Creative Aurvana Ace 2

Introduction to the Creative Aurvana Ace 2 Review

A long time ago, in a land far away, depending on where you live, there was a boy. He was barely going into his teens. He recently discovered his love for music and that his peepee is not only for peeing. It was a dark time when Discman players were at their dawn. But as they faded away, something else came from another continent.

MP3 players. Smaller, lighter, impervious to vibrations. It was a shock. They took his world like a storm. There was no hiding. You had to have one together with the absolutely cheapest earbuds you could find. Why? To buy the biggest capacity you could! We’re talking about an insane 256MB of flash memory. Can you imagine how much music you could fit into that? Not a lot, really.

Also, earbuds at the time were so bad, that airplane headphones were a serious contender. Crazy, huh? And there was one company, that was the poster child of mp3 players in Poland. It was Creative. This is how far, me and this Korean company go back. Waaaay back.

My first player had 256MB of storage, can’t recall the name, might’ve been MuVo. The second one was a smaller Zen Nano 512MB I believe. It was crazy. Next one? Zen V 4GB, my mind was blown. On a more serious note, Creative was THE COMPANY in Poland, back when I was a teen. Apple’s iPod was too expensive for most people. PC speakers, soundcards, they ruled the with an iron fist. Naturally, when they reached out to us about their newest release I didn’t think twice. Just the thought of working with them brought me back in time.

Well, they pulled some strings and a box arrived at my door. Inside, there were the newest TWS Aurvana ACE 2 and something else. I’ll just say that the other thing’s name reminds me of Star Wars. Back to the subject of this review. It quickly replaced the previous model adding aptX Lossless codec to the mix. The OG Aurvana ACE was the first TWS on the market that used an xMEMS driver.

The whole deal is still pretty fresh. The Ace 2 occupies the top spot in Creative’s range of TWS. As a flagship model, it received the best codecs, a couple of cool features and a hybrid design using the new kid on the block, namely the xMEMS driver. How does it stack against the competition? Let’s dive in!

Packaging

Earphones arrive in a sleek box with a retail hook on top. The black color of the packaging is topped with copper and silver-gold elements. It looks nice and surely would catch a customer’s eye being on a shelf. Inside you’ll find the essentials: a USB A-C charging cable, one set of tips in three sizes and the charging case with TWS inside.

Oh, and a very big Quick Start Guide that covers more languages than I knew existed. It’s a barebones set which gets the job done. But some extra tips might have been nice too.

Design, Build Quality and Comfort

Let’s start with the looks. The case and earbuds are built with smoked semi-transparent plastic. It’s decorated with some copper accents to give it some pop. Well, I think I would prefer the all-black style of the first Aurvana ACE more.

The earbuds are fine, but the case looks a little tacky. Quality-wise – no issues here. Everything is built well, with small tolerances and a smooth finish on all edges.

Tech

Oh boy, it’s a lot. Let’s start with the physical stuff. This is a hybrid design utilising a 10mm dynamic driver and an xMEMS tweeter right at the output of the nozzle. Why it’s a big deal? Well, not only are xMEMS drivers completely new and different from anything else, but they also are demanding in implementation. That’s why with IEM implementations you need a special amp for them. 

In short, xMEMS is a silicon-based driver that uses an inverted piezoelectric effect, meaning you give it voltage and it moves. It’s still a new thing and we’re waiting to see how the situation evolves. Creative is one of the earliest adopters together with companies like iFi Audio and Singularity Audio. What else? Earbuds have an IPX5 certificate meaning they are splashproof and won’t be damaged by sweat or rain. The battery life is okay on the Aurvana Ace 2. Since I moved to a different city, I’ve been travelling a lot and I used this TWS extensively for the past 3 months. 

Yes, it took me this long to write a review, sorry Creative. I could easily use the earbuds for a whole trip from Warsaw to Łódź, which is around 3 hours, with ANC and there was still a lot of juice in them after that. I also took them to London which was an even longer trip and they held for 5 hours of listening to music, ANC and calls. Hats off. My Sony WF-1000XM4 would die after like 4 hours. 

Case holds 4 charges, so to be honest it’s easy to forget that you have to charge your earbuds from time to time. A nice feature of the case is wireless charging in the Qi standard. There are however TWS that have a longer battery life if that’s what you need. For me, the charge in Aurvana Ace 2 was more than enough. I actually left the case on the aeroplane while going back from London’s CanJam. So no photos of it sadly. 

How about ANC? Creative uses Snapdragon sound which means that Qualcomm’s chip handles everything from ANC, which is okay, through microphones ending at BT codecs. It’s one of the best systems on the market. There also is an ambient mode for those who wish to retain situational awareness.  The Bluetooth standard is 5.3 with the new generation of LE Audio. Codecs include aptX Lossless, which is a banger! There is also aptX Adaptive, aptX, AAC and SBC. 

Sadly, no LDAC for those who have it on their phones. I mentioned microphones. There are 3 of them working together to provide good call quality and it works nicely.  Finally, we have an app creatively called Creative which takes care of EQ, firmware updates, sets up touch controls etc. Standard, but still convenient stuff. 

Sound of the reviewed Creative Aurvana Ace 2

Well, it’s a TWS so you know it’s bassy. Creative went for a v-shaped tuning with an emphasis on the bass.  And you know what? It’s my preferred tuning for TWS. Extra bass really helps to isolate you from the environment. 

First impressions are very positive. The big bass is countered by treble which has great extension and resolution. Kinda like having a steak with chimichurri. Soundstage? Really nice, one of the better ones I heard in TWS. Nice amount of air and precision. 

The biggest con of the Aurvana Ace 2 is the difference between big soft bass and detailed, precise treble. It doesn’t bother me as much in TWS as it would in IEMs. Why? Because when I’m using TWS on the go I already make the decision that I prefer convenience over sound quality.  I’m not doing anything critical in TWS, so it’s okay.

Bass

As mentioned before: big and soft around the edges. Bass-head levels even. When listening to Kavinsky’s Nightcall it has that menacing, rolling presence. It just keeps coming shaking everything. It has decent qualities to it like textures and control, but you can clearly tell those weren’t the priority. Priority was on the enjoyment and impressive sound which is fulfilled 100% here.

Midrange

The typical character of a dynamic driver reproduced midrange. I listened to Moloko’s Sing It Back and her voice was full-bodied and close to the ear. It had a nice body and some roundness. It is also forgiving in terms of the quality of the recording. Which is a good thing in my opinion. What do you use TWS for? YouTube, podcasts, Spotify/Tidal.  Not all of those things sound spectacular, so some bleed from the bass actually helps.

Treble

Well, it’s different. Detailed, with great resolution and lots of air they are like acid cutting through richness and fattiness. As I mentioned with chimichurri and steak example. I listened to Portugal. The Man’s  Feel it still live/stripped on YouTube and was pleasantly surprised how much the xMEMS driver was able to recover from it.  The treble was crisp and very natural which sounds hard to believe. Well, it was. Well, I guess there is something to xMEMS drivers, isn’t it?

Soundstaging

Surprisingly nice. Good size with some depth and width. Very good resolution, and a decent amount of air. I’ve listened to Korn’s Twisted Transistor MTV Unplugged version and the soundstaging was just right. It had a natural proportion which I appreciate a lot. Of course, it can be bigger with more freedom, but we have to look through the value perspective. For the price 5 out of 5.

Creative Aurvana Ace 2 Review – Summary

Having something from Creative after such a long time feels great. Even though I’m older, balder, and more experienced, I still had so much fun with their product. Aurvana Ace 2 uses the xMEMS for more than just a gimmick and a sales point. It delivers excellent treble and creates a nice contrast with the boomy bass.

Speaking of which Creative went for a strong v-shaped tuning, typical for TWS. What is not typical is the excellent sound staging in this class. Very natural proportions and nice airiness. Ace 2 is a hybrid design rocking a 10mm dynamic driver for lows and midrange and xMEMS driver for the treble. All of that goodness is driven and controlled by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound chip which handles everything audio including drivers, microphones, and ANC. It also features Bluetooth 5.3 with the new  LE Audio and an okay range of codecs. The main one is aptX Lossless, followed by aptX Adaptive, aptX, AAC, and SBC. No LDAC here.

The build quality is good and the battery life is fine, certainly good enough for my usage. I would argue that Ace 2 provides an excellent middle ground between battery life, sound quality, and ANC performance. They have my strong recommendation, I really enjoyed this review.