Wireless earbuds are steadily advancing in features and battery life, while coming in at more affordable prices, but the principle behind their audio drivers has remained the same compared to their wired predecessors.
Solid-state drivers are touted as the next big thing with the ability to cover a wider soundstage for more detailed audio with faster response speed. Companies like xMEMS produce these drivers on the same principle as chipsets, and the Creative Aurvana Ace series are among the first affordable headsets on the market to offer this new approach to drivers.
Solid-state drivers replace the coils and magnets found in traditional earphone drivers with piezoelectric silicon actuators and membranes. Inside solid-state drivers are tiny flaps of silicon that produce sound by absorbing electrical signals and transforming them into sound microwaves.
In the case of the Aurvana Ace 2, Creative uses traditional 10mm dynamic drivers that handle the bass and mids, while the Cowell xMEMS tweeters are inserted in the upper part and have the task of reproducing the highs.
So, is the hype about solid-state drivers real, and how do these earphones compare to the competition using legacy coil tweeters and magnets? We did the testing and were impressed. Here are our results.
Project
Aurvana Ace 2 feature a stem-shaped design and silicone in-ear tips. The buds and case feature a dark appearance with contrasting copper tones mixed with transparent elements. You can also see parts of the actual drivers and batteries inside the earbuds. As far as looks go, we have to give it to Creative for bringing their own style to the table.
Opening the Ace 2’s case reveals a shiny copper-colored finish. The locking mechanism feels solid and the lid can hold the case when open. The case is quite compact and fits in your jeans pocket and both it and the earphones have a matte texture that repels fingerprints and smudges.
Each earbud weighs just 4.7 grams and fits perfectly in my ears with the default M tips. This was surprising given that most wireless earbuds have trouble staying secure in my ears. While not exactly ergonomic, the Aurvana Ace 2s didn’t cause any ear fatigue after multi-hour listening sessions and passed the gym-going test without falling out of your ears.
The retail package features the usual mix of paperwork, a USB-C charging cable, and replacement silicone tips with small and large tips. The Aurvana Ace 2 is IPX5 water resistant, slightly higher than the industry-standard IPX4 splash-proof rating. The case doesn’t come with any IP rating as expected, but offers both wired charging via USB-C and wireless charging via any Qi-compatible charger.
Features and companion app
The strong point of the Aurvana Ace series are the xMEMS Cowell tweeters. These tiny solid-state micro speakers are placed right above the 10mm dynamic drivers and promise exceptional clarity in the high notes while the accompanying drivers are tasked with carrying the bass and mids.
The lack of moving parts inside the xMEMS tweeters means the earphones are physically much smaller than balanced-armature drivers, leaving more room for other components like a larger battery. The solid-state design is also water resistant and requires no calibration as they are manufactured in a foundry
According to Creative, the Aurvana Ace and Ace 2 also cover a wider frequency range from 5Hz to 40kHz than the usual 20Hz and 20kHz on most other earphones we’ve reviewed.
The earbuds support Bluetooth 5.3 pairing with LE Audio and come with Snapdragon Sound and AptX HD, AptX Adaptive and AptX Lossless codecs. The latter offers a theoretical bit-rate of 1 Mbps for “CD quality” audio with sampling at 44.1kHz. If you’re streaming music, your audio source needs to be up to par with the streaming options of Apple Music Lossless, Tidal’s HiFi level, Amazon Music HD, or Deezer Premium.
Your audio source device also needs to be equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip or newer for the magic to happen, and the whole “lossless audio” brand isn’t entirely compression-free as it sits slightly below the data rate of 1.41 Mbps of real CD. quality. Aurvana Ace 2 also supports the LC3 low latency codec as well as legacy AAC and SBC standards.
Creative is introducing hybrid adaptive noise cancellation with Ace 2 that offers dynamic adjustments to the level of sound leakage based on your surroundings and fit within your ears. The earbuds also feature a total of six microphones, three on each side, and support for Qualcomm’s Clear Voice Capture (cVc) noise suppression algorithms for clear audio during calls.
The top halves of the stems house programmable touch controls with options for managing playback, switching between ANC and transparency modes, summoning your digital assistant, and adjusting the volume. The latter is only accessible by tapping and holding during media playback, which is not the ideal implementation.
The charging case features an LED status light on the bottom that flashes green for a fully charged battery, yellow when between 31 and 70%, and red when less than 30%.
You’ll need to download the Creative companion app from the App Store or Google Play to tinker with the touch controls, and it’s also where you can tweak the sound equalizer to suit your preferences. You also get multi-point pairing which is very useful if you plan to use the earbuds with multiple devices connected at the same time.
Creative has omitted a wear detection sensor, so there’s no automatic play/pause when you take the earphones out of your ears. Rounding out the features section is the low-latency mode dedicated to gaming which doesn’t add much in terms of responsiveness compared to the default state.
Performance and sound quality
We tested the Aurvana Ace 2 between a few different devices including the Asus Zenfone 10, the iPhone 15 Pro, and a MacBook Pro 14. Multipoint pairing worked flawlessly when switching between devices, which checked regularly in this review. The sound coming from the Aurvana Ace 2 is detailed and offers smooth transitions between different audio frequencies.
Musical instruments sound fast and lively, which is especially noticeable in rock and metal songs, as well as electronic music. From a technical perspective, the piezoelectric actuators in xMEMS tweeters are exponentially faster at firing each note than legacy drivers which play an important role in instantaneous sound output.
Vocals are reproduced naturally and sound well detailed without any hint of rumble or distortion. The Aurvana Ace 2 offers exceptional mids and highs that are a testament to Creative’s tuning and their new hardware approach. There was no significant distortion at higher volume levels and instrument separation is excellent. The buds also get very loud if you need them to.
The best thing is that you can see all the benefits of xMEMS drivers even on generic AAC and SBS codecs. The aptX Lossless codec provided a noticeable improvement in soundstage clarity and depth.
While the mids and highs are noteworthy, the bass leaves a little to be desired in terms of punch. You can play with the equalizer within the Creative app, but even then the Aurvana Ace 2 doesn’t come close to the crisp bass provided by the admittedly much more expensive Sony WF-1000XM5.
The noise cancellation worked well in an office environment with lower frequency sounds, but wasn’t as effective on busy streets with a lot of commotion around. You can find much better options from Sony, Samsung, and Bose if you prioritize noise isolation. Transparency mode did a good job of letting surrounding voices in, but they seemed distorted and unbalanced.
The Bluetooth connection strength was optimal in my two weeks of testing, with no drops or interference, even as I wandered around the office with my phone left on the desk. The Aurvana Ace 2 goes into pairing mode as soon as you open the charging case lid, and instantly connects to your devices without you having to dig through Bluetooth menus or fiddle with pairing buttons.
Call quality on the Ace 2 was impressive. The triple microphones on each earbud provided surprisingly detailed voice pickup even in noisier environments with people on the other end reporting loud, clear reception of my voice.
The touch controls worked well for the most part with an occasional delay between tapping and performing the desired action. We’d also appreciate some sort of swipe gesture functionality that would work better for volume controls.
Battery life
Creative advertises up to 6 hours of battery life on the Aurvana Ace 2, while the charging case extends playback time to 24 hours. These values are with ANC off and were replicated in our usage although listening with ANC while connected to the aptX Lossless codec yielded around 5 hours of battery life from the earbuds.
A nice feature is that you can turn off either earbud by long pressing on the touch control area if you want to conserve battery and only use one of the earbuds at a time. A full charge via the USB-C cable took about 90 minutes. If you’re short on time, a 10-minute quick charge is enough for an hour of listening.
Verdict
The Creative Aurvana Ace 2 are the first earphones we’ve tested with xMEMS solid-state drivers, and they offer great fidelity and impressive mids and highs. We appreciated the fast-paced highs and faithfully reproduced musical instruments, and their price of $150/€180/£165 is justified for the amount of features on offer. Creative also has the regular Aurvana Ace for $120/€150/£135 which also features solid state tweeters.
There is a great companion app with lots of additional stage controls and touch controls. The microphones worked great during calls in louder environments, and the battery life is good enough to last a while with moderate use.
Combined with support for high bitrate audio codecs, a flashy design, and a reasonable price, we think the Aurvana Ace 2 is worth considering if you’re in the market for a new pair of wireless earbuds.
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