Santa Clara, California-based xMEMS Labs aims to replace century-old coil-based speaker technology with silicon-based micro-speakers and has three solid-state fidelity solutions for use in upcoming true-wireless earphones, in-ear monitors, digital hearing aids and other audio-packed wearables like smart glasses, VR headsets, and Sleep Buds.
“Unlike traditional coil speakers, our speakers are monolithic, with silicon cones that offer far better material rigidity and an exponentially faster impulse response than traditional speakers, resulting in the superior sonic performance of xMEMS Solid State Fidelity technologies,” said the VP of Corporate Marketing and Business Development, Mike Householder.
Effectively replacing the paper or plastic cone in traditional speaker driver designs, the patented solid-state speaker’s silicon cone is said to be approximately 95 times stiffer to improve clarity in the mids and highs, while the silicon architecture also delivers 150 times faster pulse Response for improved precision. Meanwhile, thin-film piezo actuators take over the job of the coil and magnet of exciting the silicon membrane and generating sound waves.
The Cowell serves here as a high-resolution tweeter for a two-way module that also rocks a 9mm woofer
xMEMS Laboratories
The lightweight, high-performance speaker – one example tips the scales at just 56mg and is 1mm thin – should allow more room in the enclosure for larger batteries or onboard sensors such as microphones, and the overall design aims to eliminate the need for speaker customization and reduce calibration requirements and offer significantly improved spatial audio imaging than traditional dynamic drivers. It can also meet IP58 standards for dust and moisture resistance.
Because the xMEMS microspeakers use standard semiconductor processes, the company says they can be manufactured “quickly, consistently and inexpensively at scale.” The market availability of three new Solid State Fidelity solutions has now been announced.
Billed as the world’s smallest solid-state micro speaker, the Cowell is a two-way design with a 9mm DD woofer on the way to wired and true wireless headphones.
The company’s Montara micro-speaker is currently featured in the Mimitakara 6EB Active Hearing Aid, and xMEMS has now launched the Montara Plus solution – which is claimed to be the world’s most powerful MEMS micro-speaker, operating as a full-bandwidth high-frequency transducer -resolution in-ear monitors.
The silicon-based micro speaker Montara Plus can achieve sound pressure levels of up to 120 dB at 200 Hz
xMEMS Laboratories
Combining the best qualities of open and closed earbuds, the Skyline DynamicVent rocks DSP controllable ventilation for active environmental control. Closing the vent results in the best listening experience and bass response, as well as the highest passive isolation. Opening the vent lets noise flow in from the outside, so listeners aren’t as cut off from the world around them, while reducing occlusion effects (where the wearer’s footsteps or voice are amplified).
“The MEMS micro speaker market is expected to follow a similar path to MEMS microphones,” said market analyst Peter Cooney of SAR Insight. “Consumer demand for high-resolution, spatial, lossless, streaming audio represents a generational shift in audio content that requires a similar evolution in sound delivery. Solid-state fidelity is capable of more accurate reproduction of source audio and a far better listening experience.”
Source: xMEMS Labs
