Both are audio interfaces, $2790 against $2199. 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 RME ADI-2 Pro FS R reaches 100 dB on 567 of the 567 models here, the Merging Anubis on 566.
| Specification | Merging Anubis | RME ADI-2 Pro FS R |
|---|---|---|
| Power into 32Ω | 961 mW | 3.0 W |
| Power into 150Ω | 205 mW | 634 mW |
| Power into 300Ω | 103 mW | 317 mW |
| Power into 600Ω | 51 mW | 158 mW |
| Output impedance | 0.035 Ω | 0.1 Ω |
| Output noise | not published | 2.18 µV |
| Price | $2790 | $2199 |
| Headphones it reaches 100 dB on out of 567 | 566 | 567 |
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 | Merging Anubis | RME ADI-2 Pro FS R |
|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | Upper bound | Upper bound |
| 150 Ω | Upper bound | Upper bound |
| 300 Ω | Upper bound | Upper bound |
| 600 Ω | Upper bound | Upper bound |
Neither maker publishes a power rating at any load. Both columns above are ceilings, worked out from a maximum output voltage on the assumption that the amplifier holds it into the load — the most flattering reading available for either. 24 of the 280 sources here are in that position. Whichever of the two looks the stronger on power, the difference is unproven; the output-impedance and noise rows are the ones to go on.
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 RME ADI-2 Pro FS R but not on the Merging Anubis — Symphonium Titan.
566 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 Audeze LCD-2 Classic: RME ADI-2 Pro FS R has +32 dB of headroom there against +27 dB. 5 dB is about 3.1 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.
The hiss columns are empty for Merging Anubis because that 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 | Merging Anubis headroom | RME ADI-2 Pro FS R headroom | Merging Anubis hiss | RME ADI-2 Pro FS R hiss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 0.04 mW | +38 dB | +43 dB | not published | 21 dB |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 4.0 mW | +18 dB | +23 dB | not published | 1 dB |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 0.79 mW | +27 dB | +32 dB | not published | -1 dB |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 0.63 mW | +23 dB | +28 dB | not published | -5 dB |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 7.9 mW | +20 dB | +25 dB | not published | -6 dB |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 1.6 mW | +16 dB | +21 dB | not published | -12 dB |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 6.6 mW | +12 dB | +17 dB | not published | -16 dB |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 50 mW | +10 dB | +15 dB | not published | -18 dB |
The Merging Anubis costs $591 more than the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the Merging Anubis handles and the RME ADI-2 Pro FS R does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper RME ADI-2 Pro FS R drives one model to 100 dB that the Merging Anubis does not.
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: Merging Anubis and RME ADI-2 Pro FS R. Or put either against your own headphones in the source comparison tool.