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

[Nightankh]

FiiO Willson,​

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate that a company representative is participating in the discussion and trying to help resolve the issues. Despite the small drawbacks, DM13 is truly the high-quality product that I have been waiting for many years.

1. I cannot confirm this, as my player originally came with firmware V22, but it worked much worse than V25. I do not know how firmware V23 and V24 performed. If you could provide a download link for these firmware versions, I would be happy to test them. I didn't know that downgrading to a previous firmware version was possible; this is really good news.
2. Actually, the music always starts playing immediately when I press the play button in all cases. However, if I press pause and leave it in pause mode for a few minutes, the disc stops spinning (probably to save energy). After the disc stops, I press play again - playback starts instantly, but the disc starts spinning about 5 seconds after the music has already started playing. Therefore, I concluded that a 5-second buffer was implemented in ESP OFF mode.

I completely agree with jandrews0407 and observe exactly the same behavior as described by this user.

FYI: Here are detailed measurements and descriptions of another kind of issues of the DM13 I found on the internet. They might be interesting for Fiio:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/fiio-dm13-portable-cd-player.60621/

 

[hxm1]

I have noticed that with the latest v25 firmware, sometimes the player outputs soft crackling noises in the audio output, both audible via the headphones and thru spidif into an amplifier and speakers. They are quite soft, but distinct in both situations. I listen to mainly classical music which has softer passages. Has anyone noticed this, could someone else see if it can be replicated. It may be the error correction used by the system? As sometimes surface marks can create crackling noise, usually quite load. The cracking that I hear is a little like that but very much softer.
@FiiO Willson, could you please investigate this? Thanks.
Otherwise, the player seems to work well in regards to gapless and play back in general. It's a really nice player. Just a couple more bugs to iron out. Thanks.

 

[DILLIGAF84]

@FiiO Willson Using the standard version - after putting CD into device, playback still looses second of the first track when it starts. Is it possible to fix it (or add it as an option) in the future FW update so after initial reading CD would not automatically play and wait until User will do it by pressing the panel button?

Update about V15 update firmware for non-bluetooth version: I already noticed that in some cases disc reading stops suddenly during playback. After two-three seconds disc is spinning again and music starts playing from the moment where it stopped. The disc is brand new - opened just for FLAC rip. And it already happened in 2 from 3 player CDs.

I don't know @FiiO Willson if this update improved anything. More likely made playback worse and more distracting because I don't know when it will stop my device and ruin my listening pleasure.

Please provide me previous firmware version to download - I would rather live with previous quirks without problem mentioned above than with V15.

 

[FiiO Willson]

FiiO Willson,​

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate that a company representative is participating in the discussion and trying to help resolve the issues. Despite the small drawbacks, DM13 is truly the high-quality product that I have been waiting for many years.

1. I cannot confirm this, as my player originally came with firmware V22, but it worked much worse than V25. I do not know how firmware V23 and V24 performed. If you could provide a download link for these firmware versions, I would be happy to test them. I didn't know that downgrading to a previous firmware version was possible; this is really good news.
2. Actually, the music always starts playing immediately when I press the play button in all cases. However, if I press pause and leave it in pause mode for a few minutes, the disc stops spinning (probably to save energy). After the disc stops, I press play again - playback starts instantly, but the disc starts spinning about 5 seconds after the music has already started playing. Therefore, I concluded that a 5-second buffer was implemented in ESP OFF mode.

I completely agree with jandrews0407 and observe exactly the same behavior as described by this user.

FYI: Here are detailed measurements and descriptions of another kind of issues of the DM13 I found on the internet. They might be interesting for Fiio:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/fiio-dm13-portable-cd-player.60621/

Yes, you are right
When you press the pause button, this is how he does it

1, when you press the pause button, the program will record the position and start to pause the output sound, at this time the CD is still spinning, because he is ready for you to press the play button back at any time
2, when you don't have any response within 1 minute, the disk will stop spinning. When you press play within 1 minute, it will start playing.
3, when you press the button after 1 minute, he will start playing immediately and start spinning the disc after about 5 seconds (if ESP is ON, the disc will start spinning after 1 minute), this is a programmed operation, the program saves the last few seconds of the music as buffer to make the music sound more coherent（It has to be set up for a while because the laser head can't respond that quickly）.

This is the process we designed, it may not be suitable for everyone, but it should be friendly to most people.

 

[FiiO Willson]

I have noticed that with the latest v25 firmware, sometimes the player outputs soft crackling noises in the audio output, both audible via the headphones and thru spidif into an amplifier and speakers. They are quite soft, but distinct in both situations. I listen to mainly classical music which has softer passages. Has anyone noticed this, could someone else see if it can be replicated. It may be the error correction used by the system? As sometimes surface marks can create crackling noise, usually quite load. The cracking that I hear is a little like that but very much softer.
@FiiO Willson, could you please investigate this? Thanks.
Otherwise, the player seems to work well in regards to gapless and play back in general. It's a really nice player. Just a couple more bugs to iron out. Thanks.

Sorry , Didn't notice this, could you please describe in detail if specific CDs have it, or all CDs have it, and in what state?

 

[FiiO Willson]

@FiiO Willson Using the standard version - after putting CD into device, playback still looses second of the first track when it starts. Is it possible to fix it (or add it as an option) in the future FW update so after initial reading CD would not automatically play and wait until User will do it by pressing the panel button?

Update about V15 update firmware for non-bluetooth version: I already noticed that in some cases disc reading stops suddenly during playback. After two-three seconds disc is spinning again and music starts playing from the moment where it stopped. The disc is brand new - opened just for FLAC rip. And it already happened in 2 from 3 player CDs.

I don't know @FiiO Willson if this update improved anything. More likely made playback worse and more distracting because I don't know when it will stop my device and ruin my listening pleasure.

Please provide me previous firmware version to download - I would rather live with previous quirks without problem mentioned above than with V15.

The ability to read discs is optimized, and the V15 version is upgraded in comparison to the previous one.
Suggest you confirm your CD

If you want to downgrade back to the previous version that's fine too, this is the V14 version of the firmware. Please pay attention to follow our upgrade instructions on our offical website, after all, bricked outside of China is very difficult to deal with.

 

[Nightankh]

FiiO Willson,​

Can I ask for firmware versions V23 and V24 for the Bluetooth version? Thank you

 

[FiiO Willson]

FiiO Willson,​

Can I ask for firmware versions V23 and V24 for the Bluetooth version? Thank you

We have not officially released these firmware, I can send them to you in a private message, but please be aware that there may be some problems with them

 

[Safeinthemountains]

Yes, you are right
When you press the pause button, this is how he does it

1, when you press the pause button, the program will record the position and start to pause the output sound, at this time the CD is still spinning, because he is ready for you to press the play button back at any time
2, when you don't have any response within 1 minute, the disk will stop spinning. When you press play within 1 minute, it will start playing.
3, when you press the button after 1 minute, he will start playing immediately and start spinning the disc after about 5 seconds (if ESP is ON, the disc will start spinning after 1 minute), this is a programmed operation, the program saves the last few seconds of the music as buffer to make the music sound more coherent（It has to be set up for a while because the laser head can't respond that quickly）.

This is the process we designed, it may not be suitable for everyone, but it should be friendly to most people.

Hi @FiiO Willson :
I received my Skylight (V25) version one week ago, very happy with it all in all, and I'll maybe post a kind of review here later on.
The way the "pause" process is implemented looks quite logical to me, in order to save battery

One behaviour is strange; when there's a disc inside, stopped, and I press play, nothing happens for 5 seconds, and I don't understand the purpose of this delay, because it it is obvilousely not to fill a buffer, so why ???
It would also be nice to be able to disable the small scrolling introduction "Hello Fiio DM13" when starting up, to save some time.

The player is really stable even without ESP on and works well with scratched CD's, far better than my older model

One other thing that could be improved; when skipping tracks, there is a kind of "glitch" or "pop" due to sudden muting of the output; could it be improved in the future firmwares ?

Overall, I can say it is a great product, covering lots of use cases, from "home portable" to desktop drive, and it can even be used as a transport on an Hi-Fi system

 

[FiiO Willson]

Hi @FiiO Willson :
I received my Skylight (V25) version one week ago, very happy with it all in all, and I'll maybe post a kind of review here later on.
The way the "pause" process is implemented looks quite logical to me, in order to save battery

One behaviour is strange; when there's a disc inside, stopped, and I press play, nothing happens for 5 seconds, and I don't understand the purpose of this delay, because it it is obvilousely not to fill a buffer, so why ???
It would also be nice to be able to disable the small scrolling introduction "Hello Fiio DM13" when starting up, to save some time.

The player is really stable even without ESP on and works well with scratched CD's, far better than my older model

One other thing that could be improved; when skipping tracks, there is a kind of "glitch" or "pop" due to sudden muting of the output; could it be improved in the future firmwares ?

Overall, I can say it is a great product, covering lots of use cases, from "home portable" to desktop drive, and it can even be used as a transport on an Hi-Fi system

when there's a disc inside, stopped, and I press play, nothing happens for 5 seconds, and I don't understand the purpose of this delay, because it it is obvilousely not to fill a buffer, so why ???-----This is a special design, in order to meet the use of some special occasions, to bring a better user experience

One other thing that could be improved; when skipping tracks, there is a kind of "glitch" or "pop" due to sudden muting of the output; could it be improved in the future firmwares ?------This POP sound is very small, there is no intention to improve it, because with this setup, there is no loss of sound when switching, and if you do mute it, it will do some cancellation of the signal

Thanks for your support!

 

[Safeinthemountains]

when there's a disc inside, stopped, and I press play, nothing happens for 5 seconds, and I don't understand the purpose of this delay, because it it is obvilousely not to fill a buffer, so why ???-----This is a special design, in order to meet the use of some special occasions, to bring a better user experience

One other thing that could be improved; when skipping tracks, there is a kind of "glitch" or "pop" due to sudden muting of the output; could it be improved in the future firmwares ?------This POP sound is very small, there is no intention to improve it, because with this setup, there is no loss of sound when switching, and if you do mute it, it will do some cancellation of the signal

Thanks for your support!

Although I understand the second point (you prefer fast skipping without a kind of "soft mute" or quick crossfade), I can't figure out what is the goal behind waiting for 5 seconds without any reason at startup. In my own case this is not a "better user experience" but maybe someone here will explain me what is the advantage ?
All in all this is no big deal, and the player is still very nice to use

 

[FiiO Willson]

Although I understand the second point (you prefer fast skipping without a kind of "soft mute" or quick crossfade), I can't figure out what is the goal behind waiting for 5 seconds without any reason at startup. In my own case this is not a "better user experience" but maybe someone here will explain me what is the advantage ?
All in all this is no big deal, and the player is still very nice to use

Just Enjoy IT!

 

[Ichos]

Dear friends here is my FiiO DM13 review. This is the true CD walkman successor!

 

[FiiO Willson]

Dear friends here is my FiiO DM13 review. This is the true CD walkman successor!

A very comprehensive review！
and indeed the DM13 is now the slimmest CD player in the portable category with comprehensive features, excellent decoding capabilities, and an affordable price.

 

[cleg]

My video about DM13 is out



Great sound and decent usability with a recent firmware gives a true joy of rediscovering the CD era