Blessing 3 Dusk vs SOLIS II: which needs more amplifier?

The Moondrop Blessing 3 Dusk is 14.5Ω at 100.6 dB/mW; the Moondrop SOLIS II is 10Ω at 101.0 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

SpecificationBlessing 3 DuskSOLIS II
Impedance14.5 Ω10 Ω
Sensitivity100.6 dB/mW101.0 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)119.0 dB/V121.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB0.87 mW0.79 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.11 V89 mV
Current for 100 dB7.8 mA8.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
1.81 Ω1.25 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.

5 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Blessing 3 Dusk under the one-eighth rule but not for the SOLIS II (FiiO KA13, Schiit Vali 2+, FiiO M11S, 2 more).

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 Blessing 3 Dusk is more demanding than 37% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the SOLIS II than 28%. 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 SPLBlessing 3 Dusk powerBlessing 3 Dusk voltageSOLIS II powerSOLIS II voltage
808.7 µW11 mV7.9 µW9 mV
850.03 mW20 mV0.03 mW16 mV
900.09 mW36 mV0.08 mW28 mV
950.28 mW63 mV0.25 mW50 mV
1000.87 mW0.11 V0.79 mW89 mV
1052.8 mW0.20 V2.5 mW0.16 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, Blessing 3 DuskHeadroom, SOLIS IIOutput impedanceNoise
JadeAudio JA11$2011.9 dB10.7 dB0.5 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO KA11$2924.1 dB22.9 dB0.7 Ω1.7 µV
FiiO BTR11$3616.7 dB15.5 dB0.5 Ω8.0 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 65 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 65 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 11.9 dB of headroom on the Blessing 3 Dusk and 10.7 dB on the SOLIS II, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 1.81 Ω and 1.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 16 dB and 14 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.

What each sheet prints, and what it is worth

ModelAs printedToleranceStandard
Blessing 3 Dusk10Hz- 24kHznot printednot printed
 20Hz - 20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB)3 dBIEC60318-4
SOLIS II7Hz-40kHznot printednot printed
 20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB)3 dBIEC60318-4

Moondrop prints two ranges, “10Hz- 24kHz” and “20Hz - 20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB)”, for the Blessing 3 Dusk and two ranges, “7Hz-40kHz” and “20Hz-20kHz (IEC60318-4, 3dB)”, for the SOLIS II.

Both sheets print a tolerance, which is rare enough to be worth pointing at: only 58 of the 490 models with a printed range do. These two ranges can be set against each other, because each of them says how far down the response is allowed to be at the ends.

None of this is a measurement. What each maker publishes, and what it is worth, is set out in the frequency response audit.

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: Moondrop Blessing 3 Dusk and Moondrop SOLIS II. Every figure on this page comes from what Moondrop published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

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