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 Sennheiser HD 600: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen has +5 dB of headroom there against -1 dB. 6 dB is about 4.2 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.
The hiss columns are empty for Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen and Zoom AMS-44 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 | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen headroom | Zoom AMS-44 headroom | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen hiss | Zoom AMS-44 hiss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 0.04 mW | +23 dB damping | +23 dB damping | not published | not published |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 4.0 mW | +3 dB damping | +3 dB damping | not published | not published |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 0.79 mW | +14 dB damping | +13 dB damping | not published | not published |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 0.63 mW | +15 dB damping | +10 dB | not published | not published |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 7.9 mW | +5 dB damping | +5 dB damping | not published | not published |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 1.6 mW | +9 dB | +3 dB | not published | not published |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 6.6 mW | +5 dB damping | -1 dB | not published | not published |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 50 mW | -3 dB damping | -4 dB damping | not published | not published |
The Zoom AMS-44 costs $1 more than the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 51 more models left alone under the one-eighth rule.
It does not run one way only: the cheaper Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen drives 3 models to 100 dB that the Zoom AMS-44 does not, which is the part worth checking against your own headphones before paying the difference.
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: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th gen and Zoom AMS-44. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.