On power: 38 of the 39 portable players here reach 100 dB SPL on the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC. It needs 16 mW at its 50Ω, and 1 of them do not get there.
Power is one of three questions and the one that goes wrong least often. The other two — whether the source’s output impedance leaves the frequency response alone, and whether you will hear its noise floor — are answered further down, separately, because a source can pass one and fail another.
The 1 that fall short are Sony NW-A306. The closest of them, the Sony NW-A306, delivers 11 mW into 50Ω against the 16 mW needed — 1.5 dB short.
The cheapest one that does reach it is the Hidizs AP80 Pro Max at $179, which delivers 45 mW into 50Ω — 5 dB of headroom over the 16 mW this headphone needs for 100 dB SPL.
100 dB SPL is a peak level, not a listening level. If you listen at 85 dB the same headphone needs 0.50 mW, which is 15 dB less, and the answer above changes for most of the category. The model page has the full ladder.
Under the one-eighth rule the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC wants a source below 6.25Ω. Of the 26 portable players here that publish an output impedance, 26 are under it and 0 are not.
The other 13 publish nothing at all on this, so they are not on either side of that count. This site leaves them blank rather than assuming a figure.
Hiss depends on the source’s own noise floor and on how sensitive the headphone is. At 88.0 dB/mW and 50Ω, the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC turns one microvolt of source noise into about -19 dB SPL — and the threshold where that stops being noticeable in a quiet room is around 20 dB SPL.
Of the 12 portable players here that publish a noise figure, 12 stay below that threshold with this headphone and 0 cross it.
The remaining 27 publish no noise figure, so they cannot be placed on either side.
| Source | Price | Into 50 Ω | Headroom | Output impedance | Hiss in these |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FiiO JM21 | $199 | 158 mW | 10.0 dB | 1 Ω | -15 dB SPL |
| FiiO M11S | $499 | 129 mW | 9.1 dB | 1.5 Ω | -14 dB SPL |
| FiiO M21 | $599 | 260 mW | 12.1 dB | 1.0 Ω | -13 dB SPL |
11 of the 39 portable players here publish all three figures. 11 of those clear all three for the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC, and the cheapest is the FiiO JM21 at $199.
It delivers 158 mW into 50 Ω where this headphone needs 16 mW for 100 dB — 10.0 dB of headroom — its output impedance of 1 Ω sits under the one-eighth ceiling of 6.25 Ω, and its 1.6 µV of noise leaves the hiss 35 dB under the 20 dB SPL threshold this site uses.
Cheapest that satisfies three published numbers is not the same as best, and the sources left out of this count are left out for want of a published figure, not for failing one. How often that happens is its own page.
| Source | Price | Into 50Ω | Output impedance | Hiss in these | Power verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TempoTec Variations V3 Blaze | $179 | 528 mW | not published | not published | Comfortable |
| TempoTec Variations V6 | $369 | 211 mW | not published | not published | Comfortable |
| iBasso DX180 | $480 | 168 mW | 0.6 Ω | not published | Comfortable |
| FiiO M21 | $599 | 260 mW | 1 Ω | -13 dB SPL | Comfortable |
| Cayin N3 Ultra | $649 | 160 mW | 0.5 Ω | not published | Comfortable |
| FiiO M33 R2R | $730 | 305 mW | 0.8 Ω | -4 dB SPL | Comfortable |
| HiBy R6 Pro II | $750 | 528 mW | not published | not published | Comfortable |
| FiiO M15S | $799 | 383 mW | 1.4 Ω | -9 dB SPL | Comfortable |
| Astell&Kern SR35 | $800 | 192 mW | 1.1 Ω | not published | Comfortable |
| iBasso DX260 | $949 | 168 mW | 0.6 Ω | not published | Comfortable |
| iBasso DX260 MK2 | $949 | 168 mW | 0.6 Ω | -19 dB SPL | Comfortable |
| iBasso DX270 | $1149 | 266 mW | 0.5 Ω | not published | Comfortable |
Sorted by how many of the three questions the source answers well, then by price. A blank in a column is a blank in the manufacturer’s own documentation, not a zero.
The Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC on other categories: USB dongles · desktop amplifiers · desktop DAC/amps · audio interfaces.
The Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC page has every source in the database against this headphone, and the matcher takes your own numbers.