Product test
Old vs. new cassette deck: Which is better?
by David Lee
FiiO CP13 cassette player – sadly, it doesn’t get better than this
11/6/2024
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Cassette players never died, but they did get worse and worse. Manufacturer FiiO’s trying to bring back quality with the CP13. The result? Meh.
There’s something about audio cassettes. They trigger nostalgic feelings in greying people like me. The device also lets you simply enjoy music without the plethora of distractions of a smartphone. With the CP13, FiiO wants to bring the Walkman feeling to the present day. It’s a simple, portable cassette player.
I was sceptical when I heard about it. Sure, you’ll regularly come across a piece about an alleged «cassette revival», but I think we can all agree that the golden age of tapes is over. These days, it can already prove difficult to get your hands on high-quality cassettes, let alone cassette players. They’re mechanically complex devices with many individual parts. So it’s hardly worth producing these parts in high quality any more. Even FiiO says that the supply chain for cassette devices is practically non-existent today, which is why the project almost failed.
Source: David Lee
On the other hand, FiiO is a renowned audio manufacturer that’s made a name for itself with affordable but good DACs (digital-to-analogue converters). The product description for the CP13 gives us reason to be hopeful. It features a motor with a higher voltage than is usual today, which should ensure greater stability. In addition, there’s strict quality control for the sound heads, which less than 40 per cent of them meet.
Teac has proven that it’s fundamentally possible to bring out a new cassette player that’s up to the job. However, this would be a cassette deck, not a mobile device – and much more expensive.
Minimal features
The FiiO CP13’s features are limited to the bare essentials. Play, stop, forward and rewind as well as volume. A 3.5-mm headphone connection provides the sound; a USB-C port is used to charge the battery. That’s it. There’s no Bluetooth, no recording function and no options to influence the sound.
I’m not bothered by this. Focussing on the essentials gives the FiiO a very simple, elegant design. I can do without fancy stuff such as bass boost and auto reverse. However, a balance control would’ve been nice, the tracks aren’t always equally loud on cassettes.
Source: David Lee
But FiiO went a bit too far with the minimalism when it comes to the closing mechanism. There’s no eject button, so you just have to pull at the lid. It’s fiddly and doesn’t open easily. There’s no locking mechanism either, so you could also open the lid when the cassette’s playing. This would probably cause damage. Sometimes there’s resistance when you want to close the lid. When this happens, it’s hard to know if you’ll break something if you force it shut.
What’s also a bit too minimalist for my taste is the fact that the tape doesn’t stop when it reaches the end. If you don’t press stop, the motor will just keep on winding until the battery’s dead. However, the tape does stop automatically during playback.
Comparison with the competitor
The FiiO CP13 isn’t the only mobile cassette player on the market. There’s a similar device out there by We Are Rewind, available in charcoal, blue and orange.
This cassette player can connect to the headphones via Bluetooth. It also has a recording function, but the quality is only suitable for voice recordings at best. There just aren’t any good recording heads available any more. FiiO decided that not providing any recording function was better than adding a poor one. I’m okay with that. FiiO CP13 is smaller than the We Are Rewind player because it’s been reduced to the bare essentials.
Otherwise, the devices are very similar. The We Are Rewind player is also opened by pulling the lid, albeit with less resistance. Likewise, the tape doesn’t stop when you fast forward or rewind. Unsurprisingly, there’s also no bass boost, auto reverse or Dolby. And just like the FiiO, the permanently installed battery is charged via USB-C.
Source: David Lee
Sound quality okay, bass a bit meagre
The FiiO CP13 has the same built-in sound head as the We Are Rewind. And yet, the sound quality of the two cassette players is different. FiiO’s CP13 sounds centred, with less bass. The bass on We Are Rewind is much more powerful.
I’ve no idea what the reason for these differences are. My guess is the devices feature different amplifiers. FiiO has a purely analogue amplifier with the designation JRC5532. As for the We Are Rewind, I couldn’t find any information regarding the amp.
In the following video, you can hear a cassette played back with the Fiio CP13, then with the We Are Rewind for comparison. Then the same with another piece of music, where the difference in the bass can be heard more clearly. However, the second recording’s on an old cassette. That’s why the sound quality isn’t great on either device.
Synchronisation fluctuations and general sound consistency
The FiiO CP13 shows stronger synchronisation fluctuations when you shake it or move it very quickly. This doesn’t happen with slow movements. However, the sound may become slightly muffled if you hold the device differently. This is probably because the cassette isn’t fixed securely in the housing and slightly shifts. This’ll interfere with the perfect alignment of the tape to the sound head. A cross-check with the competitor’s device shows that the FiiO isn’t the only one struggling with these problems.
I don’t have any equipment to measure synchronisation fluctuations and tape speed. That’s why I’m referring to YouTuber VWestlife, who compared the FiiO CP13 with other portable cassette players. According to his video, the FiiO device is the most stable. The test device played back the tape much too fast, but this can be adjusted and wasn’t the case with mine.
Plays all cassette types, but without Dolby
Fortunately, the FiiO CP13 can play standard type I cassettes without any problems as well as type II (high position) and IV (metal) cassettes. But it can’t do Dolby. But you can’t blame FiiO for this. The required chips no longer exist, and Dolby doesn’t give out new licences for its noise reduction technology. Prerecorded cassettes are usually recorded with Dolby B. They can be played on the CP13, but will sound a little more treble heavy.
According to the manufacturer, the battery life is 13 hours. I didn’t check this, but I’m sure the battery lasts long enough. What bothers me is that the battery level isn’t displayed anywhere. When charging, the diode switches from red to green once the battery’s full.
In a nutshell
OK is all you’re going to get
The FiiO CP13’s a minimalist device. This is reflected in its beautiful, simple design, but also in the lack of comfort. Fast forward doesn’t automatically stop when it hits the end of the tape, and you have to pry the lid open by hand. To be fair, the competition isn’t any better in that regard. And old Walkmans from the 80s and 90s are now either broken or almost unaffordable.
And therein lies the real problem. These days, it’s simply no longer possible to bring a top-notch cassette player onto the market. So the CP13 is likely to be as good as it gets. Sadly, the bar’s not very high.
At least the device gets the job done. In other words, you can use it to listen to cassette tapes in acceptable quality when you’re on the move. Compared to the device from competitor We Are Rewind, the sound quality is roughly the same. The bass is a little less dominant. Whether that’s a good or bad thing depends on the music and your taste.
The fact that FiiO doesn’t have a recording function is justifiable in view of the poor solutions available today. The decision to leave out Bluetooth also has its advantages, as this means no interfering signals. By foregoing any additional functions, the CP13’s smaller than the We Are Rewind. All in all, the cassette player’s acceptable. And that’s all you can expect these days.
Pro
- beautiful, minimalist design
- acceptable sound quality
Contra
- poor opening mechanism
- no auto-stop for rewind and fast forward
- no additional functions (Dolby, bass boost, auto reverse, etc.)
- inconsistent playback during brisk movements
Header image: David Lee
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.