Archive

CDs are, of course, limited to 44.1khz, 16-bit audio.  There’s a maximum of 99 tracks on a CD, a maximum length of 79 minutes (most top out at 74), and the minimum track length is 4 seconds (including a 2-second track pause).  The pause before the first track must be 2 seconds, although subsequent tracks […]

PQ codes are the parallel data tracks that define certain aspects of CD metadata – most importantly track start, track end, pauses, and some metadata codes.  Generally you don’t have to deal with these directly, unless you’re trying to do something clever like put hidden tracks before track one or whatever.  CD creation software handles […]

DDP is a “disc description protocol” file – basically a specific type of image for an audio CD. CD replication plants often take these files in lieu of physical CDs, which can be quite nice since there’s nothing to get scratched, damaged, lost in the mail, etc.  It’s usually only accepted for replication, though, and […]