FiiOCP13 Cassette Player (Transparent)

I've been recording and listening to cassettes on home decks and portable players since 1980 and have been looking for a newly manufactured Walkman-style player for the day that all of my vintage units inevitably fail and can no longer be repaired economically.So, is this player worth a try?SHORT REVIEW:The build and sound quality of this model is equal to or better than nearly any other portable player currently in production. Newly made options are limited, so that's not an unqualified thumbs up. Still, recommended.Casual listeners: If you're NOT an "audiophile" and just looking for a portable cassette player to enjoy commercial cassette tapes, the sound quality of this Fiio CP13 will far exceed that of those tapes, which mostly sound pretty mediocre. I know, because the music label and audiobook company I work for produced cassette tapes for years. Though, for maximum enjoyment, do see my headphone tests below.Discerning listeners: If you've got great-sounding chrome or metal tapes that you've made yourself with a quality home cassette deck (this is me), you'll find this player better-sounding than many entry-level portable cassette players and even some entry-level home decks—with some tweaks required. Recommended, with caveats. See long review.LONG REVIEW:Warning: This goes on forever, so it's only for obsessive tape-lovers (or those with insomnia). :DFirst, THE COST: $99 is a fair entry-level price. I paid $60 for similar entry-level players in the late 1990's, with lesser build quality—though with more features like bass boost and auto-reverse. That's about $120 inflation-adjusted to 2024. I paid $200+ (about $400+ inflation-adjusted) for better players, mostly Panasonic and Sony.* MECHANICAL PARTS: Contrary to some of the negative talk online, this upgraded Japanese-designed, Chinese-made Tanashin style tape transport mechanism is very good compared to my vintage players, many of which have been professionally restored. No, it's not as good as a Sony Walkman DD direct-drive player, but the various upgrades are audible. Per Fiio, those include a heavier copper flywheel, a more powerful power source and motor that exerts more torque for speed control, and cherry-picked playback heads (similar to the way that Grado phono cartridges and Intel i3/i5/i7 processors are sorted and marketed post-manufacture).* WOW & FLUTTER: Very low, virtually inaudible even with 30-year-old cassettes. I've seen test results from 0.15% to as high as 0.24% online, but my unit tests at 0.13%. This is as good as my Dual 606 direct-drive turntable and better than my Technics 1991 mid-tier home deck and refurbished vintage players. Yes, my Nakamichi MR-1 professional deck tests at 0.03% (!), but anything better than 0.18% should sound fine to most people. Though note that some kinds of W&F will sound much more annoying than others, even if it measures low—it all depends on the frequency, amplitude, and "random-nicity" of the warbling, which varies from player to player. TIP: My favorite test is to play a tape containing long, sustained solo piano notes, which reveals W&F like nothing else. A good choice is "Thelonious Himself" (1957), which sounds smooth as glass on my Fiio unit.* WOW & FLUTTER WHEN JIGGLING THE UNIT OR WALKING. This has ALWAYS been an issue for portables (except expensive direct-drive players like top-end Sonys, which have gear failure issues all their own). With all units, including the Fiio, you're going to hear a bit of warble when grabbing your player off the table and definitely when jogging, but much less when just walking. TIP: When out strolling, get your player (and hands, lol) out of your pants and into a fanny pack or shoulder-sling pouch.* MECHANICAL TRANSPORT NOISE: Some posters have complained about this. Well, I can tell you that this player's motor is VERY quiet—as quiet as any belt-driven portable player that I purchased new from 1990 to 2000 in the $70 to $300 range (inflation adjusted). And it's MUCH quieter than those refurbished-but-still-aging units are today. NOTE: Many cheap blank or commercial music cassettes are quite noisy. That's why high-end blank cassettes like the TDK SA/MA and Maxell MX/XL series say "Anti-Resonance Mechanism" on them—even 30-year-old ones are nearly silent compared with cheaper blank and most commercial cassettes. TIP: If you are playing a noisy, rattly old cassette, put the player on a soft towel or coaster (plastic and wood tables act as natural noise amplifier-resonators).* AMPLIFIER POWER: Stronger than average. With various 32-ohm (typical) headphones, I've got the volume knob set around "3" for 80dB output (right on the edge of hearing damage). At "10" this unit drives all of my home receivers and integrated amps (with 200- to 200,000-ohm input impedance) perfectly, with no distortion. What about fancy high-impedance headphones? I don't know: please post your results if you test them with the Fiio!* LEFT-RIGHT BALANCE: Perfect on my unit, tested with monophonic audio recording.* FREQUENCY RESPONSE. This is the Fiio's weak point for me. While one user tests this as nearly flat from 40 to 18,000 Hz (graph here: https://www.reddit.com/r/cassetteculture/comments/1ap2o6q/fiio_cp13_a_first_impressiot n_and_detailed_review/), I found the bass response thin. My old top-tier Panasonic playback heads (rated at 5-20,000 Hz) sound much better, but so do my Panasonic entry-level players (rated at 40-16,000 Hz). I wish this player had a bass-boost or EQ function. A solution? Pick the right headphones (see below).* TAPE TYPE SELECTOR? No Normal (Type I), Chrome (Type II), and Metal (Type IV) settings—so chrome and metal tapes will sound brighter—though interestingly less trebly than on any of my other vintage portables without tape type EQ. If this is a deal-breaker for you, see "HEADPHONES" recommendations below. I'm listening only to chrome and metal tapes on the Fiio, and they sound fantastic with the right headphones.* DOLBY B, C, or S? Nope. But commercial tapes have such poor high-frequency EQ that the treble boost of dolby-encoded commercial tapes actually sound better to me than ones without (when played back on a player without dolby decoding).* SPEED & AZIMUTH: Both were calibrated near-perfectly at the factory (speed within 0.5%). But amazingly, you can adjust BOTH without cracking open the case! When I hear reviewers complaining that these adjustment screws are "such a pain to access," I have to laugh. I have spent hours taking apart my old players to get to the speed adjustment screw inside (when they even had them). And AZIMUTH adjustment? This is a true "audiophile" feature: Nearly all old portables at this price point had no such option. In the old days you'd have to keep buying and returning units before you got one with proper azimuth (i.e., that sounded clear in the treble range and not "muddy" or "muffly"). Or we'd bend the metal head frame when possible. Even my many home cassette decks lacked this feature (though the Nakamichi has it). See Fiio's video instructions: https://youtu.be/gcqCSET-EXU?si=a9izz_H0Kenau06V. TIP: Tape speed may drift as the belts break in, so use it for 10-20 hours before adjusting speed. At 18 hours, mine is still within 0.5% accurate. You can get a calibration tape with standard frequency tones online and pair it with a free frequency-measuring app on your phone or computer).* REWIND SPEED: Slow compared to vintage players and home decks, but perfectly acceptable. With a 100-minute tape: Fiio 3:49 (min:sec) | Panasonic RQ-E20V (typical entry level vintage player) 3:21 | Nakamichi MR-1 deck: 1:44* "BUT I CAN'T REPLACE THE BELTS OR BATTERY!" - I haven't taken this apart but there are screws inside the cassette bay (hidden under little sticker dots). In all my old Sony and Panasonic units, this is how I've gotten inside—so the Fiio looks serviceable. Removing the spring-hinged cover is the hardest part, but Fiio posted a video in Mandarin Chinese showing how to do so (sorry, can't find the link, but their rep on a hi-fi audio site says they will post an English-language version soon).--MISC TIPS FOR THOSE NEW TO CASSETTE PLAYERS:* Clean and demagnetize after every 10 hours of playback, or when you hear HF (high-frequency) attenuation or W&F. See Fiio video for cleaning the rubber roller, capstan, and PB head. BUT, if your unit still sounds muddy in the high frequencies, it's time to demagnetize the head. You can use either a demagnetizer wand (best) or cassette (adequate). Wand: https://www.amazon.com/Universal-DEMAGNETIZER-Cassette-Recorder-Track/dp/B003ZKLP4 | Cassette: https://www.amazon.com/CASSETTE-CLEANER-DEMAGNETIZER-WET-TYPE-* If your player (any cassette player) stops while playing a tape, forward fast and rewind it completely 2-3 times. The base layer of old tapes can get sticky. And also ...* Always hit "STOP" as soon as your player is done rewinding/ff-ing (there's no auto-stop). Reason: you can stretch, shear, or over-tighten the tape spool, damaging it. In play mode, this player DOES auto-stop at the end of the tape, so no worries when just listening.* Be mindful of getting your headphone cord stuck on doorknobs etc. and yanking it while plugged into the player! Over time, faulty headphone sockets have been the death of HALF of my players, not the belts or heads—and the main reason I bought this Fiio replacement.* Break in the capacitors and mechanicals before you decide on the sound quality - I've played this unit for about 18 hours now and the bass and treble balance is already sounding better. This seems true for many audio devices.--*Updated 6.1.2024*HEADPHONE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THIS PLAYER: After trying 9-10 different headphones, I've found three that sound very good with the Fiio—with all types of tape, but especially chrome and metal. And I found a few that TRULY SUCK with this player. Of course, all ears are different so your mileage will definitely vary. Just offering some ideas:* BEST (*****): Samson SR850 $40. Gigantic AKG clones. Best headphones that I've tried for this player: Near-neutral treble and bass, and very low tape hiss with chrome & metal tape (with no Dolby). Also pretty good with commercial normal tape encoded with Dolby B. High sensitivity (very loud at low settings). Also great EQ and sound with phones, DACs, etc. https://www.amazon.com/Samson-SR850-Semi-Open-Back-Reference-Headphones/dp/B002LBSEQS* EXCELLENT SOUND (****). Sony MDR-G45 (discontinued, wah). I got these "behind-the-neck" cheapies for $15 a few years ago and they sound custom-made for the Fiio. They now go for $90 on eBay—sheez! The Sony MDR-G52 "classic" walkman-style headphones look similar (and cheaper). With chrome and metal tape, better-than-average bass with the Fiio (but not as strong as the Samsons) and more accurate treble EQ than anything else I tried. High sensitivity (loud).* V. GOOD/EXCELLENT SOUND & CHEAP (****). Panasonic RP-HT21. $8 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004T8R2. Marketed with "XBS bass boost", lightweight walkman style on-ear headphones. These sound just a tiny bit less lower-resolution than the Sony MDR-G45 but still very enjoyable listening. 24-ohm, 30mm drivers. Sensitivity: 100 dB (loud).* V. GOOD SOUND & CHEAP (BUT NOT VERY LOUD) (***): Maxell 190316 behind-the-neck style walkman headphones, $17. With the Fiio, sounds as good as the Sony MDR-G45 above but requires volume set at 9 or 10 for 72 dbA listening volume. https://www.amazon.com/Maxell-190316-Stereo-Neck-Bands/dp/B00006JPRP. The Maxell 190319 $6 (what a deal!) looks similar https://www.amazon.com/Maxell-High-Quality-Headphones-Adjustable-Lightweight/dp/B00006JPRN/HEADPHONES I DO *NOT* RECOMMEND FOR USE WITH THIS FIIO PLAYER:* Bose QC25 or equivalent. The active EQ makes these very frequency-neutral (accurate): which means that with the Fiio, excessive treble with chrome/metal tape and weak bass. Also, this inline-microphone headphone doesn't seat quite right into the Fiio's 3.5mm input so the right channel will cut out unless you jiggle it just right. Finally, most active noise-cancelling headphones use DSP (digital sound processing), which kind of defeats the pure-analog point of this player, right?* Grado SR60 & SR80. My favorite high-resolution headphones but way too "bright" for chrome or metal tape and weak bass with the Fiio.* V-Moda LP crossfade2. Renowned for huge bass but sounds very muddy with the Fiio.* Koss Porta Pro. You'd think these retro walkman-style headphones with famously fat bass were made for the Fiio, but they sound horribly muddy with this player.* Panasonic RP-HTX7-K1 - These retro "ham radio style" headphones (as seen on "Stranger Things") sound just awful on a high-end system—and even worse with the Fiio. Just mentioning to save you the disappointment.* Shure I2C-M in-ear monitor headphones (similar to many current entry-level IECs without bass boost) - These are also neutral-EQ headphones with no bass emphasis. They sound clear but tinny/trebly with the Fiio player.* Apple earbuds, iPhone 6-11 (the hard plastic ones, not the kind with soft in-ear seals) - For me these sound tinny/trebly with all music players, and very weak bass with the Fiio.I can't believe you read this whole review, thanks! Hope this helps, and happy listening whatever you're using to play music.Note: I am in no way affiliated with Fiio, Amazon, or other manufacturers mentioned, nor have I received this product in exchange for a review. Just a music lover who also likes to write epically long posts. :D

Finally, they got rid of the motor noise in the modern tape mechanism!Tapes aren't amazingly clear to begin with but that's part of the allure, an audio "aesthetic" if you will. They also don't sound bad either, and this cassette player has FINALLY addressed the one major problem holding these new ones back.It now sounds as good as my old walkmans used to. Now of course there's going to be hiss, no dolby, maybe some wow and flutter. It doesn't sound broken or bad in any way, just very "tapey" which is the reason you come back to these in this day and age.People are expecting the level of quality of a top-of-the-line 90's deck in a $100 portable device created with what's basically a dead technology in a dead market. That's not realistic in the slightest! Such a device wouldn't be anywhere near $100 even in those days.Furthermore, anyone looking to cassettes for hifi quality or portability (for say, jogging) is being a little silly in my honest opinion. In 2024 you have extremely cheap options for much higher fidelity than a cassette based device can ever give you.Plus, you're not seriously considering going on a jog with a semi-fragile device that can literally only hold one album at a time, right? If not, then you don't need to worry that it doesn't have an anti-rollback mechanism. It sounds just fine when laying right-side up. Also, fast forward and rewind have always had to be stopped manually. It might be new if you've never had one but that's normal, you just gotta pay attention to it. The lithium battery + type C makes it SUPER convenient to use.However, if you need a really good digital audio player go for the Surfans F-28. I can recommend that little dude. Expensive but quality.Back to business. If you're still hooked on cassettes in 2024 it's because you're a nerd, you gawk at those Bandcamp cassette releases and you like the warm fuzzy vibe of old technology but aren't dedicated enough to really get into 90's hifi and "proper" cassette machines. If you're one of the old tape heads, that's a no go. But if you're just like me, and want a cassette experience that's not total crap and like cheap cassettes for what they are, and aren't asking them to be hifi, then this device is for us.Don't let the negative reviews scare you away!But wait, how does it compare to the We Are Rewind cassette player (which I also have)?Aside from some missing functionality (Stereo recording, Bluetooth) the Fiio wins. As much as I like that device, it still has the horrendous motor noise during playback due to lack of proper electrical interference shielding (?). The recording would be good for a lofi musician or good enough for us average joes, and the Bluetooth of the We Are Rewind is awesome but not really needed.It's also about $70 more expensive, and it's poorly laid out. None of the buttons are oriented correctly for you to see what you're doing from a casual glance. I don't regret buying it but if you're on the fence get the FIIO. It's just so much better audio wise because that motor isn't screeching in all the quiet parts.One thing both players don't do great is the lack of rubber stops to keep the aluminum from getting scratched up. I added some generic sticky ones from this site all over the We Are Rewind so it can set on a desk. I might not for the FIIO because design wise it is so much prettier. Plus these guys need a case, preferably with an arm sling like they used to come with.Other than that, that's my clunky review.Full 5 stars and I hope we continue to iterate on these cassette players and give them back the popularity they deserve, even if it's an evolution of what they are now rather than what they once were. As for me this is a modest dream come true.It isn't my first FIIO product either, check out more of their stuff.Not paid to say any of this. I just buy a lot of their stuff.

I absolutely love this cassette player. It brings back so many good memories. The build quality and sound quality are very good. Of course, some white noise is inevitable from an audio cassette, but the manufacturer did a wonderful job of avoiding "wow and flutter". Playback is smooth and consistent. Love it!!