[Pre Order] Creative Aurvana Ace ($199.95) & Ace 2 ($229.95) ANC TWS xMEMS+1DD IEM Delivered @ Creative Labs Australia

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jasswolf on 10/11/2023 - 14:22 au.creative.com (352 clicks)
Last edited 10/11/2023 - 23:49 by 1 other user

Announced overnight, releasing December 15th. One of the first products utilising xMEMS technology (piezo silicon MEMS driver, similar to how speakers in your phones work), certainly the first one below $1000. Dynamic driver used for the bass.

Both offer ANC and support the following bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptx Adaptive, LC3.

The Ace 2 has a better Qualcomm chipset in it and additionally supports aptX lossless (limited to 16-bit/44 kHz instead of 24-bit/48 kHz), and offers an AI-enhanced adaptive ANC that would likely rival what's in the Airpods Pro 2nd gen.

No LC3Plus is a little disappointing, but aptX lossless should provide good fidelity if the 16-bit signal is being well converted. As with any piezo-type driver a potential caveat with this technology is bass quantity, and how quality suffers as they try to boost that, but detail/resolution, separation of notes, and perhaps even timbre could be potentially be high value for the price point.

While there are some early impressions I would personally wait for reviews as tonality is likely to be unbalanced as they rush to be first to market, but for those who want the new new, enjoy!

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  Pikaloo on 10/11/2023 - 14:36

  +1

  Thanks, been waiting months for this :)

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  Larsson on 10/11/2023 - 14:47

  -2

  How’s this a “deal” again? New product at retail price…

  • 

    jasswolf on 10/11/2023 - 14:49

    +1

    xMEMS drivers are considered to be a significant step forward in base audio quality, and this is about 5% of the previous price point they were available at while having a host of features.

    Unless it's held together by sticky tape and dreams, these should represent a massive jump in audio quality. You know me well enough, why are you coming at me with the OzMSRP argument?

    Read the voting guidelines and reconsider your stance.

    • 

      Larsson on 10/11/2023 - 15:07

      I did not realise the poster haha, sorry mate! Not sure if I can take my vote back, how do you even do it?

      • 

        jasswolf on 10/11/2023 - 15:09

        +1

        Ta… in the votes section up the top of the deal post

        • 

          Ademos on 10/11/2023 - 15:50

          +2

          @jasswolf: You're not wrong though, he's posting a press release, not a deal. It's neat, it's great, it's not why I come to OzB. I've got news sites for news.

          • 

            jasswolf on 10/11/2023 - 15:51

            @Ademos: I posted the pre-order page and explained the technology…

            • 

              Ademos on 10/11/2023 - 15:51

              @jasswolf: I, however, am wrong. Lol.

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  HaydosK on 10/11/2023 - 15:55

  +1

  "(limited to 16-bit/44 kHz instead of 24-bit/48 kHz)" this makes it look bad but aptx lossless is way better than any bluetooth codec.

  • 

    jasswolf on 10/11/2023 - 15:55

    Agreed, I'm coping it a bit today in the Sony planar deals because I even bother to point out small flaws and caveats. Should only sit behind LC3Plus as an offering.

    • 

      HaydosK on 10/11/2023 - 15:56

      its lossless cd quality. i dont think we need hires, if they made it the default i would never complain. when will we need anything more?

      • 

        jasswolf on 10/11/2023 - 16:27

        You can audibly hear more than 16-bit, though most 32-bit DACs tend to crap out around 21-bit in practice when listening at normal playback speed.

        24-bit is audibly more lifelike even under those restrictions, while 32-bit offers you the opportunity to retain detail at a reduced playback speed. The latter is more for audio engineers creating samples, but if you're listening to music and want to pick up what's going on, that's a handy way to acquire the information.

        As for 44 vs 48, the latter allows for a little wiggle room with DAC filters. Any multiples of that are for the the purpose of oversampling, similar to what anti-aliasing does for computer graphics.

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  aja12 on 10/11/2023 - 23:35

  +1

  RRP for an untested, unknown product on pre-order is not a bargain.

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  DangerNoodle on 11/11/2023 - 09:30

  I'm kinda curious about these. LC3 will be nice going forwards but the aptx support fills a nice gap since none of my current portable devices support LC3. I usually prefer the balanced sound of creative buds, and I'd like to think they've fixed the charging bugs that my aurvana gold had.

  I am curious for a clearer definition of the battery life. Whilst they have said 24 hour battery life, I'm curious if this will be 24 hours like the Sony inzone buds with charging case fororr, or if it's a 24 hour battery life like 6+18 or 8+16 affair.

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  HaydosK on 18/11/2023 - 22:57

  i hope they have a sale on this. i cant bring myself to buy retail but i am itching to try xmems.