Wanted to try out what single MEMS-driver based IEMs can achieve, but had a hard time finding any. Soranik MEMS-2 are two-way (xMEMS Montara full range + USound Conamara supertweeter), Singularity ONI IEMs use twin xMEMS Montara drivers, and Creative, Noble and NUARL TWS are all DD + MEMS hybrids. Also, MEMS-2 and ONI are both pretty expensive.
So I went with the
Linner Deluxe for $250 (early bird), which is first and foremost designed as a hearing aid, offering TWS audio streaming only as an add-on. However, it had what I was looking for: just one single MEMS driver per side (
Usound Conamara full range).
Measurements:
(Linner Deluxe default EQ: diffuse-field compensated = blue, RAW = purple)
(All DF-compensated; Linner Deluxe = blue, Etymotic ER4S = green, Ultimate Ears UERM = purple)
Comments:
- Very DF-neutral. Ignore 2.5k dip, imo shallow fitting IEMs don't need as much ear canal gain compensation as, say ER4S.
- Sound quality in the same ballpark as ER4S and UERM: analytical, extremely clear and detailed.
- Max volume level rather low, not sure whether due to driver or DSP limit.
Overall I'm quite impressed with the single full-range MEMS driver, its fidelity reminds me of TOTL DDs or even electrostats. No BA-timbre and no treble sizzle like with piezo tweeters.
Unfortunately, I can't recommend this particular Linner unit though, unless you have use for the hearing aid function. Its TWS audio streaming is very basic and featureless, hardly any playback controls, subpar headset functionality, no ANC for audio.
Still, I'm looking forward to more advanced implementations of full-range MEMS drivers, as I feel they can cover the entire audible spectrum with highly impressive fidelity. I'm probably in a minority, but I personally like too keep it simple, as long as one single driver can do the trick.
That said, even though the Conamara MEMS driver delivers excellent diffuse-field neutral sound quality, I feel it would probably struggle to achieve Harman-target bass levels, or offer enough SPL for low frequency ANC. But still, a great first foray into what will undoubtedly become an important part of future portable audio.