The company’s patented silicon-based speaker technology is slated to replace century-old coil speakers, allowing for high-volume, reliable mass production of solid-state speakers using semiconductor fabrication methods and resulting in more precise, higher fidelity, high-resolution audio.
“Since our first product release, we have been overwhelmed by the audio industry’s appreciation of Solid-State Fidelity,” said Mike Housholder, VP of Marketing and Business Development of xMEMS. “Unlike conventional coil speakers, our speakers are monolithic, with silicon membranes offering far better material stiffness and exponentially faster impulse response than conventional speakers, resulting in the superior sound performance of xMEMS Solid-State Fidelity technologies.”
According to xMEMS, its silicon membrane architecture has been shown to be 95 times stiffer, offering improved clarity and eliminating the muddy midrange and treble response created by traditional speaker membrane materials.
The silicon architecture also delivers 150 times faster impulse response than traditional designs, offering the most pulse-true and accurate sound reproduction, which is not possible with the slow attack and decay of coil architectures.
xMEMS Labs has begun shipping three unique solid-state fidelity solutions:
Cowell, now starting mass production shipments, is the world’s smallest solid-state micro speaker.
Montara Plus, the world’s highest output MEMS micro speaker, is capable of sound pressure levels up to 120 dB @ 200 Hz making it suitable for full-bandwidth transducer for audiophile-level, high-resolution in-ear monitors, creating a path to smaller, lighter, simpler IEM designs.
Skyline DynamicVent, the first piezoMEMS, DSP-controllable vent brings together the benefits of open- and closed-fit earbuds and hearing aids. Skyline delivers active ambient control (AAC), offering enhanced adaptive ANC and transparency mode implementations with reduced occlusion effects, eliminating the uncomfortable amplification of a users’ own voice or footsteps when their ears are covered.
xMEMS Solid-State Fidelity technology is seen as dramatically advancing the shift to all-silicon audio systems.
“The market for MEMS micro speakers is expected to follow a similar trajectory to MEMS microphones,” said Peter Cooney, founder 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 reproduction. Solid-state fidelity can create a more accurate reproduction of the source audio and a vastly superior listening experience.”
This is achieved by using thin-film piezo technology as the speaker actuator, replacing the coil and magnet, which when combined with silicon as the speaker diaphragm instead of plastic or paper creates a solid-state speaker. Unlike traditional coil speakers used in electronics, xMEMS micro speakers utilise standard semiconductor processes and packaging so they can be produced rapidly, uniformly, and cost-effectively at scale.
A high-performing speaker is now possible that is about 1/10th the weight and 40 percent the size of a similar coil speaker. And with no moving parts, these speakers are more reliable and durable than prior technologies, even meeting IP58 standards of protection from dust and sweat.
“Solid-state fidelity is a game-changer,” Housholder concluded. “Until now, speakers remained one of the few electronic components unimproved by silicon technology. xMEMS true solid-state micro speakers are now here to fundamentally change the way people experience sound.”
