xMEMS Announces General Availability of First Solid-State Fidelity, All-Silicon Microspeakers

Following the announcement of the world's first true MEMS microspeaker in July 2020, xMEMS Labs now announced general availability of three solutions for immediate integration into next-generation true wireless stereo (TWS) earphones, in-ear-monitors (IEMs), hearing aids, and other emerging personal audio designs. Offering the advantages of Solid-State Fidelity and DynamicVent technology, xMEMS is determined to change the market through vastly superior audio experiences and improved consumer listening comfort.

Back in January 2015, I gave a talk about MEMS loudspeakers, and I have regularly written about MEMS speaker progress. A half decade later, it seems we are finally now moving beyond the industry's joke that MEMS’ development progress can be measured in dog years: it takes 7 human years for each year of MEMS’ progress! The big news is xMEMS Labs, a company founded just in January 2018, has announced it is now in mass production of its Montara, a monolithic MEMS “µspeaker” with a slim 1mm profile, and announced Cowell, the world’s smallest monolithic MEMS µSpeaker, at just 1.15mm high and 3.2mm wide.

xMEMS Labs today introduced Cowell, the world’s smallest monolithic MEMS µspeaker, targeting the replacement of balanced armature drivers in true wireless earbuds and hearing aid designs. At just 22mm3, 56 milligrams, and with a 3.2mm diameter side-firing package, Cowell delivers an impressive 110dB SPL at 1kHz. Cowell is the first speaker to use xMEMS’ 2nd generation M2 speaker cell architecture offering improved SPL/mm2 enabling increased loudness in smaller form factors.

xMEMS Labs confirmed that its first monolithic MEMS µspeaker, Montara, is now in production. Working closely with TSMC as its semiconductor foundry partner, the Montara design has passed all required performance and reliability qualifications and has already been selected by manufacturers for future products. The Santa Clara, California-based company confirms that the Montara was already selected for an upcoming true wireless earbuds design.