A friend emailed me this article, Thought you guys might enjoy it.
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/512496/first-graphene-audio-speaker-easily-outperforms-traditional-designs/
I am not sure how good the audio quality is, but it seems like it would work well.
I wonder if it could produce enough "boom" For PA applications. Also, what it's power handling capabilities would be.
So this won't need a magnet?!
That's actually pretty interesting and cool.
No magnets, it just electric fields to vibrate a graphene diaphram.
Interesting. If they really managed to get a completely flat frequency response graph this could be pretty amazing. The article didn't mention anything about the manufacturing price of the components though, since it's new technology the pricing will probably be an issue if it ever becomes available to the masses. Also, how will those extremely thin membranes perform in regards to longevity and robustness? Could shock or vibration damage them over time?
I am really curious about how it will work in production. I think the simplicity of the design could provide a good platform for some great quality headphones. The big question is how robust they are.
electrostatic speakers have been around for awhile, i guess this is the first time using graphene.
I did not know similar designs existed already, I will have to look them up. How well do they hold up?
STAX makes them. If I remember correctly they are extremely expensive and supposed to be really good. Nothing for the average consumer though.
a completely flat frequency response
you'd need a contracting and expanding sphere (as sound source) and a room with sound absorbing walls/floor/sealing for that.
& you cant be in the room, or you'll ruin the flatness ;p
All you need is a speaker that doesn't produce nasty peaks or large gaps in the frequency response, current speaker tech can do that already, just buy a pair of monitor-grade speakers. Human ears don't have a flat frequency response, so you'll probably never know anyway.
extremely thin-> longevity and robustness
haven't you heard anything graphene is semi magic ;p
Now Seriously, don't worry about longevity and robustness, its an engineering question, it's about how far you push the technology that is going to determine how long it's going to last, the type of material is only a very small variable.
Of course not completely flat but I think you know what I mean. Especially headphone manufacturers are doing their best to get this right, and it seems like they are investing a lot of money and time to achieve those results. Now, considering that the current brands don't just charge a premium for doing this, if the graphene drivers seriously managed to get a very similar or possibly even better result at their "first try" that would be pretty nice, if you ask me.
Yes, I know about graphene and I know that it is really robust in itself, but a large and extremely thin membrane could still be very weak to simple mechanical shock, for example. Of course it's just a question of engineering in the end, but that would affect the prices of course.
Maybe they will only be used in mobile devices because of their low power draw, but it definitely seems like an interesting concept to me.