Fiio DM11 portable CD player revealed with Bluetooth 5.4 and CD ripping

What the DM11 is

Fiio has unveiled the DM11, a portable CD player with a round body that recalls the retro disc players of earlier decades. According to Notebookcheck, the device has a clear top cover, so owners can see at a glance which disc is loaded.

The company is positioning it as more than a simple disc spinner. The DM11 can also act as a digital-to-analogue converter, a CD ripper and a source for a home hi-fi system, which makes it a compact hub for several listening setups.

Fiio says the player will arrive soon in two-tone orange, blue or black finishes, with an expected price of around $119. The unit weighs 263.5 g, or about 9.3 oz.

Two headline upgrades

Notebookcheck highlights two upgrades over classic portable CD players. The first is wireless and balanced listening: the DM11 supports Bluetooth 5.4 for use with wireless headphones or external Bluetooth speakers, and it also offers a 3.5 mm balanced output alongside a standard 3.5 mm unbalanced jack.

The balanced output is rated at up to 525 mW into 32 ohms, with total harmonic distortion under 1%, according to Fiio. That is ample power for demanding headphones, which many older portable players could not drive properly.

The second upgrade is disc archiving. When a USB-C flash drive is plugged in, the DM11 can copy a CD to the drive as WAV files. Fiio presents this as a convenient way for owners of rare or out-of-print recordings to make backup copies of their discs.

Battery, skipping and DAC duties

Power comes from two replaceable 14500 lithium-ion cells, a size similar to AA batteries, running at 3.7 V. They sit behind a battery door on the bottom of the player, so owners can swap spares rather than recharge and wait.

For listening on the move, the DM11 includes electronic skip protection, a buffer system that reduces dropouts when the player is jostled or carried about. This addresses a familiar weakness of portable CD hardware.

Connected to a laptop over USB-C, the player works as an external DAC, meaning it handles the conversion of digital files into an analogue signal. In this mode it can play streaming services and local music files from the computer.

Audio hardware and home use

At its core sits a Cirrus Logic CS43198 MasterHIFI chip. Fiio says it supports 24-bit, 96 kHz audio streams and delivers a dynamic range of up to 130 dB, which covers high-resolution digital files as well as discs.

The player also offers an optical and coaxial digital output. Plugged into a home audio system, it can send a digital signal to an amplifier or a separate converter, letting the DM11 serve as a dedicated CD transport.

The device includes multiple equaliser presets, so listeners can tailor the sound without an app or additional equipment.

Why it matters

Portable CD players largely disappeared as streaming took over, yet discs remain popular with collectors and listeners who own music that is hard to find online. A player that also rips CDs to files and doubles as a DAC bridges that gap between old collections and modern gear.

The combination of replaceable batteries, balanced headphone output and Bluetooth is unusual at this price point, if the expected figure of around $119 holds. Buyers should treat the price and availability as unconfirmed until Fiio publishes final details.

Notebookcheck notes that the DM11 is due soon, and points readers who cannot wait towards Fiio's existing CD players, which are listed in the company's store on Amazon.