Skip to main content

Creative’s Aurvana Ace are the first wireless earbuds to use MEMS drivers

Creative Aurvana Ace 2 wireless earbuds.
Creative

Creative has broken new ground in the wireless earbuds space. The company has announced that its upcoming Aurvana Ace and Aurvana Ace 2 noise-canceling wireless earbuds will use a hybrid dual-driver architecture featuring MEMS drivers from a company called xMEMS, making them the first products of their kind to employ this new audio technology. The Aurvana Ace has been prices at $130 while the Ace 2 is $150. Both will be available for preorder November 10.

What’s a MEMS driver?

xMEMS Cowell silicon driver.
The xMEMS Cowell drivers, used in the Creative Aurvana Ace and Ace 2. xMEMS Labs

MEMS stands for micro-electromechanical system — essentially a tiny device that incorporates both non-moving electronics as well as moving mechanical parts. In the case of the xMEMS-designed audio drivers used in the Aurvana Ace, the moving part is a miniscule silicon membrane that can move air (and thus create sound) when an electrical signal is passed through the flap.

Recommended Videos

Though I have yet to hear a MEMS driver for myself, xMEMS says they possess a variety of advantages over existing driver technologies like dynamic, balanced armature, and planar magnetic. These include a huge frequency response range, ultrafast transient response (the ability to quickly shift from from one sound to another), more accurate sound reproduction, and to top it off, they’re tough as nails. With an IP58 rating, they’re fully dust and waterproof and can even withstand being tossed in a washing machine and/or a dryer.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Those are the benefits you and I are told we can enjoy, but for manufacturers, there are additional perks like a high degree of uniformity between drivers because they’re essentially created like microchips.

Why does the Aurvana Ace use two drivers?

Man wearing Creative Aurvana Ace wireless earbuds.
Creative

In a sealed set of earbuds, like a pair of wired in-ear monitor (IEMs), it’s possible to use a single MEMS driver, but wireless, noise-canceling earbuds are partially vented. That venting exposes one of the few weaknesses of current MEMS driver technology — they can’t produce high enough sound pressure levels (SPL) needed in a vented earbud, especially at the low frequencies used by the majority of active noise cancellation (ANC) algorithms.

That’s why the Aurvana Ace and Ace 2 use a hybrid design — an xMEMS-built driver for the mids and highs, where the MEMS biggest advantages can be heard, and a standard 10mm dynamic driver for the lows, so that the needed SPL is available for ANC to work.

Creative Aurvana Ace

Creative Aurvana Ace wireless earbuds.
Creative

Design-wise, you’d never know that the Aurvana Ace don’t have the same kind of drivers inside as a set of Apple AirPods Pro. With the Ace’s stem-based shape, silicone eartips, and flip-top charging case, they even look a lot like Apple’s earbuds, if you squint your eyes and pretend they’re white.

They also have similar battery and charging specs. Both have wireless charging cases, and both will give you about 24 hours of total listening time.

But when you dig into the details, differences emerge. The Aurvana Ace support Bluetooth 5.3, including LE Audio and compatibility with the new LC3 codec for very low latency. Also supported are SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX Adaptive when used with compatible phones.

Thanks to the combination of drivers, the Aurvana Ace has a huge frequency response range. Creative claims it’s 5Hz to 40kHz — well above (and below) the normal range of human hearing. The earbuds use hybrid ANC and have six mics for voice pickup during calls. They sport an IPX5 rating for water resistance.

Creative Aurvana Ace 2

Creative Aurvana Ace 2 wireless earbuds.
Creative

The Ace 2 are nearly identical to the Ace, save for their translucent black plastic and copper-colored charging case inlays.

The bigger difference is that the Ace 2 have two extra Qualcomm technologies built-in: Snapdragon Sound for aptX Lossless for CD-quality audio when used with a lossless audio source and a compatible smartphone, plus Adaptive ANC. Unlike regular ANC, Adaptive ANC can make small adjustments to compensate for any irregularities in the seal between the earbud and your ear, as well as differences in external sounds.

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Noble Fokus Apollo headphones are the first with planar and dynamic drivers
Noble Fokus Apollo.

Sony, Sennheiser, Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, Master & Dynamic, and Focal -- when it comes to high-end wireless headphones, these are the brands that typically attract those who care a lot about audio quality. But that might change now that Noble has released its first set of wireless, noise-canceling headphones -- the $649 Noble Fokus Apollo. They're available starting September 3.

Noble might not be a household name like those other brands, but it has been producing audiophile-grade in-ear monitors (IEMs) for over a decade, and many of them have earned high praise from that notoriously picky community. The Fokus Apollo are very much targeted toward this same type of buyer, with a novel combination of drivers plus wireless hi-res audio codecs.

Read more
Only one person will win these diamond-encrusted Bose earbuds
Diamond encrusted Bose Ultra Open Earbuds.

It's Bose's 60th anniversary, so the company is celebrating with an appropriate creation: a set of diamond-encrusted Bose Ultra Open Earbuds valued at over $9,000. The blingy buds are one-of-a-kind and they aren't for sale. Instead, Bose has decided to award them to one lucky person: the winner of its Diamond-Studded Giveaway contest.

Is this an obvious marketing move to generate buzz for the audio brand? For sure, but it's also a way to drive sales of Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones, Ultra Earbuds, and Ultra Open Earbuds in the new limited edition "Diamond Collection" product color.  Each Diamond Collection purchase on bose.com between August 26 and September 16 gets you one entry into the contest, up to a maximum of three entries per person.

Read more
JBL has added every conceivable feature to its Tour Pro 3 wireless buds
JBL Tour Pro 3.

JBL's new Tour Pro 3 wireless earbuds should really be called the JBL Tour de Force. The company's second-gen Tour Pro were already the most feature-studded earbuds we've ever seen, complete with a touchscreen on the charging case, and yet the Tour Pro 3 go further. Much further. The price has gone up too -- they'll cost $300 when they become available for purchase on September 22.

At a glance, the third-gen looks the same as before, whether you get them in black or "latte." Physically, the shape of the earbuds is unchanged. However, the case is a little smaller, while offering a 30% larger screen. It can also act as a retransmitter of both analog and digital audio when you use the included cables to plug it into computers, smartphones, or in-flight seat-back entertainment systems.

Read more