[xuan87]

Seems like the Creative Aurvana preorders are only available in the US. But I did see that the delivery date starts from Dec. 12. So hopefully I can get to try them locally early next year.

EDIT: Nope sorry my bad, the Singapore website took longer than usual to load but yea preorders are available for my country too for the same delivery date of Dec 12! Now to snoop around and see if I can test them anywhere first.

 

[cresny]

Seems like the Creative Aurvana preorders are only available in the US. But I did see that the delivery date starts from Dec. 12. So hopefully I can get to try them locally early next year.

EDIT: Nope sorry my bad, the Singapore website took longer than usual to load but yea preorders are available for my country too for the same delivery date of Dec 12! Now to snoop around and see if I can test them anywhere first.

I also ordered, but mine are showing 12/19-25 delivery. No tax for NY

 

[Tstorey]

Yeah, I like them.. Picked them up in a blowout, at that time, for $99 at Best Buy.
They sounded good, and then I realized I had them backwards, after switching, they sounded fantastic.

I loved the sound of the MW07 but damn could I ever get them to sit in my ears for long enough to enjoy it? Amazing for the 3 milliseconds they sat right.

 

[james444]

Also is this quote accurate or are they coming up with excuses

"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."

I feel like we have plenty of unvented tws.

Typically, dynamic driver IEMs and TWS will require vents (with few exceptions), but balanced armature ones don't. I don't know why they think that MEMs based TWS need vents, as I'm pretty sure they don't move as much air as DD based ones.

 

[xuan87]

Typically, dynamic driver IEMs and TWS will require vents (with few exceptions), but balanced armature ones don't. I don't know why they think that MEMs based TWS need vents, as I'm pretty sure they don't move as much air as DD based ones.

IIRC, the reason why vents are need is for the ANC to work optimally, not for the drivers. In fact, Creative states that MEMs drivers can't work as well in a vented setup: 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.

 

[james444]

IIRC, the reason why vents are need is for the ANC to work optimally, not for the drivers. In fact, Creative states that MEMs drivers can't work as well in a vented setup: 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.

Interesting, do you have more info on why ANC would need vents to work optimally? It's the first time I hear someone say this, and particularly with modern hybrid ANC that relies on both inside and outside mics, I can't really understand why one would need vents.

Or is it possibly because xMEMS use a vent to implement ambient passthrough?
https://xmems.com/news/xmems-announ...rol-for-next-generation-tws-and-hearing-aids/

 

[regancipher]

I got a few minutes worth of listening in with all of the Creative models back in October. The Aurvana Ace 2 were definitely the pick of the bunch. Not sure the sound is revolutionary, but they had a very clean well controlled sound that made them stand out from the others at least.

Only problem for me is these newer Qualcomm chipsets just do not play nicely on my Sony Xperia 1 IV. Madness when you consider it's a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 but I still can't do stuff like change the volume on the phone unless I physically adjust it using the touch controls on the TWS - this has been the case with the Soundpeats Air4 Pro and it was the same with the Creative buds, so I also didn't get to listen at the volume I would have liked

 

[jasswolf]

Not sure the sound is revolutionary, but they had a very clean well controlled sound that made them stand out from the others at least.

How would you compare it to typical offerings in the $80-$300 range?

MEMS piezo would have its strengths and weaknesses, but how was bass quantity and quality? Separation and detail?

 

[xuan87]

How would you compare it to typical offerings in the $80-$300 range?

MEMS piezo would have its strengths and weaknesses, but how was bass quantity and quality? Separation and detail?

The Ace has a dynamic driver for the bass.

 

[xuan87]

Interesting, do you have more info on why ANC would need vents to work optimally? It's the first time I hear someone say this, and particularly with modern hybrid ANC that relies on both inside and outside mics, I can't really understand why one would need vents.

Or is it possibly because xMEMS use a vent to implement ambient passthrough?
https://xmems.com/news/xmems-announ...rol-for-next-generation-tws-and-hearing-aids/

xMEMS does have the tech for a vent that can open and close, like you mention, but it wasn't stated anywhere that this tech is used in the Ace earphones.

You're right that you don't really need vents for ANC, just microphones. I was just repeating Creative's explanation, but I can't explain their reasoning and thought process to you unfortunately.

 

[james444]

xMEMS does have the tech for a vent that can open and close, like you mention, but it wasn't stated anywhere that this tech is used in the Ace earphones.

No, I just found out that they use their "Cowell" speaker as a tweeter, and not their more recent "Skyline" speaker with dynamic vent.

The Ace's DD + MEMs setup seems to look like this. Let's hope that their dual driver integration will sound more coherent than early DD + BA hybrids.

 

[SynaestheticA]

IIRC, the reason why vents are need is for the ANC to work optimally, not for the drivers. In fact, Creative states that MEMs drivers can't work as well in a vented setup: 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.

If true this would be just another example of ANC ruining the party for us all.

 

[james444]

If true this would be just another example of ANC ruining the party for us all.

Tbo, I personally would prefer to hear a single MEMs TWS without ANC over a DD + MEMs hybrid TWS with ANC.

But I'm probably in a minority.

 

[regancipher]

How would you compare it to typical offerings in the $80-$300 range?

MEMS piezo would have its strengths and weaknesses, but how was bass quantity and quality? Separation and detail?

I didn't get long enough with them to really make an informed judgement unfortunately, and it's been over a month now so I'm relying on memory.....the Aurvana Ace sounded easily good enough for a second listen, the other I would pass on. The bass sounded quite tight and controlled and detail sounded pretty good.

The testing scenario was a bit awkward as there were two pairs between four of us, and every time we rotated onto the next one we would end up being connected to or attempting to connect to the wrong device. I also have this issue with my Xperia 1 IV where I can't control volume so I was listening on around 50%. I got to play two songs but even they were struggling as I had barely any signal in there whilst trying to stream Tidal Masters

 

[cresny]

xMEMS does have the tech for a vent that can open and close, like you mention, but it wasn't stated anywhere that this tech is used in the Ace earphones.

You're right that you don't really need vents for ANC, just microphones. I was just repeating Creative's explanation, but I can't explain their reasoning and thought process to you unfortunately.

It's a bit over my head but from what I read the use of sound pressure level (SPL) in ANC is used to measure and control the flipped phase of the "playback", that cancels out the mic-measured noise phase. From what I read this is old school ANC and there may be other techniques now. What I am hoping for with MEMs is that their accuracy may one day be harnessed to help cancel out high frequency sounds.

Meanwhile, Skyline seems to be about dynamically controlling occlusion vs awareness, not cancellation. But I don't see how it could be used in a dual driver with the closed vent. I think It might be more like the original Etymotics, which were incredibly accurate. You could hear everything but they didn't give you the satisfying bass feel.