Myvox self-describes as a deep-tech startup. In their case, they already have a respectable time dedicated to research and development to support their plan, even though they existed also for a while with a different product focus. The company was founded in 2018 by industry experts with 40+ years of experience in MEMS research, and drawing on the manufacturing expertise of the MEMS foundry Silex Microsystems, also based in Stockholm.
The company's entrance into the market is based on the confidence in this solid know-how in MEMS technology and manufacturing partnership, as well as the conviction that the audio industry is converging on that MEMS will very quickly dominate the microspeaker market, just as it revolutionized microphones in consumer electronics over the past two decades.
I recently had the chance to meet and talk to Mattias Holmer, who joined as CEO in 2024, and in just a few months became the visible face of the company, attending trade shows to engage in the first discussions with potential customers. To my surprise, I learned that he was already traveling with a running demo, a pair of wired prototype earphones equipped with their first-generation driver, which he connected to a laptop to allow me to have a listening opportunity. These types of demonstrations are usually not very convincing and can even be detractive if they don't go well, unless there is a wow factor. And as I learned with MEMS drivers, the "wow" comes from consistency, repeatability, and adaptability. Not from judging performance that you can judge by listening to music on a laptop in a public space.
So I was intrigued why Myvox was already promoting a listening demo at shows like CanJam, where normally you will meet some golden ears in this domain (or where you might also be surprised by some really nasty "influencers" with opinions). After listening to some of the demo material (including one of my reference songs), I could understand why Myvox feels they are very close. The demo sounded extremely balanced, correctly detailed, and clean, which is the best praise possible for that level of experience. I would not ask for more from a single microspeaker. But in this case I understand how Myvox believes they can take things to a "superior performance" level.
In Practice
How can we explain what Myvox is doing, and how do they intend to "set new standards in MEMS audio technology," as their website claims?
Myvox has spent more than six years perfecting these MEMS devices for audio reproduction. As they explain, the team is not only experienced in MEMS development and materials science, but also in working discreetly on B2B projects with leading brands in consumer electronics.
"While staying under the radar, Myvox has built a robust foundation for its breakthrough solutions. The foundation of Myvox's innovation lies in its proprietary MEMS stack, built using world-leading piezoelectric materials. Beside the stack, the company has invested significant resources into perfecting the packaging process, culminating in an innovative solution to optimize both sound quality and size. This advancement not only slims down the form factor further but also enhances the scalability and integration potential of the product," the company explains.
Myvox calls its Speaker-in-a-Chip, "a pure MEMS microspeaker that offers significant advantages over conventional coil-based speakers," starting with enhanced clarity and richer detail across a wide frequency range. This explores the inherent capability to generate sound in a faster and more precise way, with a bandwidth that extends easily to higher frequencies than conventional speakers, up to 40kHz.
Obviously, a MEMS microspeaker also offers a more compact, space-saving form factor, ideal for mobile and personal audio applications, where it also enables longer battery life because of the lower power consumption. And as mentioned, it delivers in terms of improved conformity and reliability, consistency at scale, because it leverages an efficient semiconductor production process that is now proven. The Myvox MEMS are SMT compatible (surface mountable), saving effort on the manufacturing and integration, and they are around a millimeter thin, simplifying integration into existing designs.
Aren't all existing MEMS microspeakers able to claim the same? Mattias Holmer is confident that they aren't, and that Myvox will be able to set a new standard with superior sound when it reaches the market. The company is confident in their architecture, where the silicone membrane is driven by new piezoelectric materials (sputtered lead zirconate titanate or PZT) introduced into MEMS foundries in 2018, allowing for a much superior "actuator". This same material and process is used to make ultrasound transducers, but it was based on the availability of this technology that Myvox decided to move into these "very responsive microspeakers," where the movement of the membrane very closely matches an input signal.
The problem is, as always, Myvox cannot yet reveal everything they do. For now, their target is to offer a reliable solution for brands seeking to enhance audio performance in modern electronics. Mattias Holmer is confident that Myvox will have products ready to sample in 2025, and Myvox is planning to launch also a smaller driver, useful as a dedicated tweeter.
For that, it will be vital the support from Silex and its pure-play MEMS manufacturing edge, already based on the first 12-inch wafer fabrication, which will vastly increase production capacity and enable manufacturing the microspeakers at scale, up to billions of units. Myvox patented MEMS microspeaker design can be manufactured by Silex in a very large scale - if needed.
And I found extremely interesting that, prior to this focus on piezoelectric MEMS, the Myvox engineering team developed also a MEMS-based ultrasonic speaker array and advanced beamforming techniques for manipulation of electronic components. At the time named Myvox Ultrasonics, they even explored haptics and acoustic levitation through ultrasound, before deciding to focus on more commercially viable projects. Myvox understands how to generate sound from ultrasound, but opted not to explore that route for devices that will remain active inside the ear for long periods.
Anyone interested in that research can explore the existing Myvox Ultrasonics patents, including "Acoustic Channel for Levitation of Matter", publication number 20240062740, and "Acoustic Levitation System," publication number: 20240029705, both by inventor Josef Hansson, Myvox' CTO. Following that research and useful accumulated knowledge, the Myvox team decided to explore the shortest way to commercialization. Since 2022, MEMS microspeakers have been their sole focus.
www.myvox.se
