Breathe Life Into Mix Tapes With FiiO’s CP13 Portable Cassette Player

The Sony Walkman was launched on I July, 1979 and was a massive breakthrough in personal music listening. We’d never seen anything like it and I remember seeing the first Walkman and thinking that I had to have one no matter what the cost.

Well, you may have thought the cassette tape and the Walkman was long dead, but like vinyl records, the world’s most popular tape format refuses to die completely and there are billions of pre-recorded cassettes gathering dust, not to mention all those romantic mix tapes that many of us made in the 1980s.

Now FiiO has announced an eye-catching cassette player with USB-C charging and up to 13 hours of battery life from a single charge. The CP13 has an all-analog circuit that produces the classic cassette sound we remember so well.

For truly analog playback, the entirety of the CP13’s audio circuit is made with analog components. Everything from the magnetic tape head to the signal amplification is devoid of digital technology. The result is a classic and unmistakably analog sound of the cassette tape.

The CP13’s motor is powered by a high voltage 4.2V power supply, more than the 1.8V or 3V typically found in most portable cassette players. This power supply works in tandem with a custom motor speed stabilization circuit, which increases the drag on the motor as necessary to ensure stable movement speeds. This technology ensures that there are no unwanted pitch changes and means the CP13 can handle more cassette tape types.

FiiO says that, unlike single-ended signal acquisition found in many cassette players, the CP13 uses a differential circuit for balanced acquisition of signals from the custom tape head, ensuring more stable signal transmission, higher signal-to-noise ratio and lower distortion.

Though ultimately restricted by the size of the cassette player’s movement, FIIO says its engineers have paid attention to making the CP13 as compact as possible. Through the integration of manufacturing and structural design, the CP13 is just 31.8mm thick, making it thinner and more compact than most portable cassette players.

The CP13 is powered by a lithium battery, which can be charged through the USB Type-C port. The battery is lighter than the original AA batteries used in previous generations of cassette players and can last for 13 hours on a single charge.

Pricing & Availability: The FiiO CP13 goes on sale this week from Advanced Audio Players and costs $129 / £99.

Tech Specs:

• Battery capacity: 1,800mAh.
• Playing time: 13 hours.
• Op-amp: JRC5532.
• Flywheel: Copper.
• Mechanical core: Customized mechanical core.
• Head: Customized balanced amplification magnetic head.
• Output: 3.5mm.
• Power Output: 250mV.
• SNR: >55dB.
• Dimensions: 120 x 88.3 x 31.8mm.
• Weight: 310g.