[FIIO DM13] HiFi Balanced Output Portable Stereo CD Player DM13 Is Officially Released!

[ziplock]

Sorry if this has been answered already. Where are you folks downloading DM13 firmware officially? Is it direct from Fiio's site or a Google Drive link?

 

[FiiO Willson]

@FiiO Willson hi there. Is V23 not coming out before hand?

Hello Friend

V23 didn't work well, we tested it later and found some unacceptable problems, and now V24 has problems and we're still changing it

We're still working on it.

It's estimated that the final version will be released only after Chinese New Year.

The version I'm sending you via private message is still version V22-2, which solves most of the problems.

 

[FiiO Willson]

Sorry if this has been answered already. Where are you folks downloading DM13 firmware officially? Is it direct from Fiio's site or a Google Drive link?

We will be further optimizing the disc reading and RIP functions recently, as well as some bugs, if they are resolved we will release them on the official website, for now there are still a few issues

Please be patient with the official version we will release later (expected version number is V25)

 

[llysender]

Finally got the DM13 after 3 months of waiting. First thing I would like to say is:
WHY HAS FIIO NOT LEARNT FROM THE QG K9 PRO AKM!

Symbols are unreadable except in direct sunlight/harsh light.

Also the 15sec or so to switch between output modes is pure agony.

Being really new to the CD scene and basically only having 2 demo discs from convensions I donno if this CD player is good;
But I do know is the DAC/Amp is quite revealing in revealing crap from good mastering.

Surpisingly it has cleaner and more details than the K11 it was bulit upon.

Also anyone knows what that TRRS 3.5mm to female rca cable is called? If its proprietary it would be very annoying to lose it.
Thankfully I havent encounted the track skipping but I guess its because its the 2 CDs I have is normal density?

 

[Safeinthemountains]

Also anyone knows what that TRRS 3.5mm to female rca cable is called? If its proprietary it would be very annoying to lose it.

I don't think there's any specific naming for this kind of adapter, I would call it "3.5mm SPDIF out adapter".
Yes, as far as I am aware, this is specific to Fiio, it seems that the newly realeased JM21 has also SPDIF out on the 3.5 phone output, so I guess the wiring is the same for both, but these are the only devices I know with this trick.
Some Hiby DAP (R5, R3, R5gen2...) have SPDIF signal on the USB-C connector's "special" pins, sot Hiby and Cayin have a specific USB-Coax adapter the same way...

 

[FiiO Willson]

Also anyone knows what that TRRS 3.5mm to female rca cable is called? If its proprietary it would be very annoying to lose it.

It is a 3.5mm to Coaxial cable.
You can use a standard coaxial RCA cable to connect the DM13 to the coaxial outputs of the decoder through this cable

 

[llysender]

Hmmm I donno if CDs are naturally like that but comparing the Secret Garden CD to the FLAC I got of amazon music the CD almost has this smoothing filter that makes things more analog, less detailed but more cohesive with more body.

 

[FiiO Willson]

Hello Everyone, These is the New Firmware (Version 25) :

https://forum.fiio.com/note/showNoteContent.do?id=202501231626198548493&tid=17


If you get the Bluetooth DM13, if it yes, please update
If not, please Ignore it, The new standard version firmware is expected to be released in next month.

 

[UnLagunas]

Hmmm I donno if CDs are naturally like that but comparing the Secret Garden CD to the FLAC I got of amazon music the CD almost has this smoothing filter that makes things more analog, less detailed but more cohesive with more body.

Thanks! I just applied firmware V25 with no issues. Playing some discs now. By the by, having a desktop CD player that allows for firmware upgrades is one of the reasons I love my DM13. As long as problems keep being addressed I will remain a satisfied customer.

 

[Safeinthemountains]

Hmmm I donno if CDs are naturally like that but comparing the Secret Garden CD to the FLAC I got of amazon music the CD almost has this smoothing filter that makes things more analog, less detailed but more cohesive with more body.

Mhmmm... do you play it through the exact same DAC ? If not the differences you hear can come from the converter/amp stage, because when uncompressed a FLAC should be bit-to-bit identical to the CD...
It could also be that one of these is a "remaster"...

 

[llysender]

Mhmmm... do you play it through the exact same DAC ? If not the differences you hear can come from the converter/amp stage, because when uncompressed a FLAC should be bit-to-bit identical to the CD...
It could also be that one of these is a "remaster"...

yeah im playing it though the same dac. DM13 is running through spdif instead of USB though since thats the only digital out.

Currently running it though my fiio k9 pro AKM into my speaker setup.

Also in Desktop mode the music is closer to the flac ver but still has the same characteristics mentioned above but with better details.

Edit:
Trying the DM13 outdoors the for the first time. It's too phat to put in the pocket so a bag of sorts is needed. Also using the dac/amp for the first time it reminds me of a softer DX340 sound.

Still have to see how long it lasts but damn Fiio really did a good job at making a portable cd player.

 

[Safeinthemountains]

yeah im playing it though the same dac. DM13 is running through spdif instead of USB though since thats the only digital out.

Currently running it though my fiio k9 pro AKM into my speaker setup.

Also in Desktop mode the music is closer to the flac ver but still has the same characteristics mentioned above but with better details.

Edit:
Trying the DM13 outdoors the for the first time. It's too phat to put in the pocket so a bag of sorts is needed. Also using the dac/amp for the first time it reminds me of a softer DX340 sound.

Still have to see how long it lasts but damn Fiio really did a good job at making a portable cd player.

It is really weird to me that you can spot so obious differences...
I'm almost sure I would be able to distinguish WAV/CD vs FLAC file, as I hardly see a difference between OGG Q9 and original CD

What do you mean by "in Desktop mode"; Just bypassing the battery makes a difference in sound ???

To confirm there is a difference in between FLAC and CD, you should ideally rip your CD in FLAC (no download) and compare both CD and file on the same DAC of course.
What is your FLAC player ?

And I am wondering; what's the point in carrying a CD player outside, when you have a (quite hi-end) DX340 ?
To me, the DM13 is really convenient to carry around in various places at home, in the sun on a balcony or in a garden but I wouldn't use it in the car, or for a commute; the DAPs are far more convenient nowadays...

 

[llysender]

It is really weird to me that you can spot so obious differences...
I'm almost sure I would be able to distinguish WAV/CD vs FLAC file, as I hardly see a difference between OGG Q9 and original CD

What do you mean by "in Desktop mode"; Just bypassing the battery makes a difference in sound ???

To confirm there is a difference in between FLAC and CD, you should ideally rip your CD in FLAC (no download) and compare both CD and file on the same DAC of course.
What is your FLAC player ?

And I am wondering; what's the point in carrying a CD player outside, when you have a (quite hi-end) DX340 ?
To me, the DM13 is really convenient to carry around in various places at home, in the sun on a balcony or in a garden but I wouldn't use it in the car, or for a commute; the DAPs are far more convenient nowadays...

No worries god has blessed me with being quite sensitive to the more snake oily parts of attack/decay, temporal shifts and slam of this sinkhole of a hobby and cursed me with not as sensitive hearing to tonal shifts. No issues if you can't hear the difference and as they say the more you can hear the emptier your wallet.

Desktop mode is just a switch where it draws power from the usb c(in my case into a power conditioner) still kinna shocked that it's less noisy compared to battery mode since the ideal from what I understand has always been battery since it doesn't have any AC interference.

Yeah I should spend the time to go rip the WAV files so I can do proper AB.

Personally I've only demoed DX340 and while I have serous issues with the sound not being able to go layers deep esp for digitally overlayed music for a 200 doller product my expectations are much lower.

As to why I'm taking it out even though I have a onix xm5 it's for testing purposes to make sure it handles the stress test of a train ride mainly for my friend that is very into CD.

Personally it's likely to stay in the house unless I'm going out to add to my CD collection.

 

[Safeinthemountains]

No worries god has blessed me with being quite sensitive to the more snake oily parts of attack/decay, temporal shifts and slam of this sinkhole of a hobby and cursed me with not as sensitive hearing to tonal shifts. No issues if you can't hear the difference and as they say the more you can hear the emptier your wallet.

I agree; god has blessed me with "average" hearing: I love listening to music and look after tiny details, but I cannot spot obvious differences in between DACs, DAPs, or other audiophile stuff. As an electronician found of audio technology, I'm just curious about technology, as I have grown up starting with LPs/cassettes in the 80's, then CDs starting from only 1990, and 44/16 music is already more than good enough to my ears ! So I feel lucky that the hobby doesn't empty my wallet that much
Entry level DAP's at around 350-450€/$ are great to me, especially that I favor ueseability, portability and battery life over ultimate SQ !

Desktop mode is just a switch where it draws power from the usb c(in my case into a power conditioner) still kinna shocked that it's less noisy compared to battery mode since the ideal from what I understand has always been battery since it doesn't have any AC interference.

Of course, I know the purpose of the switch, but I thought it had some influence on the "clarity", "soundstage" "brightness", or whatsoever... And like you I would rather think that a battery PS leads to less "noise" in general than a switching power supply...

Yeah I should spend the time to go rip the WAV files so I can do proper AB.

Personally I've only demoed DX340 and while I have serious issus with the sound not being able to go layers deep esp for digitally overlayed music for a 200 doller product my expectations are much lower.

Sorry, I didn't understand you last sentence; could you explain " I have serious issues with the sound not being able to go layers deep esp for digitally overlayed music"
You're talking about the DX340 ability to reproduce music faithfully ?

As to why I'm taking it out even though I have a onix xm5 it's for testing purposes to make sure it handles the stress test of a train ride mainly for my friend that is very into CD.

Personally it's likely to stay in the house unless I'm going out to add to my CD collection.

OK, i see the point now

 

[llysender]

Sorry, I didn't understand you last sentence; could you explain " I have serious issues with the sound not being able to go layers deep esp for digitally overlayed music"
You're talking about the DX340 ability to reproduce music faithfully ?

Oh the DX340 on normal audiophile stuff is wonderful and faithfully reproduced.

What I'm talking about is the wacky word of bad Japanese masters where they think it's ok to brickwall and stack 7 instrument layers along with sampled vocal tracks that the DX340 only produces the top layers and alot of the microdetails gets lost.