Titan vs Zenith: which needs more amplifier?

The Symphonium Titan is 3.0Ω at 79.8 dB/mW; the Symphonium Zenith is 6.1Ω at 85.9 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 Titan needs 6.1 dB more than the Zenith to reach the same loudness — 105 mW against 26 mW.

The numbers that decide it

SpecificationTitanZenith
Impedance3.0 Ω6.1 Ω
Sensitivity79.8 dB/mW85.9 dB/mW
Sensitivity (voltage)105.0 dB/V108.0 dB/V
Power for 100 dB105 mW26 mW
Voltage for 100 dB0.56 V0.40 V
Current for 100 dB186.8 mA64.9 mA
Highest source impedance
that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule)
0.38 Ω0.76 Ω
Sources that reach 100 dB
out of 280
85197

Where the two part company

112 of the 280 sources have the power for the Zenith but not for the Titan — FiiO SnowSky Tiny B, FiiO KA11, Tanchjim Stargate II, 109 more.

30 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Zenith under the one-eighth rule but not for the Titan (JadeAudio JA11, FiiO SnowSky Tiny A, FiiO KA11, 27 more).

85 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 Titan is more demanding than 100% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Zenith 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 SPLTitan powerTitan voltageZenith powerZenith voltage
801.0 mW56 mV0.26 mW40 mV
853.3 mW100 mV0.81 mW70 mV
9010 mW0.18 V2.6 mW0.13 V
9533 mW0.32 V8.1 mW0.22 V
100105 mW0.56 V26 mW0.40 V
105331 mW1.00 V81 mW0.70 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, TitanHeadroom, ZenithOutput impedanceNoise
Schiit Magni Unity$1197.3 dB16.5 dB0.1 Ω1.59 µV
Topping L30 II$1498.0 dB17.2 dB0.1 Ω0.3 µV
SMSL HO100$1607.3 dB16.5 dB<0.1 Ω1.3 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 85 reach 100 dB on both. That is the easy axis. 22 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 47 of them are in the second group.

The cheapest of the 22 is the Schiit Magni Unity, at $119. It leaves 7.3 dB of headroom on the Titan and 16.5 dB on the Zenith, its output impedance is 0.1 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 0.38 Ω and 0.76 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 31 dB and 28 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
Titan8Hz - 24kHz, ± 2 dB±2 dBnot printed
Zenith10Hz - 20kHz, ± 2 dB±2 dBnot printed

Symphonium prints 8Hz - 24kHz, ± 2 dB for the Titan and 10Hz - 20kHz, ± 2 dB for the Zenith.

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: Symphonium Titan and Symphonium Zenith. Every figure on this page comes from what Symphonium published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.

↑