[andnej]

Direct drive is not a holy grail, it is using gears and it is hard to find a gear with exact size
+1 for removable batteries, 18650 should be fine

 

[samwan13]

As many of you know we are going to make cassette player, we are now trying our best to work out the production issues. We plan to release our CP13 before Feb, 2024. Considering that some people don't have tapes, we'll be giving away a copyrighted, original tape in countries that are allowed to give away tapes at sales events! Any idea about what you need for a cassette player, pls feel free to let us know. Let's revel in the timeless tunes, experience the soulful melodies.

Good news !!! I would probably take one, I must have a box of old K7, I will have a pleasure to listen to them again, nostalgia when you hold us ..

 

[thelastkingofnothing]

Direct drive is not a holy grail, it is using gears and it is hard to find a gear with exact size
+1 for removable batteries, 18650 should be fine

+1 About Direct Drives. Techmoan mentioned this problem on his video "Which Sony Walkman? Retro Buyers Guide."

 

[KESM]

CP13 not have speakers and not have screen,
Now it is only a cassette player,
It's a purely analog sound output, and we didn't want to add too much digital-related things into it

Yes. Keep it all analog…& I’d pay the up charge for high quality components that would make this an heirloom piece vs. a discard.

 

[rkt31]

Dolby b and s nr is must for recording and playback. S nr improves the sound greatly. Direct drive motor, no belts. High quality heads for low noise and extended fr. Higher and cleaner output unlike earlier decks. Line out for ripping cassettes and for using as source to amp. Robust transport even if it comes at the cost of non essential features like auto reverse, seek etc. State of the art wow flutter performance. Give a tight slap to those uber expensive unrealistic prices demanded for old decks by pricing it genuinely like ft3 and ft5.

 

[rkt31]

Shorter cleaner signal path with better electronic design for low level details. No need of bass boost or eq to avoid extra electronics. Without recording through line in and level control there may not be much interest if it is playaback only. Make it a master tape recorder on metal tapes with dolby S nr. It will be a great fun to record a live performance on analog tape to make a master tape. Lastly it should have great measured performance.

 

[InvisibleInk]

Fascinating article:​

The Last Cassette Player Standing​

In our globalized economy, the death of a technology can be more interesting than its life.

 

[rkt31]

(1) dolby b, c, s nr for both recording and playback (2) high output line out with high s/n ratio like in modern dacs (3) line in for recording with level control (4) better electronic circuit design with less but high end parts to ensure low level details. (5) lower output impedance. (6) no eq or bass boost. Even if it is there provide a source direct switch to bypass the eq circuitry completely. (7) instead of rechargeable batteries, use of 2xAA batteries which are user replaceable. (8) high quality head with wide frequency response. (9) head alignment, if possible. (10) use of pcocc A internal cabling. (11) direct drive with precision servo motor. (12) measurements better than those uber expensive big, heavy decks at reasonable price to show those decks their place. May be i am demanding too much but i have been searching for a good cassette player at reasonable price for the charm of analog live recording to make a metal tape master.

 

[Casco]

I'll probably buy the blue/silver colored one.

 

[Chuck Dee]

which labels are still releasing? Or what vendor? That's interesting

https://tapeheadcity.com/collections/new-releases

 

[123peter]

I agree with your pious wishes and expectations regarding the specifications of the new FIIO CP13, but they are at least a ~~year late!
If this product is to appear in February 2024, it is probably already in warehouses and waiting to be ready.
As always, producers know better what we will buy anyway.

 

[566854]

A 3 band equalizer will expand the "satisfied users" population. Take little treble out of that cassette here, add a little bass to that recording there, turn up the mid presence on that old cassette if needed. Or. She likes to add or subtract bass, mid, or treble as a starting point, or set and forget.

 

[kevinkar]

A 3 band equalizer will expand the "satisfied users" population. Take little treble out of that cassette here, add a little bass to that recording there, turn up the mid presence on that old cassette if needed. Or. She likes to add or subtract bass, mid, or treble as a starting point, or set and forget.

Take an existing DAP and add a tape transport to it is really what they ought to be doing. All the adjustments are in software as it is (with the supporting electronics of course) but I equate the tape to my SD cards in my Fiio X5 and it does everything it needs to do with the music on those cards and, if the cards were replaced with a tape....... Done! For the most part.

 

[rkt31]

Take an existing DAP and add a tape transport to it is really what they ought to be doing. All the adjustments are in software as it is (with the supporting electronics of course) but I equate the tape to my SD cards in my Fiio X5 and it does everything it needs to do with the music on those cards and, if the cards were replaced with a tape....... Done! For the most part.

So you want analog to digital conversion with tape? almost all original analog recordings are already available in digital format. You can do that everything with those. With cassette playback conversion in digital will ne retrograde step. A good clean cassette playback should give a flat frequency response with high s/n ratio. Any eq in analog or digital domain will oy degrade the sound. No wonder high end decks avoided this feature even if they had, there was a bypsss mode. Almost audiophile would want this new fiio player to have a clean well measuring output even if it comes at a cost of leaving unnecessary features not contributing to sq. Dear @FiiO we want high end sq from this player not the unnecessary features. We want a reasonably priced alternatives to all those insanely expensive naks, aiwas, Sonys, Tandebergs etc etc.

 

[Jimmyblues1959]

So you want analog to digital conversion with tape? almost all original analog recordings are already available in digital format. You can do that everything with those. With cassette playback conversion in digital will ne retrograde step. A good clean cassette playback should give a flat frequency response with high s/n ratio. Any eq in analog or digital domain will oy degrade the sound. No wonder high end decks avoided this feature even if they had, there was a bypsss mode. Almost audiophile would want this new fiio player to have a clean well measuring output even if it comes at a cost of leaving unnecessary features not contributing to sq. Dear @FiiO we want high end sq from this player not the unnecessary features. We want a reasonably priced alternatives to all those insanely expensive naks, aiwas, Sonys, Tandebergs etc etc.

I agree about a reasonably priced portable cassette deck that would offer quality sound at an affordable price, but it would be a challenge since IMO most people who'd be interested in such a product would also want digital capabilities built into the tape deck as well.
I have a few cassette decks (Nakamichi ZX7, Nakamichi 700 Tri Tracer and Sony Pro walkman WMD-6C) and what I have found is that I still enjoy using a cassette deck; even though virtually any song or album I would want to listen to can be streamed online nowadays. YouTube has most of this music for free, and quite a bit of it is uploaded in a high quality format. As such I think most people will see the CP13 as more of a novelty than anything else. Again this is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.