Loudspeaker designers and engineers have worked hard over the years to come up with solutions that allow them to better isolate drivers and tweeters from not only vibrations within the enclosure, but also the room. Your listening space plays an enormous role in how your system ultimately sounds (regardless of price). But how does that play out in regard to headphones?
The high-end headphone revolution inspired a new generation of designers to think about how ear cups, driver enclosures, headbands, cables, and driver technology ultimately impact the overall sound quality of the products that we listen to.
The room may not impact what you hear in this scenario, but everything else certainly does.
To meet this challenge, xMEMs Labs has developed microspeaker technology that is designed to meet the needs of headphone and earbud applications.
To further the integration of solid-state micro speakers in over-the-ear headphones, AMPACS, a leader in electroacoustic product design, has announced a 2-way headphone solution designed in collaboration with MEMS audio and xMEMS Labs.
The headphone design incorporates xMEMS’ Cowell, which is currently the world’s smallest solid-state microspeaker. The Cowell is designed to deliver precise highs and mids, with AMPACS’ dynamic driver providing bass. The result is a modular solution that headphone manufacturers can incorporate into almost any headphone design, including open-back, closed-back, wired, and wireless options. This is great for both gaming and music listening.
According to xMEMS VP of Marketing and Business Development Mike Housholder, xMEMS developed the 2-way headphone concept to provide audio brands with a wider soundstage for spatial audio with improved sound clarity and detail while also providing a faster time-to-market solution that reduces production costs.
From Mike Housholder: “Our collaboration with AMPACS is driven by our firm belief that solid-state MEMS speakers will redefine all forms of personal audio,…And in creating this 2-way design, we’re moving the headphone market one step closer to a solid-state future. We encourage all interested brands to contact AMPACS so they can immediately begin producing headphones quicker and more affordably while ensuring their products are lighter and better sounding than anything currently available.”
Fabricated as a single piece of silicon, xMEMS Cowell serves as a miniature midrange-tweeter in the 2-way headphone design, providing unmatched clarity and detail, while the low end is reproduced by a smaller-than-usual (for high-end headphones) 40-millimeter dynamic driver from AMPACS.
The benefits for headphone manufacturers include improved mid- and high-end frequency reproduction, for cleaner vocals and spatial imaging; lighter weight, for improved wearing comfort; and much simpler back-volume acoustic design, for faster time to market.
From James Hsu, APACS Vice Chairman: “As a global leader in headphone ODM designs, AMPACS is uniquely positioned to bring xMEMS’ industry-changing innovations to audio brands and manufacturers throughout the world,…Leveraging our robust research and development team and advanced production technology, we’ve designed and integrated a truly disruptive solution that sounds better and costs less than single-driver headphones on the market today.”
Pre-production prototypes of the new AMPACs are ready now, and production-ready models are expected to be available in September 2024. Consumer product availability is expected to follow in 2025.
Initial Impression
Having seen and heard xMEMS micro speaker technology, there’s potential it becomes a breakthrough innovation for delivering great sound for headphones and earbuds. However, with only a few xMEMS products on the market it’s too early to make a call.
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