Bring your mixtapes to life with the FiiO CP13 portable cassette player

The Sony Walkman was launched on July 1, 1979 and was a major breakthrough in personal music listening. We had never seen anything like it and I remember seeing the first Walkman and thinking I had to have one, no matter the price.

Well, you might have thought the cassette tape and the Walkman were 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 many of us made in the 1980s.

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

For true analog playback, the entire audio circuit of the CP13 is built with analog components. From the playback head to the signal amplification, everything is devoid of digital technology. The result is a classic, unmistakably analog cassette sound.

The CP13’s motor is powered by a high-voltage 4.2V power supply, which is higher 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 when necessary to ensure stable movement speeds. This technology ensures that there are no unwanted pitch changes and means that the CP13 can handle more cassette types.

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

Although limited by the size of the cassette player’s movement, FIIO claims that its engineers have taken care to make the CP13 as compact as possible. Through the integration of manufacturing and structural design, the CP13 measures just 31.8 mm thick, making it thinner and more compact than most portable cassette players.

The CP13 is powered by a lithium battery, which can be charged via 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.

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

Technical specifications:

• Battery capacity: 1800mAh.
• Game duration: 13 hours.
• Operational amplifier: JRC5532.
• Flywheel: Copper.
• Mechanical Core: Custom mechanical core.
• Head: Custom balanced amplification magnetic head.
• Output: 3.5mm.
• Output power: 250 mV.
• Signal to noise ratio: >55 dB.
• Dimensions: 120 x 88.3 x 31.8 mm.
• Weight: 310g.