Together with existing investors, Sennheiser is investing €7m in the Norwegian scale-up business sensiBel, whose optical MEMS microphones offer improved application in areas such as consumer electronics, automotive, conferencing solutions, and medical devices.
Driven by its aim of ‘constantly building the future of the audio world and creating exceptional sound experiences’, the family-owned Sennheiser Group is further expanding its position as a provider of professional audio solutions. ‘We want to grow sustainably as a company,’ says Co-CEO, Daniel Sennheiser. ‘In addition to investments in our existing business, this also includes investments in promising future fields outside of our company, providing these align well to our company and our vision.’
‘sensiBel’s innovative optical MEMS technology [an electro-acoustic transducer housing a sensor] is clearly this type of promising emerging field.’ Andreas Sennheiser adds. ‘As investors, we look forward to actively driving forward this groundbreaking development.’
sensiBel has developed a miniature microphone using optical technology that enables a generational shift in MEMS microphone performance, which is now sampling with lead customers.
‘sensiBel shares the same vision as Sennheiser and we are proud to welcome Sennheiser as investor,’ says sensiBel CEO, Sverre Dale Moen. ‘We believe an investment from such a highly recognised audio company speaks of the merits of the technology and the potential for optical MEMS technology to shape the future of miniature mics.’
The distinctive feature of sensiBel’s unique technology is the use of light waves to measure the movement of the diaphragm. Where conventional MEMS microphones measure an electric field between the moving diaphragm and a backplate, sensiBel’s optical system uses a laser to generate light beams that are projected onto the microphone membrane and reflected on a photo detector. The reflected beams are captured and processed in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) with a digital output data interface. In contrast to the conventional method, this new technology makes it possible to measure very small movements and therefore capture very low noise levels – even when there is a high level of loud background noise.
Additionally, the optical MEMS microphone can withstand high sound pressure levels providing a large dynamic range to users. As a result, the microphones generate significantly better sound quality than previous MEMS solutions on the market – with a specification of 80dBA SNR (14dBA noise floor), 132dB dynamic range, 24-bit digital output, and with low power consumption – while equally compact.
