The iBasso DC03 Pro is a USB dongle at $69. It delivers 98 mW into 32Ω and 10 mW into 300Ω, which ranks it 219 of 280 for raw power among the sources in this database.
Measured at 100 dB SPL it has comfortable headroom on 471 of the 567 dynamic and planar headphones catalogued here, enough but not generous on 81, only marginal on 8 and not enough power for 7. Compact 3.5 mm dongle, reasonably quiet.
The manufacturer publishes 98 mW into 32Ω. Everything else in the table above is worked out from those figures, and this table says which is which.
Derivation holds output voltage steady between and beyond the published loads rather than output power, because that is what an amplifier actually does. The full method is written up here.
Source: ibassousa.com.
| Load | Power | Status | How it was arrived at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 Ω | 98 mW | Published | the manufacturer publishes this figure at this exact load |
| 150 Ω | 21 mW | Derived | beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters |
| 300 Ω | 10 mW | Derived | beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters |
| 600 Ω | 5.2 mW | Derived | beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters |
Ordered from easiest to hardest to drive. Headroom is measured at 100 dB SPL, which is louder than almost anyone listens — a small negative number means the source still plays loud, just without reserve for peaks.
These figures come from each manufacturer's own sensitivity rating. A handful of planars — the HiFiMAN Susvara and the Abyss AB-1266 in particular — are widely reported to need far more than their published sensitivity implies, so treat a bare pass on those as optimistic rather than settled.
| Headphone | Impedance | Sensitivity | Needs | Headroom | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 114.0 dB/mW | 0.04 mW | +28 dB | Comfortable audible hiss |
| 64 Audio U12t | 12.6 Ω | 108.0 dB/mW | 0.16 mW | +24 dB | Comfortable faint hiss |
| Shure SE215 | 17 Ω | 107.0 dB/mW | 0.20 mW | +24 dB | Comfortable faint hiss |
| Moondrop Aria | 32 Ω | 107.1 dB/mW | 0.19 mW | +27 dB | Comfortable faint hiss |
| Audeze LCD-X 2021 | 20 Ω | 103.0 dB/mW | 0.50 mW | +21 dB | Comfortable |
| Truthear Hexa | 20.5 Ω | 103.1 dB/mW | 0.49 mW | +21 dB | Comfortable |
| Sennheiser IE 200 | 18 Ω | 101.6 dB/mW | 0.69 mW | +19 dB | Comfortable |
| Sony MDR-7506 | 63 Ω | 106.0 dB/mW | 0.25 mW | +23 dB | Comfortable |
| Meze 99 Classics | 32 Ω | 103.0 dB/mW | 0.50 mW | +23 dB | Comfortable |
| Focal Clear MG | 55 Ω | 104.0 dB/mW | 0.40 mW | +22 dB | Comfortable |
| Philips SHP9500 | 32 Ω | 101.0 dB | 0.79 mW | +21 dB | Comfortable |
| Focal Utopia | 80 Ω | 104.0 dB/mW | 0.40 mW | +20 dB | Comfortable |
| Meze Empyrean | 32 Ω | 100.0 dB | 1.0 mW | +20 dB | Comfortable |
| Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 | 9 Ω | 94.0 dB | 4.0 mW | +8 dB | Enough |
| Etymotic ER2SE | 15 Ω | 96.0 dB/mW | 2.5 mW | +13 dB | Comfortable |
| AKG K371 | 32 Ω | 99.1 dB/mW | 1.2 mW | +19 dB | Comfortable |
| Audio-Technica ATH-M50X | 38 Ω | 99.0 dB/mW | 1.3 mW | +18 dB | Comfortable |
| Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X | 48 Ω | 100.0 dB/mW | 1.0 mW | +18 dB | Comfortable |
| Audeze LCD-2 Classic | 70 Ω | 101.0 dB/mW | 0.79 mW | +18 dB | Comfortable |
| Grado SR80x | 38 Ω | 98.0 dB/mW | 1.6 mW | +17 dB | Comfortable |
| Sennheiser HD 560S | 120 Ω | 100.8 dB/mW | 0.83 mW | +15 dB | Comfortable |
| HiFiMAN Edition XS | 18 Ω | 92.0 dB | 6.3 mW | +9 dB | Enough |
| HiFiMAN Arya Stealth | 32 Ω | 94.0 dB | 4.0 mW | +14 dB | Comfortable |
| Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed | 13 Ω | 90.0 dB/mW | 10 mW | +6 dB | Enough |
| Audeze LCD-5 | 14 Ω | 90.0 dB/mW | 10 mW | +6 dB | Enough |
| Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 102.0 dB/mW | 0.63 mW | +13 dB | Comfortable |
| HiFiMAN HE400se | 25 Ω | 91.0 dB | 7.9 mW | +10 dB | Enough |
| HiFiMAN Sundara | 32 Ω | 92.0 dB | 6.3 mW | +12 dB | Comfortable |
| Dan Clark Audio Stealth | 23 Ω | 90.0 dB/mW | 10 mW | +8 dB | Enough |
| Fostex T50RP MK3 | 50 Ω | 92.0 dB/mW | 6.3 mW | +10 dB | Enough |
| AKG K702 | 62 Ω | 92.9 dB/mW | 5.1 mW | +10 dB | Enough |
| ZMF Verite Closed | 300 Ω | 99.0 dB/mW | 1.3 mW | +9 dB | Enough |
| Sennheiser HD 650 | 300 Ω | 97.8 dB/mW | 1.7 mW | +8 dB | Enough |
| Sennheiser HD 800S | 300 Ω | 96.8 dB/mW | 2.1 mW | +7 dB | Enough |
| Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (250Ω) | 250 Ω | 96.0 dB | 2.5 mW | +7 dB | Enough |
| Audio-Technica ATH-R70X | 470 Ω | 98.0 dB/mW | 1.6 mW | +6 dB | Enough |
| ZMF Atrium | 300 Ω | 96.0 dB/mW | 2.5 mW | +6 dB | Enough |
| Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC | 50 Ω | 88.0 dB/mW | 16 mW | +6 dB | Enough |
| Sennheiser HD 600 | 300 Ω | 91.8 dB/mW | 6.6 mW | +2 dB | Marginal |
| HiFiMAN Susvara | 60 Ω | 83.0 dB | 50 mW | +0 dB | Marginal |
At 0.9 µV of output noise, here is where that noise lands in the five most revealing in-ears in the database.
This one hisses. With the most sensitive in-ears in the database its own noise lands around 20 dB SPL, which you will hear between tracks and in quiet passages.
| In-ear | Impedance | Sensitivity | Hiss level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simgot EA500 | 16 Ω | 141.0 dB/V | 20 dB SPL |
| Tanchjim EA FORCE | 17 Ω | 137.7 dB/V | 17 dB SPL |
| Shure SE846 | 9 Ω | 134.5 dB/V | 14 dB SPL |
| Campfire Audio Clara | 13.3 Ω | 134.1 dB/V | 13 dB SPL |
| 64 Audio Fourte | 10 Ω | 134.0 dB/V | 13 dB SPL |
At 0.12Ω output impedance this source satisfies the one-eighth rule with every headphone in the database, down to the 3Ω in-ears. Nothing here will have its frequency response shaped by the source.
The rule is a rule of thumb, not physics: a source impedance below one eighth of the headphone's keeps the interaction under about 1 dB. The checker works it out for any pair.
Nothing cheaper in this database does everything the iBasso DC03 Pro does. Of the 280 sources here, not one at a lower price will reach 100 dB on every headphone it reaches, stay inside the one-eighth rule wherever it does and stay under the audible-hiss threshold wherever it does. That is a plain result and it is not the usual one — most of the catalogue has something cheaper that matches it.
This counts a headphone output and nothing else. Inputs, converters, microphone preamps, balanced outputs, the volume control, the case and the warranty are all outside it, and any of them can be the reason to buy the dearer box. What the count does say is that the three numbers a maker can be held to do not separate them.
$70 · 125 mW into 32Ω · 0.3 Ω out
Compare →$70 · 125 mW into 32Ω · output Ω not published
Compare →$70 · 65 mW into 32Ω · output Ω not published
Compare →$70 · 112 mW into 32Ω · output Ω not published
Compare →$66 · 65 mW into 32Ω · output Ω not published
Compare →$75 · 125 mW into 32Ω · 0.3 Ω out
Compare →Worked out in advance against its closest rivals: vs ddHiFi TC35Pro (Mountain2) · vs DUNU DTC 480 · vs EPZ TP35 Pro · vs FiiO KA13 · vs FiiO KA15 · vs iBasso DC-Elite · vs iBasso DC04 Pro · vs iBasso DC07 Pro. Each of those pages lists the headphones that tell the two apart.
Or put any two side by side in the source comparison tool, or run your own headphones through the amplifier matcher. Or see every iBasso source in the database, and how much of what this site says about them came from iBasso’s own documents.