For those of For those of us who can’t stop listening to music on the go, the last decade has been a whirlwind. We’ve seen the rise of AirPods – and the accompanying loss of the headphone jack – as well as a host of microphone, noise cancellation and other feature improvements that make on-the-go listening more comfortable. One thing we haven’t really seen yet? A big leap in audio quality.
With its new solid-state drivers, California-based xMems is finally offering us a real leap in the way earbuds produce sound. Based on the same technology developed for microchip manufacturing, these silicon earbud drivers offer a flatter, cleaner overall signature and significantly greater robustness compared to previous technology.
We initially tested the xMems technology in an incredibly expensive (and great-sounding) pair of machined titanium earbuds from Singularity Industries, but that felt like trying out a new eco-fuel in a Ferrari. With two new pairs of earbuds (confusingly named Aurvana Ace and Aurvana Ace 2 despite being released at the same time), the folks at Creative Audio have made this brand new technology available to everyone. In essentially the same form factor and price as Apple’s standard AirPods, you can now hear the drivers of the future. When it comes to audio quality for the money, there’s no doubt: solid state is the future.
Twins
Both pairs of Creative’s new earbuds look almost identical from the outside, featuring the familiar elephant trunk design in black with copper gold accents on the outside of each earbud. You can tell which pair it is by looking at the charging case. The standard Ace features an opaque black shell, while the Ace 2 features a clear gray shell that reveals a shiny gold clamshell interior.
Photo: Parker Hall
Under the surface, both have the same xMems driver technology, but the Ace 2 has better processing. The Ace 2 also supports lossless Bluetooth audio and features adaptive noise cancellation instead of the regular Ace’s non-adaptive, non-lossless technology. Both rounded cases offer 18 hours of battery backup and Qi or USB-C wireless charging, in addition to the six hours of playback in the headphones. For the rest of the test, I’ll focus on the Ace 2, which has the same drivers as the Ace but has the aforementioned high-end chipset. At just $20 more (MSRP), they’re a better buy.
Tap Type
The touch controls on the outside of each bud let you double-tap to play or pause music, or press and hold the outside of each bud to increase or decrease the volume (the left side turns it down, the right side turns it up). ). These buttons weren’t easy to use; I tended to use Creative’s headphones app and my phone’s controls to play around with the headphones when necessary, which worked well.
What I like is the simple, easy-to-understand code that shows how much battery is left in the charging case. A red light means 0 to 30 percent, a yellow light means 31 to 70 percent and a green light means 71 to 99 percent. It’s easy and helpful for those of us who leave our buds in bags for the gym and rarely take them to the charger.
Speaking of the gym, you won’t have a problem working up a sweat in it, or at least I won’t, thanks to the included IPX5 rating for water resistance. I have used them for many trips to my gym and even some time in the sauna with no problems.