Diana Phi vs Diana V2: which needs more amplifier?

The Abyss Diana Phi is 32Ω at 91.0 dB/mW; the Abyss Diana V2 is 42Ω at 91.0 dB/mW. This page is only about what they ask of an amplifier — not how they sound, which no specification on either sheet can tell you.

In amplifier terms these two are the same headphone. The gap between what they need for 100 dB is under half a decibel, which is smaller than the step between two clicks of most volume controls.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationDiana PhiDiana V2
Impedance32 Ω42 Ω
Sensitivity91.0 dB/mW91.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)105.9 dB/V104.8 dB/V
Power for 100 dB7.9 mW7.9 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.50 V0.58 V
Current for 100 dB15.8 mA13.8 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
4.00 Ω5.25 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
280280

Where the two part company

Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.

1 source is low enough in output impedance for the Diana V2 under the one-eighth rule but not for the Diana Phi (Shanling H5).

280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both. That count is about power only — the output-impedance and hiss lines above are separate questions, and a source can pass this one and fail those.

What each one needs from 80 to 105 dB

The gap between these two in decibels does not change with volume — it is a property of the two headphones. What changes is the size of the numbers, and it changes fast: every 10 dB costs ten times the power. The row that matters is the one nearest the level you listen at, and for most people that is nearer the top of this table than the bottom.

The Diana V2 is more demanding than 90% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Diana Phi than 87%. Both figures use the same measure as the rest of the site: whichever runs out first against a 2 V, 100 mW dongle, voltage or power.

dB SPLDiana Phi powerDiana Phi voltageDiana V2 powerDiana V2 voltage
800.08 mW50 mV0.08 mW58 mV
850.25 mW90 mV0.25 mW0.10 V
900.79 mW0.16 V0.79 mW0.18 V
952.5 mW0.28 V2.5 mW0.32 V
1007.9 mW0.50 V7.9 mW0.58 V
10525 mW0.90 V25 mW1.03 V

105 dB is included because forum power figures are usually quoted there or higher. It is also a level that damages hearing in minutes — how many minutes is its own calculator.

The cheapest source that satisfies both

SourcePriceHeadroom, Diana PhiHeadroom, Diana V2Output impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$205.8 dB4.6 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2914.0 dB12.8 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$365.8 dB4.6 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 70 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both — the rest either fail one of those or never printed the number at all, and 208 of them are in the second group.

The cheapest of the 70 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 5.8 dB of headroom on the Diana Phi and 4.6 dB on the Diana V2, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 4.00 Ω and 5.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 29 dB and 31 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.

Cheapest that satisfies three published numbers is not the same as best, and none of it is about how either headphone sounds. To put either model against a source this page does not mention, or to change the target loudness, use the amplifier matcher.

Both pages in full

Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Abyss Diana Phi and Abyss Diana V2. Every figure on this page comes from what Abyss published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

↑