The Shure SE215 is 17Ω at 107.0 dB/mW; the Truthear Hexa is 20.5Ω at 103.1 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 Truthear Hexa needs 3.9 dB more than the Shure SE215 to reach the same loudness — 0.49 mW against 0.20 mW.
| Specification | Shure SE215 | Truthear Hexa |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 17 Ω | 20.5 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 107.0 dB/mW | 103.1 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 124.7 dB/V | 120.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 0.20 mW | 0.49 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 58 mV | 0.10 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 3.4 mA | 4.9 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 2.12 Ω | 2.56 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.
9 sources stay below the audible-hiss threshold with the Truthear Hexa but cross it with the Shure SE215 (FiiO BTR11, FiiO K11 R2R, Lake People G103-S Mk II, 6 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 Truthear Hexa is more demanding than 33% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Shure SE215 than 17%. 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 | Shure SE215 power | Shure SE215 voltage | Truthear Hexa power | Truthear Hexa voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 2.0 µW | 6 mV | 4.9 µW | 10 mV |
| 85 | 6.3 µW | 10 mV | 0.02 mW | 18 mV |
| 90 | 0.02 mW | 18 mV | 0.05 mW | 32 mV |
| 95 | 0.06 mW | 33 mV | 0.15 mW | 56 mV |
| 100 | 0.20 mW | 58 mV | 0.49 mW | 0.10 V |
| 105 | 0.63 mW | 0.10 V | 1.5 mW | 0.18 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, Shure SE215 | Headroom, Truthear Hexa | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 19.0 dB | 15.9 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 30.8 dB | 26.6 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR13 | $59 | 27.7 dB | 23.5 dB | 0.6 Ω | 1.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 62 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 62 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 19.0 dB of headroom on the Shure SE215 and 15.9 dB on the Truthear Hexa, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 2.12 Ω and 2.56 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 11 dB and 15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE215 | 22 Hz–17.5 kHz | not printed | not printed |
| Truthear Hexa | 8-40kHz (IEC61094, Free Field) | not printed | IEC61094 (free field) |
| 20-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB) | -3 dB | IEC60318-4 |
Shure prints 22 Hz–17.5 kHz for the SE215. Truthear prints two ranges, “8-40kHz (IEC61094, Free Field)” and “20-20kHz (IEC60318-4, -3dB)”, for the Hexa.
Only one of the two is a specification. The range printed for the Truthear Hexa comes with a tolerance; the one printed for the Shure SE215 does not, and a range without a ±dB figure says nothing about how loud that model is at either end of it. The two cannot be compared number against number, however similar they look in the table. Of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print the tolerance.
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: Shure SE215 and Truthear Hexa. Every figure on this page comes from what Shure and Truthear published, or is derived from it — what Shure publishes and what Truthear publishes, both counted.