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Powering smarter hearables

Sensing sound, enhancing life with TDK sensing

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Enabling the next generation of sound sensing

Hearables bring intelligence to the ear - powering devices like true wireless earbuds, smart headphones, and assistive listening products that deliver immersive audio, seamless connectivity, and contextual awareness. By continuously sensing sound, motion, and user activity, hearables enable clearer communication, adaptive noise control, and more personalized listening experiences. 

TDK sensors powers the next generation of hearables with ultra-low-power MEMS microphones, motion sensors, and embedded software designed for always-on performance. Our solutions enable smaller form factors, longer battery life, and smarter audio experiences - from voice assistants and spatial audio to activity-aware sound processing. 

 

Wearable-ready sensing features

Motion, sound, and presence intelligence—optimized for power and performance
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Ultra-low power

Tiny MEMS microphones with ultra-low power consumption keep your hearables running longer without compromising performance 

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Crystal-clear voice

Advanced voice capture and noise suppression deliver clear calls and accurate voice commands in any environment 

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Compact & comfortable

Miniature sensors fit seamlessly into sleek earbuds and headphones, enhancing comfort and style 

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Adaptive sound

Dynamic noise cancellation and environmental adaptation ensure superior audio quality anywhere you go 

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Reliable performance

Rigorously tested MEMS components deliver long-term durability and dependable hearable performance 

Featured video

SmartMotion® TWS solution demo

Watch a demo showcasing how TWS solution enables natural movement and gestures recognition using SmartMotion sensors.

Hearables that just sound better

Powering crystal-clear audio, smart voice control, and immersive experiences in next-generation hearables

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True wireless earbuds

Enable seamless listening and voice interaction

True wireless earbuds are transforming how people listen, communicate, and interact with connected devices. These compact hearables deliver immersive audio, voice interaction, and intelligent sound awareness in a small, cable-free form factor.

  • Take calls, send messages, and interact with voice assistants using natural voice commands
  •  Enjoy immersive music, podcasts, and media with clear audio and adaptive sound control
  • Automatically pause audio or switch listening modes based on user activity and environment
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Smart headphones

Deliver intelligent and immersive listening experiences

Smart headphones combine immersive audio with intelligent sensing and voice-enabled interaction. These devices support entertainment, communication, and productivity through responsive and adaptive listening experiences.

  • Enjoy high-quality audio for music, entertainment, and gaming
  • Take calls and interact with voice assistants for hands-free communication
  •  Automatically adjust sound settings based on activity, location, or user preferences 
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Hearing assistance devices

Improve speech understanding and environmental awareness

Modern hearing assistance devices are helping people stay connected to conversations and their surroundings. Advanced hearables enhance speech clarity, reduce background noise, and adapt to changing listening environments.

• Enhance speech clarity in conversations, meetings, and social environments
• Reduce background noise to help users focus on important sounds and voices
• Adapt listening modes automatically based on surrounding environments

Explore our core sensing technologies for hearables

Sensors that power immersive audio, voice interaction, and intelligent hearables experiences

9 Axis

SmartMotion®

Enable intelligent motion and immersive audio experiences with MEMS Motion Sensors

SmartMotion inertial sensors bring precise motion awareness to hearable devices. With MEMS motion sensors you can: 

  • Power adaptive and immersive 360° spatial audio through accurate head tracking and orientation sensing
  • Support natural user interaction with gesture tracking and machine-learning-based gesture detection
  • Enhance voice-enabled hearables with VibeSense360™ vocal vibration detection (VVD) for reliable speech capture and activity awareness
ICM-45606
ICM-42688-V
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SmartSound™

Enable intelligent audio and voice interaction with MEMS microphones

SmartSound microphones capture voice and acoustic signals with exceptional clarity in hearable devices.

  • Deliver active noise cancellation (ANC) and immersive listening with low-latency feedback microphones and high-SNR, high-AOP feed-forward performance
  • Support clear calls, voice assistants, and speech recognition with high sensitivity and accurate voice capture
  • Fit seamlessly into compact hearables designs with ultra-low power operation, PDM digital interfaces, and small form factors
T5838
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SmartMagnetics

Enable reliable detection and intuitive device behavior with TMR & Hall sensors

TMR and Hall sensors bring precise magnetic sensing to hearable devices.

  • Support in-ear wear detection to automatically play or pause audio when earbuds are inserted or removed
  •  Detect charging case open and close events for seamless device pairing and power management

High-performance IMUs powering next-gen wearables

Microchip with TDK logo and "ICM-45686" etched onto its surface

ICM-45686

High-Precision 6-Axis MEMS MotionTracking® Device

The ICM-45686 is an ultra high‑performance 6‑axis MEMS motion sensor family with the world’s first BalancedGyro™ technology and lowest power consumption. The sensor combines a 3‑axis gyroscope and a 3‑axis accelerometer in a compact 2.5 × 3 × 0.81 mm package.

The BalancedGyro technology by TDK is the first‑of‑its‑kind gyroscope MEMS architecture that enables supreme vibration rejection and temperature stability performance, an enhancement never seen before in a consumer gyroscope.

ICM-45686 provides higher full-scale range upto 4000 dps and 32g, better temperature stability to reduce temperature related drift, and high-performance features such as Real Time Clock Input and 18/19 bit high-resolution FIFO.

This family offers the world’s lowest power 6‑axis motion sensor. This allows the gyroscope to be on 40% of the times more than any other gyroscope in the industry. This also offers the very first Gyroscope Low Power Mode, enabling ~200uA of 6-axis IMU current consumption, making it the top choice for wearables, hearables and any battery driven IoT application.

It has a configurable host interface that supports I3C℠, I²C and SPI serial communication, and an AUX interface that supports SPI slave mode for connection to OIS controllers or I²C master mode for connection to external sensors.

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Illustration of ICU-30201, MEMS ultrasonic time-of-flight sensor

ICU-30201

High-Performance Ultra-Compact Ultrasonic Time‑of‑Flight Sensor for Ultra-Long-Range Applications

The ICU-30201 is a high-performance ultrasonic Time-of-Flight sensor that is ideal for measuring the range of objects between 30cm and 9.5m, and offers a customizable field-of-view of up to 180º. It has a sample rate of 75 samples per second at 2 meters, and 18 samples per second at 9 meters. It comes in a 5.17 × 2.68 × 0.9 mm LGA package, and includes an integrated DSP for signal processing.

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Illustration of T5838, TDK MEMS microphone

T5838

Bottom Port PDM Digital Output Multi‑Mode Microphone

The T5838 is a low noise, high AOP digital Pulse Density Modulation (PDM) microphone using a fifth-order Σ‑Δ modulator. It also features Acoustic Activity Detect (AAD), a new ultra-low power edge processing feature consuming as low as 20 µA.

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Access technical articles, datasheets, and in-depth guides to accelerate your design process.

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