The Sennheiser IE 500 PRO is 16Ω at 108.0 dB/mW; the Sennheiser IE 600 is 18Ω at 100.6 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.
The IE 600 needs 7.4 dB more than the IE 500 PRO to reach the same loudness — 0.87 mW against 0.16 mW.
| Specification | IE 500 PRO | IE 600 |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 16 Ω | 18 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 108.0 dB/mW | 100.6 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 126.0 dB/V | 118.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 0.16 mW | 0.87 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 50 mV | 0.13 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 3.1 mA | 7.0 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 2.00 Ω | 2.25 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
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.
14 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the IE 600 but cross it with the IE 500 PRO (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 11 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.
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 IE 600 is more demanding than 39% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the IE 500 PRO than 11%. 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 SPL | IE 500 PRO power | IE 500 PRO voltage | IE 600 power | IE 600 voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1.6 µW | 5 mV | 8.7 µW | 13 mV |
| 85 | 5.0 µW | 9 mV | 0.03 mW | 22 mV |
| 90 | 0.02 mW | 16 mV | 0.09 mW | 40 mV |
| 95 | 0.05 mW | 28 mV | 0.28 mW | 70 mV |
| 100 | 0.16 mW | 50 mV | 0.87 mW | 0.13 V |
| 105 | 0.50 mW | 90 mV | 2.8 mW | 0.22 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.
| Source | Price | Headroom, IE 500 PRO | Headroom, IE 600 | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 19.8 dB | 12.9 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 31.9 dB | 24.3 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 28.8 dB | 21.2 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 57 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 57 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 19.8 dB of headroom on the IE 500 PRO and 12.9 dB on the IE 600, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.00 Ω and 2.25 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 9 dB and 17 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.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| IE 500 PRO | 6 – 20,000 Hz | not printed | not printed |
| IE 600 | 4 – 46,500 Hz | not printed | not printed |
Sennheiser prints 6 – 20,000 Hz for the IE 500 PRO and 4 – 46,500 Hz for the IE 600.
Neither range has a tolerance printed beside it, and that is the whole of what this section can tell you. A wider range on one sheet is not deeper bass or more treble on that headphone: without a tolerance, neither number says how loud either model is at the ends of its own range, so the difference between the two is a difference between two pieces of marketing copy. A ±dB figure is what turns a range into a specification, and of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print it.
None of this is a measurement. What each maker publishes, and what it is worth, is set out in the frequency response audit.
Each model has a page of its own with the full source list, the hiss estimate and the provenance of every figure above: Sennheiser IE 500 PRO and Sennheiser IE 600. Every figure on this page comes from what Sennheiser published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.