Compact Disc Audio track
Encyclopedia
A CD Audio Track or .cda file is a small (44 byte
s) file generated by Microsoft Windows
for each track on an audio CD
(it is a virtual file that can be read by Windows software, but is not actually present on the CD audio media). The file contains indexing information that programs can use to play or rip
the disc. The file is given a name in the format Track##.cda.
The .cda files do not contain the actual PCM
wave data, but instead tell where on the disc the track starts and stops. If the file is “copied” from the CD-ROM to the computer, it becomes useless, since it is only a shortcut to part of the disc. However, some audio editing and CD creation programs will, from the user's perspective, load .cda files as though they are actual audio data files.
Byte
The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
s) file generated by Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
for each track on an audio CD
Red Book (audio CD standard)
Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc...
(it is a virtual file that can be read by Windows software, but is not actually present on the CD audio media). The file contains indexing information that programs can use to play or rip
Ripping
Ripping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data is damaged after extraction....
the disc. The file is given a name in the format Track##.cda.
The .cda files do not contain the actual PCM
Pulse-code modulation
Pulse-code modulation is a method used to digitally represent sampled analog signals. It is the standard form for digital audio in computers and various Blu-ray, Compact Disc and DVD formats, as well as other uses such as digital telephone systems...
wave data, but instead tell where on the disc the track starts and stops. If the file is “copied” from the CD-ROM to the computer, it becomes useless, since it is only a shortcut to part of the disc. However, some audio editing and CD creation programs will, from the user's perspective, load .cda files as though they are actual audio data files.