xMEMS Labs was founded in 2018, focused on the mission to disrupt the century-old coil speaker architecture with the world's first solid-state MEMS solutions. The company's innovative, monolithic transduction architecture implements both actuation and diaphragm in silicon producing the world's fastest and most precise microspeakers available so far, eliminating spring and suspension recovery of coil speakers.
Following the announcement of its first true MEMS speaker driver in 2020, xMEMS pursued an aggressive plan to enter the market and unveiled its first product fabricated at the TSMC foundry, the Montara MEMS microspeaker, in June 2021. Since then, the Santa Clara, California-based company has been granted over 100 patents worldwide for its unique silicon-based speaker technology.
xMEMS technologies allow for high-volume, reliable mass production of solid-state speakers using semiconductor fabrication methods and resulting in more precise, higher fidelity, high-resolution audio. The innovative MEMS speaker architecture results in a highly accurate time domain response, improved music reproduction and sound clarity, and an elevated sense of space.
"Since our first product release, we have been overwhelmed by the audio industry’s appreciation of Solid-State Fidelity," says Mike Householder, 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."
As xMEMS claims, its unique silicon membrane architecture has 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 now begun shipping three unique solid-state fidelity solutions, starting mass production shipments with the Cowell, the world's smallest solid-state microspeaker for TWS earphones and hearing aids. The second solution to become widely available is the Montara Plus, the world's highest output MEMS microspeaker, capable of sound pressure levels up to 120dB @200Hz, making it an ideal full-bandwidth transducer for audiophile-level, high-resolution in-ear monitors, creating a path to smaller, lighter, simpler IEM designs without the phase alignment and design complexities of multi-driver IEM implementations.
"xMEMS Solid-State Fidelity technology dramatically advances the shift to all-silicon audio systems. This transition started to gain traction in 2007, when MEMS microphones accounted for just 5% of the total microphone market. By 2022 the share was more than 80%, and xMEMS is leading a similar transition for the speaker," the company states.
"The market for MEMS micro speakers is expected to follow a similar trajectory to MEMS microphones," says 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 is able to create a more accurate reproduction of the source audio and a vastly superior listening experience."
This is accomplished 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 the world’s first solid-state speaker. And xMEMS microspeakers utilize standard semiconductor processes and packaging so they can be produced rapidly, uniformly, and cost-effectively at scale.
The result is a high-performing driver that is about 1/10th the weight and 40 percent the size of a similar coil speaker. And with no moving parts, an xMEMS solid-state microspeaker is more reliable and durable than prior technologies, even meeting IP58 standards of protection from dust and sweat.
"Solid-State Fidelity and a monolithic architecture not only provide the best listening experience, they also create the most robust speakers in the industry," Housholder continues. Because of their architecture, Solid-State Fidelity earbuds can survive harsh conditions, like going through a washing machine and dryer when left in a user’s pocket.
"Solid-state fidelity is a game-changer," Housholder adds. "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."
www.xmems.com
