FiiO CP13 Cassette Player (blue)

The Fiio CP13 was promptly delivered and exceptionally well packed.Feel/QualityThe Fiio CP13 is a delight to hold and feels like a well-made quality product. It has a simple design and solid buttons which should hopefully last a long time.OperationThe operation is simple and manual with strong chunky buttons for play, rewind, fast forward & stop. It has an auto stop on play but not on rewind or fast forward so please be aware of this if you have a weak or fragile tape. I found this to my cost when it chewed one of my 1970’s tapes.ConsThere is no button to open the cassette door so this may prove difficult if you have limited manual dexterity.Sound Quality (dependent upon how recorded)The sound quality has proved to be good when replaying my cassettes recorded in the 70’s, 80’s & 90’s (could do with a little more high-end response but that could be my recording) however, 2000’s onwards the quality has been excellent. Please note this can also be dependent on the headphones used. To maintain best sound quality, it is advisable to clean the cassette heads regularly.ConsDue to limited space (the cassette case does not open very far) it is difficult to clean and demagnetize the cassette heads.Earphone SocketI used the Sennheiser CX300 S ear canal headphones and found that if the supplied ear tips did not provide enough bass, you could use ‘Aiivioll’ silicon ear tips instead. I used cheap Philips over ear headphones and they gave excellent bass.When using ear canal headphones, the volume is very good requiring minimal adjustment to increase the volume. This is handy as it saves battery life giving more cassette playing time.Note: If you are using over ear headphones, you will have to drive them a lot more and turn up the volume considerably.ConsUsing ear canal headphones, it is likely that you will have to pull the jack out of the Fiio CP13 headphone socket a fraction (0.5 to 1mm). This was not necessary when using over ear headphones.ChargingBattery life depends upon headphones used and volume selected. Ear canal headphones give at least 9hrs 10mins. Over ear headphones give about 7hrs 45mins.The cassette player gives no warning when it runs out of power – just stops! Thankfully charging is easy and quick in about 2.5hrs.

This must be the Rolls Royce of new personal cassette players - it is so beautifully made.Long before CDs became my passion, I built up my classical music collection by buying tape cassettes. Literally hundreds of them - many of which have barely been played more than once and have been boxed up in the loft for the last few decades. As I write this, I am listening to a Debussy Eminence tape dating from the mid 80s. It sounds fantastic. The fact that there is no Dolby NR makes absolutely no difference to the sound. I am looking forward to exploring all my old tapes once more!

Being it's the cheapest option I bought the blue FiiO CP13 as a portable backup for my old Sony Walkman Professional WM-D6C which is going in for service.Most points encountered already covered in other reviews e.g. motor does not shut off when tape reaches its end, no tone control, no auto-reverse optional setting, no line out, battery is not user-replaceable. (Some of these are good for simpler mechanics so maybe more reliability).Bottom line and most important: I experienced no wow/flutter with tapes, some nearly 60 years old, and the tempo/speed seemed right at least from recollection of items I'd previously played on other audio units. Sound reproduction not better for me than the old Sony WM-D6C and not as good (no surprises) as the (only mid-range) Sony Double Cassette Deck TC-WE475.Main issue otherwise: it drives my Shure SRH840A Over-Ear Wired Headphones BUT the sound was MONO! And that after checking jack fully inserted. The Shure 3.5mm jack is a 4-pole of the modern type which afaik is now standard for headphones whereas it seems that the FiiO CP13's jack socket is the old style 3-pole jack - see jpeg for jack comparisons. Having established I was hearing mono only (and it also sounded materially flat/flanged not just single channel), I plugged in an old pair of Sony over the ear phones with their 3-pole jack and trying eg Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (lots of oscillating between channels including on track 1) I found it rendered stereo. So to use the Shure or other 4-pole jack I need to get an adaptor which I'm not ecstatic about since theoretically it might put extra leverage strain on the socket. As some adverts claim an adaptor is only for mic 4-pole to 3-pole and won't work for phones, I'm also in the position of having to guess the right type and tentatively think maybe https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Stereo-Connector-Female-Adapter-As-Shown/dp/B0FHJLTHWLIt's a solid, chunky unit but has no fasteners for a lanyard. The optional unshielded magnet-fastener (sic) case doesn't look a good idea. Personally I would not travel with this item and given the unit's mass and potential for dropping it eg dragging from a work surface absent-mindedly while phones connected, I'd establish a routine for using it only at home unless someone can point out a good case with a lanyard or (en bandoulière) cross strap to secure its weight.Good enough to keep, only item in prospect now is how long the battery lasts before it no longer takes a charge.

I was expecting it to be good but Crickey Mickey, it's the Bizz.I recorded Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds vinyl album onto a BASF CEII Chrome Extra 120mins. back in 1980, just two years after it was released and I accept that my ears are not as tip top as they were back then and played it on my new toy the Fiio CP13 through a 3.5mm good quality cable to the input of a pair of M-Audio BX4 BT's and FFFFFFFFFFF I'm blown away by the total precision of the sound, bass is full and deep, mid is superb and the treble is bright and crisp like I have not heard in so long.I will be digitising all my tapes now via the Fiio CP13 to an Olympus LS-P4 all singing and dancing field and studio micro recorder and then SD to PC or direct LS-P4 to PC using Audacity or one of my better audio software programs to tweak anything if needed but so far the speed replay is extremely accurate and the head azimuth seems to be perfectly aligned too.For £95 you'd be crazy not to get the Fiio CP13 if you value your old cassette tapes before they lose quality or go west completely.A Untouchable 10 out of 10 . Congratulations Fiio , you should be proud of this little gem.

Good solid cassette player, I can now listen to my old tapes including old radio programmes. Purchased from seller Amazon US c£87 with no additional tax etc. There is hiss when playing but I soon got used to it. It's a solid machine. Website Audioreviews hints that battery could be replaced amongst other user adjustments. A good buy.

So disappointig this immaculately made piece of equipment unfortunately lacks one vital feature, Dolby noise reduction.Over 99.9% of commerlcialy produced cassettes used Dolby B noise reduction and the majority of people recording their own cassettes did the same. Cassettes recorded with Dolby sound horribly thin and bass light without it. When I put my first cassette into the CP13 I was really looking forward to listening to it. What a disappointment.Fiio make some great gear, I have a couple of their other products which are great. Despite this player being beautifully made it is totally unsuitable for playing the majority of tapes the majority of people will have in their collections.Sorry Fiio I'm returning this for a refund.

I've bought and restored several legacy players and really enjoy them but feel almost guilty using them? Here's a real opportunity to play your tapes properly without fear of damaging anything (too) valuable and it does this very well! - Even tapes I know are very difficult to drive / got meshed in the car 20/30 years ago. This player sounds very good despite lacking bass boost and dolby (who used dolby for playback anyway?). My only slight criticism would be volume. I'm running in a set of Fidelio's atm and could do with a bit more juice. However, i'm old and deaf so ignore if your hearing is good!!

Well built solid. Not even much hiss or static. Original sony walkman producing more noise from it. And more when you touch it. Only noise on fiio is from recorded tapes that had static from the actual radio at the time of recording. I'm in the centre of London with wifi bluetooth tv's computers all around & not really affected more than back in the day actually less than my Walkman. IF you flip it from side to flat when playing slightly change in sound only natural though tapes don't sit perfectly tight on the black pegs so will move slightly if player is shaken but still not very noticeable unless done on purpose back & forth. Wish it had a built in belt clip like my Walkman. Nice to have this if you have a lot of tapes from your youth reminds you of how much you enjoyed music and some you might of forgotten in a time with less destructions. Bonus is the fact can be recharged with inbuilt battery over usb. I think depending on your environment, Power supply, Conditions of the tapes or original home recording quality experience may differ with interface. At the very least it reminds you of music you chosen to record or concerts from a time & maybe look them up again on cleaner clearer formats if tape quality bothers you too much.

Otimo

منتج جميل وسلسل

海外からの輸入でしたが、刻々と状況を通知いただき、楽しみが増しました。モノもそうでしたが、デリバリーも体験に優れていました

Comprato per curiosità, avendo ancora molte cassette musicali e nessun riproduttore funzionante.Non avevo grosse aspettative (abituato al mio Sony WMD6) ma devo ammettere che come riproduttore funziona bene e la ricarica da usb-c è molto comoda.Provato sia con le cuffie (riesce a suonare bene con le cuffie a bassa impedenza, con le Sennheiser HD600 ovviamente non ce la fà) che collegato all'impianto stereo. Qualità audio piu che accettabile (stiamo pur sempre parlando di musicassette, con tutti i limiti del supporto), peccato non abbia una uscita di linea per la connessione allo stereo ma si debba utilizzare l'uscita cuffia.Il bluetooth sarebbe un plus per l'uso con cuffie/auricolari, ma usandolo esclusivamente a casa non lo trovo un limite cosi importante

Offert pour le plaisir d'écouter une cassette d'un groupe de Rock Indé qui a sorti son 1er album sur ce format. Et la qualité est vraiment bonne, tout en étant moderne. le boitier semble robuste tout en étant très beau. Tellement qu'en fait on n'oserait le sortir part peur de l'abimer.