Will an audio interface drive the Fostex T50RP MK3?

On power, yes — all of them. Every one of the 65 audio interfaces in this database reaches 100 dB SPL on the Fostex T50RP MK3, which needs 6.3 mW at its 50Ω.

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.

Whether it gets loud enough

The cheapest one that does reach it is the Zoom AMS-22 at $100, which delivers 14 mW into 50Ω — 3 dB of headroom over the 6.3 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 0.20 mW, which is 15 dB less, and the answer above changes for most of the category. The model page has the full ladder.

Whether it changes how they sound

Under the one-eighth rule the Fostex T50RP MK3 wants a source below 6.25Ω. Of the 43 audio interfaces here that publish an output impedance, 15 are under it and 28 are not.

The furthest over is the Tascam US-2x2HR at 66Ω, which is 11× the ceiling. Above that threshold the source stops being a volume control and starts being part of the frequency response. The simulator shows what that looks like.

The other 22 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.

Whether you will hear it between tracks

Hiss depends on the source’s own noise floor and on how sensitive the headphone is. At 92.0 dB/mW and 50Ω, the Fostex T50RP MK3 turns one microvolt of source noise into about -15 dB SPL — and the threshold where that stops being noticeable in a quiet room is around 20 dB SPL.

Of the 4 audio interfaces here that publish a noise figure, 4 stay below that threshold with this headphone and 0 cross it.

The remaining 61 publish no noise figure, so they cannot be placed on either side.

The cheapest one that clears all three

SourcePriceInto 50 ΩHeadroomOutput impedanceHiss in these
RME ADI-2 DAC FS$1399768 mW20.9 dB0.1 Ω-8 dB SPL
RME ADI-2 Pro FS R$21991.9 W24.8 dB0.1 Ω-8 dB SPL
RME ADI-2 Pro EX$24991.3 W23.1 dB0.1 Ω-8 dB SPL

4 of the 65 audio interfaces here publish all three figures. 3 of those clear all three for the Fostex T50RP MK3, and the cheapest is the RME ADI-2 DAC FS at $1399.

It delivers 768 mW into 50 Ω where this headphone needs 6.3 mW for 100 dB — 20.9 dB of headroom — its output impedance of 0.1 Ω sits under the one-eighth ceiling of 6.25 Ω, and its 2.18 µV of noise leaves the hiss 28 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.

The 12 best matches in this category

SourcePriceInto 50ΩOutput impedanceHiss in thesePower verdict
Steinberg UR24C$19480 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Audient iD4 MkII$199128 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
PreSonus Quantum ES 2$19968 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
MOTU M2$219213 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
SSL 2 MkII$229239 mW1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
MOTU M4$279213 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Apogee BOOM$299154 mW0.5 Ωnot publishedComfortable
PreSonus Studio 68c$299134 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
SSL 2 Plus MkII$299239 mW1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
M-Audio AIR 192|14$329102 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Audient iD14 MkII$349128 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Steinberg UR44C$34980 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable

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 same headphone, other kinds of source

The Fostex T50RP MK3 on other categories: desktop amplifiers · desktop DAC/amps.

The Fostex T50RP MK3 page has every source in the database against this headphone, and the matcher takes your own numbers.

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