this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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Solid-state driver earbuds are real and they're going to change portable audio (www.techradar.com)
submitted 1 year ago by Nicenightforawalk@kbin.social to c/apple@kbin.social
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Thank you xMEMS Labs and thank you Creative Technologies

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[–] RickRussell_CA@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unclear why these are called "solid state". The main innovation here seems to be bonding the piezoelectric elements to a membrane to serve as the speaker.

Piezoelectric earphones have been around for a long time; they were popular back in the old days because a crystal radio could drive them at a listenable volume without any external power source, using only the power received from the radio antenna.

[–] money_loo@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How does it work? Well, instead of the coil and magnet system that's been used for over a century, MEMS drivers rely on a voltage-driven monolithic piezo drive that convert signals into sound. This design sees a silicon diaphragm used for the speaker, with the piezo layer distributed evenly under the diaphragm surface.

I'm no engineer, but that sounds different than normal speakers to me.

[–] RickRussell_CA@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

But it doesn't imply solid state. There are ways to move air without moving parts, but this device clearly has moving parts.