Furthering the integration of solid-state micro speakers in over-the-ear headphones, AMPACS, a global leader in electroacoustic product design, today announced a turnkey 2-way headphone solution designed in collaboration with MEMS audio and semiconductor pioneer xMEMS Labs. Pre-production prototypes are ready now, and the production-ready solution will be available in September.
The design leverages xMEMS’ Cowell, the world’s smallest solid-state micro speaker, for precisely rendered highs and mids, and AMPACS’ dynamic driver providing deep, satisfying bass. The result is a ready-made, modular solution that headphone manufacturers can plug into virtually any headphone design, including open-back, closed-back, wired, and wireless, for next-level gaming and music listening experiences.
According to xMEMS VP of Marketing and Business Development Mike Housholder, xMEMS developed the 2-way headphone concept to provide audio brands with a wider soundstage for spatial audio with improved sound clarity and detail while also providing a faster time-to-market solution that reduces production costs.
“Our collaboration with AMPACS is driven by our firm belief that solid-state MEMS speakers will redefine all forms of personal audio,” Housholder said. “And in creating this 2-way design, we’re moving the headphone market one step closer to a solid-state future. We encourage all interested brands to contact AMPACS so they can immediately begin producing headphones quicker and more affordably, while ensuring their products are lighter and better sounding than anything currently available.”
Advances in driver design, plus sufficient room in speaker enclosures, have for years allowed bookshelf speaker manufacturers to separate the highs and mids from the bass to deliver a clearer, cleaner, more detailed listening experience. However, this critical separation just isn’t possible for even the most advanced, single-driver headphones.
Fabricated as a single piece of silicon, xMEMS Cowell serves as a miniature midrange-tweeter in the 2-way headphone design, providing unmatched clarity and detail, while the low end is reproduced by a smaller-than-usual (for high-end headphones) 40-millimeter dynamic driver from AMPACS.
The benefits for headphone manufacturers include improved mid- and high-end frequency reproduction, for cleaner vocals and spatial imaging; lighter weight, for improved wearing comfort; and much simpler back-volume acoustic design, for faster time to market.
Plus, despite including the latest in solid-state technology, the design will not increase costs. In fact, replacing graphene, carbon fiber or other exotic dynamic driver diaphragm materials with this simple 2-way system can actually cut BOM cost.
“As a global leader in headphone ODM designs, AMPACS is uniquely positioned to bring xMEMS’ industry-changing innovations to audio brands and manufacturers throughout the world,” said James Hsu, AMPACS Vice Chairman. “Leveraging our robust research and development team and advanced production technology, we’ve designed and integrated a truly disruptive solution that sounds better and costs less than single-driver headphones on the market today.”
