While vinyl records are all the rage and casettes are enjoying a rebirth, the compact disc – the best-sounding physical media humans have ever created – doesn’t get all that much love.
FiiO wants to change all that by rebirthing a portable CD player akin to the classic Sony Discman players of the nineties and noughties. And it’s got a Gen-Z nostaglia for things they didn’t experience purchase written all over it.
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The forthcoming FiiO DM13 – the company’s first personal CD players announced this week – is a follow up to the equally fanciable CP13 cassette player the specialised audio company launced at CES 2024.
However, this is far from just a remake of a product from yesteryear, it’s got some important upgrades. Firstly, there’s aptX HD Bluetooth, meaning you can enjoy something approaching CD-quality, high resolution audio wirelessly.
For the real deal, there are 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphones jacks so you can use your best set of wired earphones to listen the best-sounding physical media out there, as well as your favourites speakers via SPDIF or USB. The attractive player, also plays digital files like FLAC, WAV, AAC and MP3.
You won’t need a significant stockpile of AA batteries either, thanks to the eight hours of battery life and ability to connect to the mains to play your compact discs.
Key features are listed by the company as follows:
- 3.5mm Single-ended & 4.4mm Balanced Headphone Outputs
- Bluetooth Transmission (SBC/aptX/aptX HD/aptX Low Latency)
- Analogue Line-Out
- SPDIF Digital Output
- USB Audio Output
- Playback: CD/FLAC/WAV/WMA/AAC/MP3
- ESP Switch (Electronic Shock Protection)
- Desktop Mode
- 8 Hours Battery Life
It’s coming out in September in silver, red, blue, black and titanium and will cost £179 in the UK and $179 in the United States.