I find this aspect of our hardware significant and note that with the IQMax we've been advised that it's shifting from balanced armature drivers (current product range) to dynamic drivers.
Briefest of take aways. Our IQbuds and IQBoosts use balanced armature drivers so "Pros
Drivers can be optimally tuned for specific frequency ranges.
Smaller than dynamic drivers.
Better treble performance than dynamic drivers.
Faster response and more detailed sound.
Cons
Bass response is not as good as dynamic drivers.
Single driver designs are not as good as dynamic drivers.
More expensive than dynamic driver designs."
Dynamic drivers are touted for the IQMax (to the present anyway) "Pros
Sound signature is more coherent
Better bass response
More durable and cheaper than balanced armature drivers
Cons
Not as detailed as balanced armature drivers
Larger than balanced armature drivers
Not as popular as balanced armature designs"
Dynamic drivers are touted for the IQMax (to the present anyway).
I'm speculating the reason for this is that because we operate in a far broader range of hearing impairment than the hearing cartel being serious/profound hearing.
"Degree of hearing loss. Hearing loss can be classified according to the severity or degree of the disease. Hearing losses between 26 and 40 dB are considered mild, 41 and 55 dB moderate, 56 and 70 dB moderately severe, 71 and 90 dB severe, and greater than 91 dB profound"."
And then you have the social impacts of hearing loss...(this is in relation to the the aged demographic)...
Age-related hearing loss adds a significant burden to individuals and society. Compared to their normal hearing peers, individuals with hearing loss are at significantly greater risk of incident dementia [1,2,3], falls [4, 5], depression [6, 7], social isolation [8], loss of independence [9], early retirement and unemployment [10], and hospitalization [11]. Hearing loss ranked as the 13th highest contributor to the global burden of disease in 2002 and is projected to be the 9th leading contributor worldwide in 2030 [12]. Excess medical costs resulting from hearing impairment ranged from $3.3 to $12.8 billion in the United States [13, 14] and were $11.75 billion in Australia [15]. However, the adverse consequences of untreated hearing loss are still largely underestimated by society, by senior citizens and by health care professionals [16]. https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-019-1232-x
I note from the initial article; "Conclusion Both balanced armature and dynamic driver designs have their pros and cons. It’s hard to definitely say which one is better because they both excel in different situations. In summary, balanced armature drivers typically offer a more detailed sound. Dynamic drivers offer a more coherent and powerful sound, and are often described as “warm-sounding,” Some companies also offer hybrid models that combine the defining qualities of both balanced armature and dynamic drivers."
Now if I'm not mistaken NUH were looking at Autism issues way before we had an inkling about IQMax or IQlive (and hence we learnt the information that these were to have dynamic drivers).
I have a bit of a hypothesis as to why they're intending to go that way with the change in driver types...but last time I made a typo re 5G...well....look above!
(20min delay)