Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
extremetech.com
Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
1–10 of 21 posts
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#2This goes onto the list of awesome Graphene things I'll likely have to wait for for some time, along with:
Graphene Supercapacitors [http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/science/more-good-news-on-th...]
Graphene Antennas [http://bgr.com/2013/03/06/graphene-antenna-research-terabit-...]
and other things I'm most likely missing here. But seriously, the technological possibilities of this stuff baffle me. Hopefully they become the next light emitting diode (in terms of price, availability, flexibility and output compared to previous technology).
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#3Earphones, or rather speakers, are fascinating things. How simple they are in comparison to the many technological leaps necessary to recreate visual input.
(We still don't have decent displays; all of them are flat, and most of them look terrible)
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#4Graphene. Is there anything it can't do?
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#5I should note that the Sennheiser MX400 headphones in question are a $10 unit. Definitely not the worst you can get for the price, but by no means high-end units. Just something to keep in mind when thinking about this.
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#6Graphene. Is there anything it can't do?
Great question. I asked AskScience reddit with the question "What can steel do that graphene can't?" http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1a8z1q/what_stee...
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#7That response is far from "superb"! If I'm reading the scale right, there's a 30+dB difference between 200Hz and 20kHz. The article explains how a "flat" frequency response is the ideal target, then claims that a graph that is anything but flat is "superb"?
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#8Graphene. Is there anything it can't do?
A: "Be manufactured inexpensively en masse"
Seriously though, graphene is super cool. Did anyone else notice that the "wave guide" looks suspiciously similar to a barrel type piece of Lego?
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#9That response is far from "superb"! If I'm reading the scale right, there's a 30+dB difference between 200Hz and 20kHz. The article explains how a "flat" frequency response is the ideal target, then claims that a graph that is anything but flat is "superb"?
Flat response isn't really the target for headphones. At least not a flat response in the manor these measurements are being taken.
Headphone drivers are very close to your ears which causes frequency dependent effects. Also there are issues with how the sounds bounces around your ears / ear canal / head in general (google Head Related Transfer Function for more).
A 10db drop between about 1khz and 20khz is 'about right' for a flat response during use. Additionally roll off on the low end is also expected in a measurement like this for in-ear headphones, a large amount of gain will be added once these are sealed in your ears.
Re: Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones
#10i don't have the greatest understanding of how speakers work, so correct me if i'm wrong, but wouldn't an increase in energy efficiency (making the speakers easier to drive) mean that for the same volume level on a source, the graphene speaker be louder?
i sometimes find that at lowest level my headphones can be a bit to loud in some quiet environments, so graphene headphones would be even worse