It's an exciting time in the world of audio. The best wireless earbuds continue to deliver outstanding sound combined with brilliant ANC that does a great job tuning out ambient sounds, and there's endless variety in terms of design, sizes, fit, and so on. But the underlying technology is identical across all earbuds: they use similar dynamic drivers that are based on a voice coil that's activated by magnets.
That isn't the case with solid-state drivers. Earbuds that use these drivers — like the recently announced Creative Aurvana Ace and Ace 2 — leverage a piezo layer distributed across a silicon diaphragm to produce sound, and the result is increased impulse response, lighter design, more consistent sound, and no interference from other parts. Basically, solid-state drivers are aiming to transform audio, and xMEMS is leading the charge.
