FiiO CP13 Cassette Player Review (1) – Once Upon A Long Ago

The $99.99 FiiO CP13 cassette player features an upgraded version of the only available tape mechanism on the market paired with a superior modern amplifier for good-quality analog sound.

The FiiO CP13 cassette player was kindly provided by the company for my review and I thank them for that. You find more information on its product page Fiio.com.

Introduction

The year was 1963. The Beatles started conquering Europe, JFK visited Germany, and Philips released the “compact cassette” at IFA Berlin. It was a revolution in a small plastic case. From now on, one could buy their favourite albums not only on vinyl, but also record music themselves. Within a few years, cassettes were outselling the more expensive vinyl records.

The older generation may remember the evenings we sat in front of the radio recording mixtapes of our favourite songs, then adding our own cover art. Such mixtapes, used to show our musical tastes off, resulted in many love relationships…but sadly never for me. Behind the “Iron Curtain”, such mixtapes were vehicles for trading “decadent” western rock music.

During its history, the cassette came in four specifications: “ferric” or “normal (Type I), “chrome” (Type 2), “ferrichrome” or “ferrochrome” (Type 3), and “metal” (Type 4). The sound quality as well as the darkness of the tape material increased with Type number. Today, originally sealed metal tapes sold on ebay can secure your pension, so sought after are they.

Sony introduced the Walkman in 1979. For the first time, we had music on the road (outside our car stereos). With time, these players became not only more sophisticated with recording function, different noise reduction technologies, tape type selector, bias, audio reverse, sensor buttons, mega bass, A-B repeat, AVLS, playtime of several tens of hours (on a single AA cell), but they also shrank in size. The era started coming to an end when the CD overtook cassette sales in 1991. Sony stopped selling Walkmen in the US in 2004.

Today, we old guys play tapes to stop time for a moment, and the younger generation for experiencing the analog Zeitgeist of the 1980s. For those, Taylor Swift’s current album is available on cassette (though it is not 100% analog). In terms of sales numbers, the cassette is only background, vinyl leads over CDs.

With the demise of the cassette, the players disappeared from the market, too. The current offerings on amazon are typically, pardon, cheap no-name crap with tinny sound. And buying old Sony Walkmen on ebay bears the risk that the belt and/or some capacitors have disintegrated. Nothing lasts forever.

What has also changed in recent years is headphones. In 1984, any player could feed your Koss Porta-Pros (and comparable on-ears) with ease, today we love, huge high-impedance cans the 1980s gear cannot stem.

FiiO is coming to the rescue with the CP13. The company launched a line of retro gear with the TT13 record player, the DM13 BT portable CD player, and an FM radio is in the works. The company promises high quality at reasonable prices.

This may sound interesting when you have boxes of tapes in your basement or find pre-recorded tapes cheaply in 2nd hand record stores (buy them before their prices inflate). But if you want to produce mixtapes from records, you also need a tape deck (hard to get, too), and the purist would only tape from analog recordings, that is “old” records. It is pointless anyway to press today’s digitally music on vinyl and even more so copying it back onto analog tape.

Inspired by my over 40-year experience with tapes and players, I had incredible fun checking out what today’s interpretation of an old technology has to offer. Bittesehr, here is the FiiO CP13.

Specifications FiiO CP13

Physical Things

In the box are the players, a screen protector, a USB-C charge cable, a well illustrated manual, and a card explaining the disadvantages of analog players. Since I had never purchased TOTL Walkmen models, mine are all somewhat “plasticky”. In contrast, the FiiO is a fancy metal design with a very good, that is heavy and firm metal potentiometer (“volume knob”…in contrast to Sony’ plastic “scroll wheels”).

The player feels overall more substantial compared to my old ones. Its boxy shape reminds of modern German Bauhaus design of the 1920s (compared to the older Walkman types with round edges).

The rather clunky buttons also appear to incorporate a good-quality mechanism. Great haptic, and handling — that volume knob is pure fun. The CP13 is more like a DAP with a cassette mechanism inside. There is a LED next to the volume know, but it is only lit when charging to indicate the battery status.

Fans of the original Walkmen may miss the handling of their old players, which were way more rickety than this one.

In summary, the FiiO CP13 has a surprisingly sturdy haptic. Compliments.

The player has auto shutoff when the tape reaches its end, but it does not shut off when rewinding or fast forwarding. What’s missing compared to the vintage players is a belt clip, which makes it harder to use the CP13 on the road.

Where have all the Flowers gone?

The FiiO CP13 is rather bulky compared to its 1980 and 1990 ancestors, and it does not have their technological bells and whistles either. Why? 

The Sony Walkmen from 30 years ago featured recording function, different noise reduction technologies, tape type selector, bias, audio reverse, sensor buttons, mega bass, A-B repeat, AVLS, playtime of several tens of hours (on a single AA cell)…and they were much smaller than the FiiO CP13.

What’s happened?

The answer is time. In the last 30 years, the knowledge of (designing) portable cassette player has simply been lost. The original inventors and engineers have left the workforce, the production lines have disappeared, and the supply chain does not exist anymore. Companies like FiiO had to start again from scratch.

Similarly, the original customers have disappeared, too. The tape player has become a niché product with little demand. Low numbers mean high production costs so that large investments into R&D are unprofitable.

There is currently only one tape mechanism available, which consists mainly of plastic parts and low-quality toneheads. That mechanism determines the location of the buttons and the device’s bulky shape.

Compared to Amazon’s cheepos, FiiO replaced the flywheel with a copper design for minimizing wow and flutter (mechanical distortions resulting in pitch variations), picked their own playhead, and use an integrated circuit for true analog sound. While the tape mechanism may not be optimal, the modrnl amplifier is way stronger and better sounding than the ones in my old players.

A French company called “We Are Rewind” use the same mechanism in a similar modification for their even bulkier player (the additional space is used for a Bluetooth module). A review of this player is coming soon.

Pairings

The original Walkmen came with their dinky little headphones with orange foam earpads. These were not very good sounding and certainly did not do justice to the electronics. In 1984, Koss released their famous Porta-Pro, who worked well with such players. And it is still available today. The FiiO sub-brand SNOWSKY will be soon releasing some retro headphones.

For my testing, I mainly listened with the Koss Porta-Pro and the very similar Sennheiser PX100 and PX100-II. These cassette players were not designed for in-ears or for power-hungry cans, at least not the vintage ones. I nevertheless tried to max out the amp. Sure, it still works with the Sennheiser HD 600 at 300 Ω impedance, just not very well, as it lacks oomph. But the CP13 does full justice to the Meze 105 AER and Sennheiser HD 25.

Oh, if you want “louder”, the Helm dB12 AAAMP inline amp adds a constant 12 dB to the CP13’s output. Your sound remains fully analog.

Sound

The CP13 plays very composed compared to my old Sony WM-FX173. I notice more punch than in my Sony and Panasonic players from the 1990. The Sony blurs the music into my ears, very open, very “light-footed”, and somewhat splashy. The CP13 is holding back in comparison with more body, more discipline, and less exuberance.

Responsible for this difference is mainly the modern and therefore more advanced amplifier in the CP13, which is beefier and less distorting than the ones in my vintage players. Don’t forget, the FiiO’s sound is still fully analog, there is no DAC involved.

There is also no screaming treble, you get pure analog sound. Because of its punchy low end, the FiiO’s soundstage is narrower and deeper than the Sony’s.

I have the impression the FiiO corrects for the Dolby on (pre-recorded) tapes with a built-in eq as the my old player reproduce Dolby-recorded tapes with added artificial brightness.

When turning the volume up to full power on a blank tape, there is no motor noise, but the typical tape hiss (as in every other player without Dolby noise reduction, too). I can also not hear any obvious mechanical distortion (“wow and flutter”), though measurements surely will not break the world record.

Overall, I am quite impressed by the FiiO CP13’s sound…and also by its handling. And after I have written this, the We Are Rewind cassette player arrived. It features the same cassette mechanism as the CP13 but a different amplifier (and Bluetooth 5.1). The We Are Rewind WE-001 plays less punchy, less accentuated, and less sharp but with a wider and shallower stage and a thicker low end than the CP13. It also appears to correct for Dolby-recorded tapes so that these don’t come across as overly bright. The We Are Rewind comes closer to a traditional Walkman (with all its weaknesses), The CP13 goes more into the direction of digital analog player, sonically. I enjoy both and am sad when sending one of them to Loomis.

The Curse of Planned Obsolescence

While you can still purchase original Sony Walkmen at exorbitant prices 20-30 years later, the CP13 will not have their longevity, simply because it contains a built-in, non-serviceable battery. While you just slide a couple of (rechargeable) AA cells into the Sonys, the FiiO will be landfill in a few years when its internal battery has been consumed. OK, you can still operate it from a powerbank or a 5V power supply, but that’s not the idea of portable.

In this aspect, the CP13 is not any different from many DAPs, portable amps, and mobile phones, but, in contrast to these devices, the bulky CP13 offers space for a battery compartment — and cassette technology is stagnant compared to the fast development of modern devices. The fixed battery is the non-excusable bottleneck of this player. FiiO, please listen.

Concluding Remarks

The FiiO CP 13 plays music in the quality of the late, simpler Sony Walkmen. It does not reach the quality of their cassette mechanisms or have the features of the more sophisticated vintage models, but it is cheaper and has a superior headphone amplifier.

There are two types of (mix)tape owners: such with an old Panasonic, Aiwa, or Sony Walkman in good working order and those without. The first don’t have to bother about the FiiO CP13, the second may as well get one.

For the younger generation that doesn’t have tapes in their basements: don’t forget you need a cassette deck, blank tapes, and an analog source to produce analog music for your new FiiO. Good luck!

In my opinion, the FiiO CP13 constitutes very good value at $99.99, and, if on sale, an insane value. Don’t forget, everything is better at Nostalgia University.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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