Miss the Discman? This new portable CD player brings it back with Bluetooth

Fiio, the company that launched a portable tape player harkening back to the Walkman at CES 2024, has announced a new portable CD player called the DM13. It'll tickle the fancy of anyone who grew up carrying CD binders to listen to their favorite tunes on Sony's beloved Discman players.

Of course, Fiio isn't simply releasing a portable CD player and calling it a day. As noted by The Verge , the company is adding some modern features designed to make it usable in 2024. Most notable is support for Bluetooth headphones , a bit of technology that didn't exist during the era of compact discs. It will support the AptX , AptX HD, AptX Low Latency, and SBC codecs, so it should have wide-reaching compatibility.

It also features two wired headphone connectors for those who prefer those options. There's a standard 3.5mm jack and a 4.4mm balanced headphone connection for people with devices supporting that port.

Anyone who owned a later portable CD player will remember the ability to fit more songs on a CD-R disc with MP3s, and the DM13 supports those types of discs with MP3, FLAC , WAV, AAC, and WMA audio files.

Another departure from the original Discman is a rechargeable battery. It promises to provide about eight hours of playback, which is solid. Compared to swapping four AA batteries every time the device died back in the day, having a rechargeable battery is an excellent option.

If portable isn't your thing, you can use the DM13 with a home stereo system thanks to the Analog, SPDIF, and USB audio connections. A desktop mode lets you skip the battery and wire the CD player to a power source.

As you might expect, electronic shock protection can be turned on to buffer music and prevent the portable CD player from skipping while moving around. One of the greatest inventions at the time of portable CD players was electronic shock protection, and it'll be interesting to see if the tech has improved since the devices were phased out.

Visually, the DM13 is striking in its silver finish, the only option available at launch. Red, blue, black and titanium colors will be introduced later.

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