Optical microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensing vendor SensiBel has launched two evaluation solutions for professional-grade audio in applications in a small form factor.
The Oslo, Norway-based company’s evaluation and recording solutions feature the SBM100B, a microphone that meets the acoustic demands for applications like:
- Ambisonics
- Headsets
- Conferencing solutions
- Field recorders
“Imagine a microphone that fits on your fingertip but delivers the same audio recording quality that users experience with professional studio microphones that are 50 to 100 times that size because they rely on a large, century-old condenser microphone technology,” said Kieran Harney, CEO, SensiBel.
Harney said the chip uses an optical MEMS core that is not limited by capacitive or piezoelectric architectures. The SBM100B uses laser interferometry to detect membrane movement allowing for dynamic range and noise floor not possible with traditional MEMS, he said.
The kits
Called Aurora and Polaris, the kits are a plug-and-play evaluation and recording solution that connect to a laptop or phone via USB-C.
This allows designers to start recording in minutes without soldering or special tools, SensiBel said.
The Aurora features two SBM100B microphones for a stereo recording solution while the Polaris includes a circular array arrangement of eight SBM100B microphones for beamforming.
Both kits also include:
- Synchronized 24-bit audio streams over USB
- Compatibility with Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, RPi OS and Ubuntu Linux devices
- Support for microphone interfaces: pulse density modulation (PDM), time-division multiplexing (TDM) and Inter-IC Sound (I2S)
Use cases
SensiBel said some of the target applications run the gamut of industrial sound detection to general conferencing and pro/spatial audio. Some of the applications include:
- Machine health monitoring
- Ceiling arrays
- Tabletop microphones
- Environmental noise and drone detection
- Video conferencing
- Spatial sound capture
- Prosumer mics
- Media recording devices
- Laptops
- Mixed reality headsets
- 3D soundbars
- Field recorders
