FiiO are on a roll at the moment. This Chinese audio biz has been making and releasing consumer audio ‘stuff’ for nearly two decades now, but it’s recently that they’ve truly hit their stride with the launch of some fun, smart and wide-ranging bits of listening kit – some of which gamely engage with physical media formats enjoying a comeback of their own.
This is one of those pieces of nostalgia-tickling kit: the DM13, a portable CD player that’s got one foot in the 80s and another squarely the techy present. Where streaming platforms can be consistently a bit naff at getting you the best-sounding music, CDs remain king – so how does the DM13 fare in bringing the high-fidelity heat?
Design
The FiiO DM13 is an undeniably swanky device. My review unit is a fetching matte black, with a mirror-finish logo atop and crisp, white, printed symbols and text by the buttons and rear ports. Some might miss the designs of early portable CD players, but the executive squareness of this thing is fun to me. So there.
In places, there is an assuredness to the DM13’s build; the front-mounted headphone jack is tight and grippy, communicating this CD player’s tight grasp on the work ahead. Every operation is reassuringly sturdy too – from the solid and satisfying side-mounted slide-latch for the player’s lid to the firm click of the lid-mounted buttons.
If I'm nit-picking, though – and I am – there’s a somewhat-unpleasant grind to the top-mounted buttons; they rock a little in place, and can grate against the textured sides of their recessed homes. This slight unpleasantness is a rare glimpse at the answer to the question: “How is this highly-capable device so cheap?”
On the functionality side of things, the DM13 is a fair bit more complex than your average early-noughties portable player. With multiple outputs and settings to manage, those top-mounted buttons are often performing double-duty. You’ll need the manual to begin with, but once you know your way around, the control scheme is simple and intuitive.
Features
This portable CD player is far too well-featured for its boots. It is one of the most well-equipped consumer devices I’ve seen in a while, with output connectivity that rivals some purpose-built audio interfaces. The FiiO DM13 obviously and inescapably ‘just’ a portable CD player, but it’s a portable CD player that can ultimately, inevitably, do that thing you’re wondering if it can do.
It’s got four different options for analogue output: 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm headphone jacks on the front, and 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm line outputs on the rear. That rear line output can also be used as an SPDIF output, with the handy coax adapter that FiiO package alongside the CD player. There’s also a USB-C output for high quality CD-rippage; plug the DM13 into your computer, and it’s recognised as a USB audio device for you to play and record audio from with relative ease.
Last but not least, the DM13 is a Bluetooth-connectible device, so you can go true-wireless with your set-up either at home or out and about. Speaking of which, the DM13’s out-and-about-i-ness is facilitated by a 10-hour rechargeable battery, charged by a second USB-C power port on the rear.
The capability of this device is demonstrated most admirably by the ‘D. Mode’ switch to the right of the power port; when engaged, the battery is bypassed and the CD player can be powered straight from your USB charger or power source – ensuring a happier, healthier battery in the long run, as well as instant at-home usage of the DM13 irrespective of its charge level.
In this way, the DM13 is a great elder-tech chameleon. It’s able to blend into practically any use case, from portable CD-slinging to CD-ifying the most advanced of analogue hi-fis. It performs admirably in either case, too – this writer never experienced a single glitch or skip while gallivanting about town with the DM13 in tow.
Sound
Capable as the DM13 is, its DAC isn’t the most earth-shatteringly impressive. Through the headphone out, it’s got a lot of pluck – and quite literally, too, with pretty much everything it plays both benefitting, or indeed suffering, from a boatload of extra attack. There’s a lot of brightness too; A Place To Bury Strangers’ Transfixiation, a masterclass in ordered chaos, is unusually punchy, and with crystal-clear and tactile cymbals to carry you through.
Unfortunately, while the low end is supple and structured, it can be a little underrepresented in headphones; even my Audio-Technica AT-M50x headphones found it hard to find the bass except for in the subbiest moments of APTBS’ mid-album crusher Deeper – where the DAC seems to crumble a little under the maximalist weight of the track.
At first, I thought the DM13 might just be struggling with an unusually loud (and rumbly) master. This turned out to be the case, but only partly; heavier, hoofier low-middy albums like Queens Of The Stone Age’s Songs For The Deaf all seem to suffer generally against poppier, janglier, high-middy albums like Idlewild’s The Remote Part.
The USB Out mode leaves a fair bit to be desired too, where comparisons of Transfixiation and The Von Bondies’ Pawn Shoppe Heart against digital files of the same revealed a big gap in both fidelity and frequency response. In short and overall, a shame for loud-fans; you might not quite be getting your portable gut-drop fix here.
The story is thankfully different for the line outputs at the rear, where my home hi-fi systems do a better job of tidying up the DM13’s output into something more rounded. And the Bluetooth connectivity is a joy, irrespective of its slight bassy shortcomings; not only is it a cinch to connect, but the sound reproduction is more than adequate for busy streets or your at-home Bluetooth receiver.
The word ‘capable’ has been used liberally in this review, and that’s quite simply because it’s the most apt word for this generally-impressive portable CD player. The FiiO DM13 is nice to look at, functions flawlessly, and crams a great deal of functionality into a very small form factor. However, there are trade-offs that come with the portable-media territory – trade-offs that, sadly, disproportionately impact the DM13’s ability to ‘doom’.
The alternatives
The FiiO DM13 is singular in its functionality at this low price-point, and such is a difficult piece of tech to compete against. However, there are a few items on the market that offer their own value in this newly minted new-meets-old audio space.
For one, the Shanling EC Mini is another Chinese-made portable CD player, and which also boasts some smart connectivity. Its high-fidelity DACs make it a strong choice for the audiophile on the move – provided you’re happy going up a price bracket.
If you’re not fussed about audio quality or sturdy, sleek aluminium chassis, then you might enjoy the lower-budget KLIM Nomad – a true Discman-style player replete with circular body. This classic-style device also benefits from the posh tech of the futuristic present, with a built-in battery and a TF card reader for digital file playback.
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