It’s never too late to bring something fresh to any market, and xMEMs is proof of that. While we’ve all become accustomed to typical magnetic coil speakers or planar magnetic drivers, this company has been forging its own legacy with a completely different type of speaker, and it’s been making waves. I was given the opportunity to try out two devices using some xMEMs Cowell micro speakers. One is a pair of over-the-ear headphones, and the other is a pair of TWS earbuds. Here’s my experience with using these devices and how xMEMs’ drivers make a difference.
What’s different about xMEMs’ drivers?
xMEMs specializes in micro speakers. As their name implies, they’re much smaller than traditional cone-shaped drivers. Rather than using a flexible membrane to produce the audio, these micro speakers use silicon to produce the sound. It’s much stronger, which means that they can last much longer.
The main draw of these micro speakers is their size. xMEMs micro speakers take up far less space than traditional speakers. So, they can fit in tighter and more spaces than a traditional tweeter. This opens the door for more applications for these drivers.
For this review, I received a prototype pair of AMPACS headphones and the SoundPEATS Capsule3 Pro+ TWS earbuds. Both of these devices use the xMEMs Cowell. This is the world’s smallest full-range, all-silicon MEMS speaker. It can be used in over-the-ear headphones, earbuds, in-ear monitors, and hearing aids. It sits in these devices as the tweeter, providing the higher frequencies. So, the question is, how did the company do? Do these really push the audio industry forward? Let’s find out.
xMEMs Cowell in over-the-ear headphones
So, I received a reference design for a pair of headphones from AMPACS, a world-leading audio company. Working together, AMPACS and xMEMs produced a 2-way architecture that leverages xMEMs’ Cowell speakers to deliver the higher frequencies and AMPACS’ own dynamic drivers for the bass.
Design and Fit
Starting off with the hardware, this is a pretty good-looking reference design. I wouldn’t say that it’s the best-looking or most unique design. They look like your standard headphones. One thing I do like is the mixture of black and gray components. They give the headphones a nice sleek look to them.
As for the fit, they fit snugly on my head when I’m wearing them. In fact, the fit is a bit tighter than other headphones I’ve used. While the fit is pretty tight, they still feel good. The padding on the ear cups is rather soft, so they don’t squeeze my head.
Bass
While the Cowell micro speaker doesn’t handle the bass, I still think it needs to be mentioned. AMPACS’ own dynamic driver handles most of the sound. It takes care of the rumble and thump of the lower notes while providing the mid tones as well.
Overall, I was impressed with this driver’s performance with the bass. I wouldn’t say that the bass is the best that I’ve heard, but there was still a good amount of depth to the sound. Everything sounded nicely balanced with a good amount of bass.
Treble
I was pretty impressed with the amount of detail I heard in the sound. Much of the heavy lifting is being done by the Cowell driver, so it handles the bass and mids. However, listening to those drivers on their own, it’s easy to hear just how much the Cowell drivers contribute to the audio.
For context, xMEMs sent over a mini switcher that lets me enable/disable the Cowell drivers and the AMPACS dynamic driver. So, it’s possible to hear the Cowell drivers or the Dynamic drivers by themselves.
I was pretty blown away by how much the Cowell drivers augmented the sound. Listening to them alone, they don’t sound like much. However, they supply all of the essential high tones that the sound needs. They add the sizzle and punch that you hear from drums. Also, they supply those tones that add details to voices.
The thing about the xMEMs Cowell is the fact that they’re much smaller than traditional speakers. So, it’s that much more impressive that they can complement AMPACS’ dynamic driver. Everything sounds crisp and detailed while remaining full and punchy.
I listened to a wide range of music with these headphones, and the Cowell micro speakers were able to pull their weight no matter what I listened to.
Overall
Honestly, this was a first for me. When most people listen to headphones, they don’t get to hear all of the drivers separately. It really made me appreciate how much each driver contributes to the sound. When I listened to the Cowell micro speaker by itself, I thought to myself that, “there’s no way this tiny sound could fill out the higher end of the audio.” However, when I played them in tandem with the dynamic drivers, they completed the sound like a puzzle.
The sound is full and detailed. It’s the kind of sound I’d typically hear from a pretty high-end pair of headphones. Both of the drivers do a great job of creating an encompassing sound.
SoundPEATS Capsule3 Pro+
As stated before The xMEMs Cowell is small enough to fit into a pair of TWS earbuds. The company partnered with SoundPEATS to bring the Capsule3 Pro+. Coming in at $129, these are meant to compete on the same level as earbuds like the AirPods and the Galaxy Buds3.
These bring some neat features, as you should expect from a pair of earbuds at this price range. Well, let’s see if the partnership with xMEMs has created a compelling audio experience.
Design and build
Before getting into the audio, let’s talk about the design. I’d say that these are some of the more unique-looking earbuds on the market. They have the more typical stemmed design.
In terms of the shape, there’s nothing really special about them. They’re a little bit more angular than what you’d see with AirPods. Honestly, that gives them a bit of an edgier design. The design screams “We are the Anti-AirPods!” like other companies tend to do. In fact, these remind me a bit of the OnePlus Buds 3.
In terms of color, I really liked the gold and black aesthetic. The body is black, but the stem has a gold accent that runs down it. Also, the top microphone and speaker grille are gold.
Overall, these are a pair of good-looking earbuds. Even the case looks nice. Aside from having a pretty basic shape, the case has the text “Hear Your Imagination” written on it in golden cursive text. That gives the case an oddly luxurious look.
Function
The Capsule3 Pro+ use touch controls, which is pretty common with most premium earbuds. They use a combination of tap and hold gestures, and they let you perform a good number of functions.
Single-tapping on the right bud raises the volume, double-tapping it plays/pauses your media, triple-tapping it summons your device’s voice assistant, and holding it goes to the next track. Single-tapping the left bud lowers the volume, double-tapping it plays/pauses your media, triple-tapping it enables/disables Game mode, and holding cycles through ANC, normal, and Passthrough modes.
In all, there are seven functions that you can perform right on the earbuds, and I think that’s pretty great. It takes a second to get used to where the touch-sensitive areas are. I would adjust an earbud in my ear only to accidentally raise or lower the volume. It’s not terrible, but it’s something to keep in mind.
The only issue I have with these earbuds in terms of function is that, when you cycle through the sound modes (ANC, Passthrough, and normal), the earbuds play a voice prompt, and it mutes your music. I’m not a fan of earbuds that do that. I’d prefer a brief beep and hear the mode change. With the Capsule3 Pro+, the audio mutes about a half second before you hear the voice and slightly after you hear it. It just interrupts the song you’re listening to.
ANC and Passthrough modes
Just like most other earbuds in this price range, the SoundPeat Capsule3 Pro+ have noise cancelation and passthrough modes. Starting off with the passthrough mode, I’d say that these gave me some of the cleanest passthrough audio that I’ve heard. Oftentimes, I’d hear a bunch of noise with other earbuds’ transparency modes. This noise would make it hard to hear when people are talking to me.
With the Capsule3 Pro+, it sounds like the company used some top-notch noise cancelation tech to clean up the audio coming in. Honestly, this can compete with earbuds much more expensive than they are.
My feelings toward the ANC are pretty similar. These earbuds do a great job of cutting the noise in my area. They were able to cut noise from sources like my AC unit and space heater, and the story was much the same with outside noises. I definitely put them up there with some of the best earbuds I’ve used in terms of noise cancelation.
Bass
Now, let’s move on to the audio. When it comes to the bass performance, I feel that the Capsule3 Pro+ sounded really nice. They added a nice bit of depth to the sound. Listening to the orchestral music, I could hear instruments like the double basses and bassoons rather nicely, and this goes for listening to more modern music.
The only thing is that I didn’t hear quite as much depth as some of the other earbuds that I’ve reviewed. I could hear a difference between these earbuds and the $90 OnePlus Nord Buds 3. I think that the sound in the Capsule3 Pro+ could have had just a bit more depth. I just feel like they were a little bit of a step back compared to some of the other earbuds that I’ve reviewed.
Honestly, I wouldn’t say that the bass performance is bad at all. I just think that it’s not quite the best. I’ve heard better from earbuds in this price range.
Mids
When it comes to the mids, I think that these earbuds really shine. Those fundamental tones in the middle of the audio spectrum get a nice boost, and this adds a nice balance to the sound. So, sounds like voices really shine, and this was apparent when I listened to some more modern music.
The singers’ voices really punched through the sound, and this goes for the toms on the drum set. There was some nice punch there that gave the music impact.
One thing that I liked about the sound was just how clean it was. Sometimes, with cheaper earbuds and headphones, you’d hear the overall clarity take a hit as the manufacturers prioritize the bass over the mids and treble. This would give you a muddy sound. However, SoundPEATS paid attention to the mids when making these earbuds, and it made sure that they were clear.
Treble
This should be an area of interest because the xMEMs Cowell drivers are primarily handling the treble. Just like with the AMPACS headphones, I was impressed with just how much power I was getting from the micro speakers. They fleshed out the upper range of the sound so much that it felt like I was listening to a traditional tweeter.
Much of the voices were handled by the drivers that SoundPEATS used, but the Cowell micr speakers handled the higher tones in the voices along with the S’s and T’s that people pronounce. This allows them to cut through the audio.
Also, when it comes to music, everything from higher percussion to higher instruments all sounded great. The icy cool sound of higher violins and flutes, the “ting” of the high hat; everything cut through beautifully.
Battery
The battery life was rather good. They aren’t the longest-lasting earbuds that I’ve used, but they’re definitely up there. I can get through a long workday of use before needing to place them in the charger.
Using the charging case, I was able to get about three days of use out of these earbuds. This is with work and some casual use. That’s pretty good, and definitely better than some of the other earbuds that I’ve used.
Balance
What impressed me more than the sound was the overall balance that I heard. xMEMs partnered with SoundPEATS to integrate its Cowell micro speaker into these earbuds, and the keyword is “integrate”. These drivers work together to produce a complete sound. I don’t hear any separation between the higher and lower tones, so I can tell that SoundPEATS did a great job of calibrating these drivers to work together.
The future is tiny
The AMPACS prototype and the SoundPEATS Capsule3 Pro+ showcase just how versatile xMEMs’ micro speakers are. For being so small, they were able to support the larger drivers and deliver a complete sound as though they were larger speakers themselves. That’s the beauty of them.
The Cowell micro speakers are extremely compact, thus they should be weak when it comes to their volume. However, they’re not! They do the job of a larger driver while taking up much less space. This means that companies can integrate them into several types of devices.
My experience with using both of these devices was an eye-opener. xMEMs is one of those companies that’s challenging the laws of physics, trying to shrink their devices while providing more power. I think that it’s succeeding at that.
At the time of writing this review, the company is currently working on its Sycamore MEM speakers. These will be an industry first, the first full-range open-space micro speakers. They’ll produce powerful enough audio to be heard in the open air. Imagine hearing them using your smartwatch or smart glasses. They’ll be as powerful as a full speaker but at a fraction of the size.
I recommend that you pick up the SoundPEATS Capsule3 Pro+ because they’re a fine pair of earbuds, and I recommend that you keep an eye out for what xMEMs does next. It’s leading the way for a future of more compact speakers in many of the devices that people use in their daily lives.
