FiiO DM13

FiiO DM13 Review

The FiiO DM13 brings a modern audiophile-grade approach to the classic CD “walkman” format, blending modern features like Bluetooth, balanced headphone outputs, digital outputs and USB CD ripping, all while retaining the charm of physical media and fantastic battery life. It’s a device designed for those who still cherish CDs but want to enjoy their music with the latest technologies and crucially easily integrally in a modern Audio “Stack”.

So, I have rediscovering my CD collection with the DM13 for a few weeks now and thoroughly enjoying the experience, but while I think it an excellent device. I do think there is one thing that significantly holds it back from perfection.

But before I explain my one frustration with the DM13, I have a confession to make !

Confessions of a Hoarder

OK, I am a hoarder, I admit it!!

As well as an old Vinyl collection (which I have been enjoying again with the TT13 that I recently reviewed), I have a huge collection of CD’s which I built up over many years before streaming services appeared. When the time came, I could not bring myself to dump any of CD’s unlike most of my tape ‘collection’ which I felt would deteriorate significantly over time so after 20 years they would sound terrible. But CD’s always promised to last a lifetime !!

But, with my 500+ CD collection at the time, after I stopped using my old trusty Sony CD player, I decided to move the collection into 2 large “blanket boxes” in my converted garage and mostly with the odd exception over the years, these have stayed there for probably 15 years now. Though, I did ‘backup’ all these CD’s to FLAC and I continued listening to them (and many other FLACs I have collected over the years ) via Roon and Plex within my audio setup for many years, but the physical CD’s have mostly been sitting idly waiting to be rescued.

Here is one of the boxes with the DM13 sitting with the CDs:

For the DM13 review, I thought I should use it to rescue this CD collection (like I have been doing with my Vinyl Collection). These CD’s had been so long in these boxes, I thought if they had ‘feelings’, they might feel like these “3-eyed aliens” from the original Toy Story being rescued by Buzz Lightyear:

But before I get into the details, let see what you get with the DM13:

What’s in the Box

The FiiO DM13 comes neatly packaged with a typically nice box:

Minimal information on the back:

Sliding the cover off the box reveals a device guide sitting onto of the DM13, very reminiscent of the K11 R2R:

Removing the device guide / manual finally reveals the contents:

• FiiO DM13 CD Player
• User manual
• Quick-start guide

And opening the box you also get a:

• USB Type-C cable for charging and digital connectivity
• A 3.5mm to coaxial adapter

Build Quality

The DM13 features an aluminum alloy body that is lightweight yet robust. The premium materials feel durable, while the smooth hinge mechanism works well, offering a satisfying tactile experience when loading discs, adding o that whole “retro ceremony experience” that I mentioned with the TT13, there is something about “touching the music” that is so much more pleasurable than just selecting a track from a streaming service.

Here is one of my rescued CD with my FT1 Pro’s:

It is the perfect size and device to work with a FiiO K11:

Its compact dimensions (144×137×27mm) and weight (450g) make it portable enough for everyday use while maintaining a sturdy desktop presence:

As you can see above it is slightly larger than the K11 and here from the side view:

• Design: The translucent black chassis with smooth edges gives it a modern, minimalist aesthetic.
• Display: The 1.5-inch LCD screen is sharp, providing clear information on playback, file formats, and battery status.
• Portability: The inclusion of ESP (Electronic Skip Protection) ensures smooth playback during movement, making the DM13 a reliable portable player.
• Durability: The robust materials and solid buttons feel built to last, even with regular use.

Button Layout and Controls

The top of the DM13 features clearly labeled buttons for power, play/pause, previous/next track, volume adjustments, and function selection. These controls are well-placed and easy to use, though accessing some secondary functions requires holding buttons for specific durations.

Menu overloading ??

While “traditional” CD playback control is very intuitive via these buttons, my one problem with the DM13 is how you use the buttons to access the “advanced” features. It has some tremendous features but mostly accessing these features is via a combination of different buttons having double capabilities make it different to understand how to access the advanced menus without referring to the manual.

But fortunately FiiO have released a youtube video demonstrating the controls:

You can see in this video the massive overloading of different buttons and combination of buttons when going beyond the basic controls. It is a pity as the FiiO K11 and the KA15 both have similar screens and even less buttton’s but actually have more intuitive controls:

Headphone Outputs and power

The DM13 includes both a 3.5mm single-ended and a 4.4mm balanced output. The former delivers up to 180mW of power, while the latter provides a robust 660mW, making it capable of driving a wide range of headphones, from sensitive IEMs to extremely power-hungry headphones.

The quality and power from the headphones outputs is an amazing feature of this CD player. I have been enjoying some of my older CD collection with it on some difficult to drive planars without any problems.

Comprehensive Rear Connectivity

The rear panel is packed with outputs, including 4.4mm balanced line-out and a 3.5mm LO/coaxial/optical 3-in-1 output.

The DM13’s optical and coaxial outputs enable connectivity to external DACs. With low-jitter crystal oscillators ensuring precise digital clock synchronization, these outputs deliver clean and stable signals for high-quality playback.

The box comes with an 3.5mm to Coax adapter for the Coaxial output connection.

There are two USB ports: one for USB recording and another for power input, which as you will see later in the section on recording audio are not as obviously as their labels.

And finally, there is a pair of toggle switches one for ESP (Electronic Skip Protection) and one Desktop Mode (D. MODE) adds some extra functionality for both stationary and portable use.

A missed opportunity ??

Given the excellent power from the headphone outputs and that the DM13 is a great portable desktop solution, I have one minor complaint is that the usb-c power connection does not double as an usb-c input as the DM13 has a decent internal DAC and would make a DAC headphone output for my laptop output when not listening to CD’s.

Features

Beyond my minor complaints, I feel the DM13 has an incredible feature set way beyond what you should expect from any portable CD player not just one selling for $140. But lets get into some of the other features:

Dual DACs and Amplifiers

Powered by two Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC chips and dual low-noise SGM8262 headphone amplifiers, the DM13 delivers excellent audio quality. The architecture provides precise sound reproduction, with clear instrument separation and balanced tuning across all frequencies.

AptX High-Resolution Bluetooth

Bluetooth connectivity supports aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, AAC and SBC codecs, allowing seamless wireless streaming with CD-quality audio. Whether paired with the FiiO BTR17 or high-quality headphones, the Bluetooth functionality excels in delivering lag-free, high-fidelity playback.

CD Playback and ESP

The DM13’s disc reading mechanism is quiet and stable, ensuring smooth playback even without activating the ESP feature. When ESP is enabled, the device can handle movement without skipping but may slightly alter sound quality, making it useful for portable scenarios.

High-Contrast LCD Display

The custom LCD displays essential information such as track numbers, volume levels, and playback modes. It’s bright and easy to read, with toggling views for additional details like battery life, ESP mode, and output settings. As I mentioned earlier the display is very similar to the one of the K11 and K11 R2R DACs.

Gapless Playback and Smart Features

The DM13 supports gapless playback, a significant improvement over some higher-priced competitors. It also remembers your last playback position, allowing you to resume seamlessly even after powering off, and offers repeat modes for single tracks or entire albums. These features make it a much more audiophile friendly CD player than most of its competition.

Desktop and Portable Modes

In desktop mode, the DM13 operates via a USB power source without draining the internal battery. This flexibility makes it ideal for extended listening sessions at your desk while preserving battery life for portable use.

Battery Life

The 3750mAh cobalt lithium battery provides up to 10 hours of playback, offering plenty of listening time. While individual results may vary based on usage, the battery life has been consistent and reliable during testing.

Recording Capabilities

The DM13 allows 2 types of recording capabilities. A direct recording capability to audio input via the “USB REC” connection to a computer:

But more interesting, in my opinion, record to an external usb device. So, it can encode tracks directly into WAV files without needing a computer.

Note: while this feature eliminating the need for external devices or software it is very slow compared to the process I did originally to convert my CD collection to FLAC, which would rip a whole CD in maybe 5 minutes using a PC’s CD drive, I did my whole collection over the course of a few days when I decided to switch from CD’s originally.

But, it is still a welcome feature to have and I decided to see what the full process might be like in 2024.

Though as with the Menu system in general it is not obvious how you do this plugging the usb drive into the usb-power connection andnot the usb-rec connection as you would with the other method. So here is the correct setup with the usb-c drive connected to the usb-power connection:

But once you correctly follow the instruction here is a brief video of the recording process:

Once the ripping process is finished on the external USB drive you can put it into your computer and check out the WAV files:

After recordng the WAV files, I would suggest using a tool like MusicBrainz Picard which has the “Shazam” like ability to automatically recognise audio tracks and suggest the metadata for those tracks, so here I have the raw WAV files and Picard correctly identifying them and renaming them:

So, it is slow but does work and considering how popular CDs are becoming again it might be a welcome process for people who always like to have a FLAC backup of all their CD’s.

Quiet Mechanism

The CD loading and playback mechanism are remarkably silent, a stark contrast to typically noisier competitors. This quiet operation makes the DM13 a pleasure to use in quiet settings such as late-night listening sessions.

Rating

I gave the DM13 a solid 4-star pragmatic rating, for the price the DM13 is incredible, amazing powerful audio, tons of useful features, great build quality and an excellent battery, if the menu system was better it would be an easy 5-star rating. I feel the basic operation is great and while its great that it has so many features I would not remember the button combinations required to access these advantaged features so it shame.

Summary

The FiiO DM13 is a great CD player that reimagines how we engage with the CD format in the 2020s. Its blend of audiophile-grade sound, portability, and modern features like Bluetooth, CD ripping, and balanced outputs make it a standout product.

If you want to rediscovery your CD collection (like I did) the DM13 is an almost perfect device with great usability features like gapless playback, quiet operation, ESP skip protection and desktop mode with powerful audio playback supporting the majority of headphones.