Singularity Audio News Today

Speakers in almost earbuds, headphones, and large sound systems use 100-year-old technology built from magnets, coils, and vibrating membranes to make sound ...

The first earbuds to use MEMS drivers are about to go on sale, marking a radical change in how these devices are built.

It is not every day I get an opportunity to audition a completely new type of speaker. So, it was with a fair amount of excitement that I attended a press event in New York City hosted by Silicon Valley startup xMEMS Labs. On display were several new piezoelectric Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) speakers, each of which is essentially a semiconductor — a chip-based driver 1/25th of an inch in height and small enough in width and depth to fit on the head of a pencil’s erasure.

Mechanical drivers could become a thing of the past if xMEMS Labs has its way. The Santa Clara, CA-based firm has set its sights on replacing coil-based driver technology that has dominated audio for nearly 100 years with a full-range silicon-based microspeaker it hopes will find its way into the next generation of earbuds.