The FiiO DP11 is a compact tray-loading CD player and digital transport built for a desk or a small hi-fi system. Its built-in CS43198 DAC and stereo RCA outputs let it feed an amplifier or active speakers directly, while AES, coaxial and optical outputs turn it into a pure transport for an external DAC. It also doubles as a USB DAC for a computer, phone or tablet, and can rip CDs to a USB drive without a computer. Available in Black and Silver; this listing is for the Black finish.
Purpose-built CD mechanism
The DP11 uses a custom CD mechanism designed specifically for desktop use rather than a drive borrowed from a portable player, with a servo control program tuned by FiiO for more accurate disc reading. The mechanism sits in a low-noise mount, so the tray opens and closes smoothly and running noise stays very low. It plays standard CDDA discs in both 8cm and 12cm sizes, along with CD-R and CD-RW discs carrying FLAC, WAV, WMA, AAC or MP3 files. SACD is not supported, although the CD layer of a hybrid SACD will play, and MQA-CDs are passed out as a bitstream for an external MQA decoder.
Outputs for any system
Coaxial and AES (XLR) digital outputs run at up to 24-bit/192kHz and the optical output at up to 24-bit/96kHz, so the DP11 can partner any DAC, streamer or amplifier with a digital input. The internal CS43198 DAC drives a pair of RCA line outputs with a signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range of at least 109dB, which makes a complete CD system as simple as adding active speakers or a power amplifier. There is no Bluetooth or network streaming; the DP11 is a focused disc player and transport.
USB DAC and CD ripping
Switch the input to USB and the DP11 becomes a USB digital interface. Over USB 2.0 it accepts PCM from 44.1kHz to 384kHz at up to 32-bit and native DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256, which can be sent to the digital outputs or converted internally for the RCA outputs. A separate USB REC port takes a FAT32-formatted USB drive of up to 32GB, onto which the DP11 rips CD tracks as lossless WAV files for archiving, in-car playback or loading into a music library.
Engineering shared with the S15
The circuit layout follows FiiO's S15 desktop streamer and DAC. The CD servo, digital and analogue sections each have their own power supply and occupy physically separated zones of the PCB, improving isolation and resistance to interference for a cleaner background. FiiO fits the same digital isolation transformers used in the S15 to the coaxial and AES outputs to reduce ground-loop interference, and two low-phase-noise femtosecond crystal oscillators with audio-grade electrolytic capacitors handle clocking. Power comes from a built-in 100-240V switching supply, with a 12V DC input for anyone who wants to try an external linear power supply.
Design and control
The all-metal chassis measures roughly 213 x 230 x 67mm and weighs about 1.8kg, matching the footprint of FiiO's other desktop components so a stack stays tidy. A 3.71-inch amber LCD shows the output mode, track number and time. An infrared remote control is included for playback and track selection from across the room, and a USB-C data cable and mains lead are supplied in the box.
