This New Hi-Fi Player Makes a Stunning Case to Revisit Your Vintage CD Collection

A few weeks after FiiO revealed the CP13, a new-age portable cassette tape player with a super-cool transparent design, the hi-fi maker is diving back into old-school physical-media players that are fit for the modern age.

This time, it’s with a portable CD player.

The upcoming FiiO DM13 is a Discman-lookalike poised to capitalize on the resurgent popularity of CDs — which, like vinyl, continues to enjoy something of a renaissance. Plus, the DM13 is equipped with a few modern conveniences over the (now-vintage) portable CD players of yesteryear.

Portable CD players are back, baby

FiiO

FiiO DM13 Portable CD Player

Specs

Headphone Outputs	3.5mm (single-ended), 4.4mm (balanced)
Bluetooth	Yes (SBC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency)
Battery Life	Up to 8 hours

• $179 at FiiO

The FiiO DM13 is a portable CD player with two headphones jacks, a 3.5mm (single-ended) and 4.4mm (balanced), so you should be able to use it with whichever wired headphones you have.

It has an ESP (Electronic Shock Protection) switch that should help guard against unwanted skipping (a common problem with CD players). And it has a rechargeable battery — via USB-C — that the company claims will get you about eight hours of playtime.

Interesting, the FiiO DM13 also has built-in Bluetooth. So you’ll be able stream your CD’s audio — albeit, it’ll likely be a drop-off in audio quality due to the limitations of Bluetooth — to your wireless headphones, earbuds or speakers.

FiiO

The FiiO DM13 supports a number of audio codecs including SBC, aptX, aptX HD and aptX Low Latency. It doesn’t support Apple’s AAC and thus, if you use AirPods Max or AirPods Pro, the sound won’t be quite as good as it could be.

Additionally, the FiiO DM13 has a number of outputs — analogue line-out, SPDIF digital, USB — so you can connect the CD player to your existing hi-fi setup, desktop or active speaker system. It even has desktop mode for bypassing its built-in battery; you can use the DM13 at home and take it with you without worrying about its battery being dead.

FiiO

Price and Availability

For those looking for an excuse to dive back into their CD collection and bring its lossless sound (16-bit/44.1 kHz) on the go, you’ll have to wait just a little. The FiiO DM13 will be available for purchase this September.

As far as price, the FiiO DM13 will cost $179 … which, by today’s hi-fi standards, feels fairly reasonable.

The FiiO DM13 portable CD player will be available in four different finishes:  red, blue, titanium and black.

FiiO

FiiO DM13 Portable CD Player

• $179 at FiiO

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