11/25/2014

Compact Disc Formats Explained

SoundOnSound:Est.1985

CompactDiscFormatsExplained
Exploration
PublishedinSOSJanuary1998
:Closewindow
Printarticle

Technique:Theory+Technical

ManyofuscannowaffordtheonceunthinkableluxuryofmakingourownCDs,foroneoff
musicdemos,massCDduplicationorgeneraldatastorage.Butfewofusknowthefullstory
behindthenumerous'Book'standardsgoverningthekindofdatathatcanbestoredonaCD.
MIKECOLLINScoloursbynumbers...
NowthatyoucanbuyaCDrecorderforwellunder500,andnowthatsomecomputersarebeingsupplied
witharecordableCDdrivebuiltin,ratherthanjustaCDROMplayer,morepeoplethaneverarestartingto
maketheirownCDs.ButCDscomeinlotsofdifferentflavoursthesedays:CDDA,CDROM,CD
ROM/XA,CDiandothertypes.Theirspecificationsarespeltoutinaseriesoftechnicaldocumentswhich
areknownbythecoloursoftheircoversRedBook,YellowBook,GreenBook,OrangeBook,WhiteBook
andBlueBookanditpaystoknowjustwhateachformatmeans.
HISTORY
TheCompactDiscwasoriginallydevelopedbyPhilipsandSonyasameansofdistributinghighquality
audiotoconsumersareplacementforvinylrecords.TheCompactDiscDigitalAudioStandard,
commonlyreferredtoastheRedBook,describesthephysicalandlogicalformatofthesediscs,which
storedigitalaudiodatainaconvenientform.Butdigitaldataisdigitaldata,sowhynotuseCDsforother
formsofdigitaldata?Thesamethoughtthoughtoccurredtoothers,too,soextensionstotheRedBook
standardweredevelopedforstoringcomputerdata,compressedaudio,video,andgraphicalinformationon
CD.Itisthesestandardswhicharenowtypicallyreferredtobythecolouroftheircovers.
TECHNICALLYSPEAKING
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

1/9

11/25/2014

Compact Disc Formats Explained

Theinformationonallcompactdiscsisdividedintochunksofuniformsize,calledsectors,andadjoining
sectorsarethengroupedtoformtracks,whicharelistedinthedisc'sTableOfContents(TOC),aspecial
unnumberedtrackthatplaysfirst.EverysectoroneverytypeofCDcontains3234bytesofdata,882bytes
ofwhicharereservedforerrordetectionandcorrectioncodeandcontrolbytes,leaving2352bytes(3234
minus882)toholdaudiodatainaRedBookCDAudiodisc.Oneofthekeystounderstandingthedifferent
formatsthoroughlyistolookathowtheotherformatsusethis2352bytesofspace.CDAudiodiscsuse
thespacefordigitallyrecordedsoundanderrorcorrectiondata,whileothertypesofCDsmaycontain
computerdata,includingexecutableprograms,text,graphics,andcompressedaudioorvideo.
*REDBOOK
RedBookisthestandardforCompactDisc
DigitalAudio(CDDA)andwasestablishedin
1980asthefirstofthe'books'whichdefinedthe
CDforaudiouseindomesticCDplayers.To
identifythemselves,RedBookdiscsusually
havethefamiliar'CompactDiscDigitalAudio'
logoprintedwithinthelabelarea.
TheRedBookstandardspecifiesthata
compactdisccanhaveupto99tracksofdata,
witheachtrackcontainingasingleaudio
selection.Thesetracksaredividedintoblocks
ofdatareferredtoassectors.Eachsectorholds
3234bytesofdata,asmentionedearlier,
arrangedas2352bytesofaudiodata,plustwo
392bytelayersoferrordetectionanderror
correctioncodes(commonlyreferredtoas
EDC/ECC),alongwith98controlbyteswhich
areoftenreferredtoasthesubcodesorsub
channelsandaredesignatedbythelettersP
throughtoW.Thesecontrolbytescontainthe
timinginformationwhichallowstheCDplayerto
cueinstantlytothebeginningofeachselection,
displaytheselection'snumberandrunningtime,
andprovideacontinuousdisplayofelapsed
time.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

DISCATONCEVSTRACKATONCE
Whenyou'rebuyingaCDrecorderitcanbeimportanttocheck
whetherit'scapableofrecordinginDiscAtOncemodeifyouwant
towritediscstomasterfrom,becausesomeCDrecorderscanonly
writeusingTrackAtOncemode.WithDiskAtOncerecording,the
wholedisciswritteninonepasswithoutturningoffthelaser,while
TrackAtOncemodeonlyallowsyoutowriteonetrackatatime.
WhenyouuseTrackAtOncemode,thelaserwillstopwriting
betweeneachtrack,butthelaserbeamdoesn'tturnoffimmediately,
soacoupleofsectorsareallocatedattheendofeachtrackwhich
willbewastedasthelasershutsdown.Thesearecalledthe'runout'
sectorsandaccountforthefactthatTrackAtOncerecordershavea
fixedtrackspacingof2seconds.WithDiscAtOncemode,norun
outsectorsaregeneratedbetweentracks,sothepausebetween
eachtrackcanbeofanylength,andsongscanevenberun
togetherwithnogap.
Notethatifyou'remakingaudioCDstobecommerciallyproduced,
therunoutsectorscreatedinTrackAtOncemodemaybe
consideredasunrecoverable'E32'errorswhenthediscischecked
atthepressingplant,andthediscmayberejectedasunsuitablefor
pressingfrom.Thissituationischanging,though.Reportedly,Doug
CarsonAssociates,whoprovideglassmasteringandformattransfer
softwaretopressingplants,havesolvedtheproblem.DCA'slatest
softwareversionapparentlycheckstheTOContheCDRtofindout
wherethegapsare,andwheneveritfindsE32errorsthere
(generatedbythelaserturningonandoffbetweentracks)it
replacesthemwithdigitalsilence.So,unlessyouhaveCDRswith
E32errorsinplacesotherthanthegapsbetweentracks,pressing
2/9

11/25/2014

*YELLOWBOOK

Compact Disc Formats Explained

plantsusingthelatestDCAsoftwarewillnotrejectCDRsmade
usingTrackAtOncemode.

YellowBookisthestandardforCompactDisc
ReadOnlyMemory(CDROM),andthis
extendstheRedBookspecificationbyaddingtwonewtracktypes:CDROMMode1andCDROMMode
2.Mode1tracksaredesignedforstoringcomputerdata,whileMode2tracksstorecompressedaudio,
videoandpicturedata.YellowBookdiscsusuallyhavethewords'DataStorage'insmalllettersbeneath
theCompactDisclogo.
Mode1sectorsincludeathirdlayerofEDC/ECCwhichimprovestheerrordetectionanderrorcorrection
capabilitybyafactorof1000.Theextraerrorcorrectionisessentialbecausethismodeisdesignedfor
storingcomputerdata,whereeventhelossofonebitofdatacouldbedisastrous.(Withaudio,theresultof
losingevenseveralbitsmaybeinaudible.)
CDROMtracksalsousepartofthespaceinthesectorsforsynchronisationdataandaheader.Letme
explain:onanaudioCD,theinformationusedbythedrivetopositionthelaserpickupataspecificlocation
iscontainedinthe'Q'subcode,andtheRedBookspecifiesthatthis'Q'channelinformationshouldposition
thepickuptoanaccuracyof+1second.Foraudioplaybackapplicationsthisdegreeofaccuracyis
perfectlysufficient,butforcomputerapplicationsthedrivemustbeabletolocateandretrieveaspecific
sectorwhichrequiresanaccuracyof1/75thofasecond.Itistoachievethisdegreeofpositioning
accuracythattheYellowBookspecifiestheinclusionofsynchronisationandheaderinformationineach
sector.Thesyncbytesspecifiedoccurinaparticularpattern(0,followedby10bytesofFF,followedby
another0)whichallowsthestartofeachnewsectortoberecognisedassuch.Theheadercontainsthe
absoluteaddressofthesector,specifiedinminutes,secondsanddatablocks,andalsohasabyteto
indicatewhetherthesectorisinaMode1orMode2track.
AswithRedBook,eachsectoronthedischolds3234bytesofdata,butMode1sectorsstartwiththe12
bytesofsyncdata,followedby4bytesofheaderinformation.Thespaceforuserdatais2048bytesand
thisisfollowedbytheextralayeroferrorcorrection,whichconsistsof4bytesofEDC,8bytesofblank
space,and276bytesofECC.Then,aswithallCDs,youhavethe882byteswhichcontainthefirstand
secondlayerRedBookstyleEDC/ECCandControlBytes.Mode2sectorsareprimarilyusedwherethe
absoluteintegrityofthedataisnotasimportantfor,say,audiooranimationsoMode2sectorsdonot
havetheextralayeroferrorcorrection.Theydostillusethesyncandheaderinformation,though,sothere
are2336bytesremainingfordata.
CDROM/XA(ExtendedArchitecture)discsweredevelopedtoallowaudioorvideotobeplayedbackat
thesametimeascomputerdata.TheoriginalYellowBookCDROMsweredesignedforstoringand
publishingdatanotforplayingaudioorvideo.Theformatwasextendedin1988withtheadditionoftwo
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

3/9

11/25/2014

Compact Disc Formats Explained

newtracktypesMode2,Form1,andMode2,Form2whichhaveasubheaderfieldwithineach
sectortodescribethesectorcontents.ThismakesitpossibletointerleaveForm1sectorscontaining
computerdatawithForm2sectorscontainingaudio,videoorpicturedata,allwithinasingletrack.Using
specialisedhardwareintheCDROMdrive,itisthenpossibletoseparatetheaudiodatasectorsfromthe
computerdatasectors,decompresstheaudiodataandplayitbackthroughtheCDROMdrive'saudio
outputs,whilesimultaneouslytransmittingthecomputerdatatoapersonalcomputerforprocessingor
display.
ACDROMMode2,Form1sectorisidenticaltoaCDROMMode1sector,exceptthatthe8bytesof
blanksinaMode1sectorhavebeenmovedtofollowtheheaderinformationwithinthesector,andare
usedtoholdthesubheaderinformation.AswithMode1sectors,2048bytesareavailablefortheuser
data(normallycomputerdatawhichrequirestheextralayeroferrordetectionandcorrectionprovidedin
Mode1sectors).
AMode2,Form2sectoralsocontainsthesynchronisation,header,andsubheaderbytes,alongwiththe4
additionalEDCbytesthatappearinMode1andMode2,Form1sectors.However,becausetheForm2
sectorsareusedtoholdaudio,videoorpicturedatawhichdoesn'trequirethehighlevelofdataintegrity
necessaryforcomputerdatathe276bytesoferrorcorrectiondatausedinForm1sectorsarenot
included,leaving2324bytesavailableforuserdata.
CDROM/XAdiscscanbeplayedbackonpersonalcomputerswith
suitablehardwareandsoftware,andonspeciallyequippedCDROM
drivesorCDiplayers.CDROM/XAwasdevelopedasa'bridging'format
*SystemDescriptionCompactDisc betweenCDROMandCDi,andthismeansthatanapplicationdesigned
DigitalAudio(RedBook),NV
forCDROM/XAcanbemadeplayableonaCDiplayersharingthesame
PhilipsandSonyCorporation.
audioandgraphicsresources.AswithCDi,youcaninterleaveupto16
*SystemDescriptionCompactDisc hoursofADPCMcompressedaudiowithdata,toallowthedatatobe
ReadOnlyMemory(YellowBook), retrievedfromthediscwhiletheaudioplaysback.

ABOUTTHEBOOKS

NVPhilipsandSonyCorporation.
*SystemDescriptionCompactDisc
ReadOnlyMemoryExtended
Architecture(GreenBook),NV
PhilipsandSonyCorporation.

*PHOTOCD

ThemostwellknownexampleofCDROM/XAdiscsarePhotoCDdiscs,
EastmanKodak'sdigitalimagestorageanddistributionsystem.Youcan
nowgetyour35mmsnapshotssuppliedasdigitalfilesonaPhotoCDdisc
*SystemDescriptionCompactDisc fromBootsorotherplaceswhichprocessfilm.Discscanbewrittento
SystemsPartII:CDWO(Orange
usingmultisessionrecorders,sotheimagesdonothavetobeputonthe
Book),NVPhilipsandSony
CDdiscallatthesametime.Youcanfillpartofthedisc,takethishome,
Corporation.
thentakethediscbacktoaddyournextandsubsequentrollsoffilm,until
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

4/9

11/25/2014

*UpdatetoSystemDescription
CompactDiscSystemsPartII:CD
WO(OrangeBook),NVPhilipsand
SonyCorporation.
*SystemDescriptionCompactDisc
Bridge(WhiteBook),NVPhilips
andSonyCorporation.
*ISOStandard9660:Information
ProcessingVolumeandfile
structureofCDROMfor
InformationInterchange.
FormoreinformationontheBook
standards,contactthefollowing
address:

Compact Disc Formats Explained

thediscisfull.YoucanviewyourphotographsathomeonyourTVscreen
usingaCDiplayeroradedicatedPhotoCDplayer,andyoucanalsoread
thefilesonaMacintoshcomputerusingsoftwaresuchasPhotoshop.
*KARAOKECD
KaraokeCDdiscsareanotherexampleofCDROM/XAdiscs,whichyou
canplayonadedicatedKaraokeCDplayeroronaCDiplayerequipped
withaDigitalVideocartridge(althoughCDidiscswillnotplayona
KaraokeCDplayer).KaraokeCDsusuallyhavetheword'Graphics'in
smalllettersbeneaththeCompactDisclogo,andtheyfeaturefullscreen,
fullmotionvideoandCDqualityaudiousingtheMPEG1compression
standard.
*GREENBOOK

*AmericanNationalStandards
Institute,1413Broadway,New
York,NY10018.Tel:001212642
4900.

GreenBookisthestandardforCompactDiscInteractive(CDi)andisan
extensionofYellowBooktoallowdiscstocontainamixofvideoand
audio,plusdatawhichtheusercancontrolinteractively,makingitidealfor
games,encyclopaedias,educationalmaterialorbusinessapplications.CD
idiscsuseMode2,Form1andMode2,Form2tracks,which,aswithCD
ROMXA,enablecomputerdataandcompressedaudio,videoorpicturestobeplayedbackatthesame
time.
ACDiplayerlookssimilartoaCDAudioplayer,butyoucanhookituptoaTVoracolourmonitorandit
hasacomputerinsidewhichyoucancontrolusingahandheldremote.Thecomputerusesafairlyobscure
operatingsystemcalledOS/9,soCDitrackscannotbeplayedonnormalCDROMdrives.Ontheother
hand,CDiplayerscanplayaudioCDs,CD+Graphics(CD+G),PhotoCD,and,withaDigitalVideo
cartridge,KaraokeCDorVideoCDdiscsaprettyversatileplayer!
*ORANGEBOOK
OrangeBookisthestandardforwriteoncecompactdiscs.Thisspecificationcoversbothsingle(DiskAt
Once)andincrementalmultisession(TrackAtOnce)recording.Multisessionallowsyoutorecorda
'session'topartofthediscandthenaddsubsequentsessionsatalaterdate,untilthediscisfull.Anew
sessionwillcontainatableofcontentsfeaturingtheoldandthenewinformationonthedisc,soanyCD
ROMplayeryouwanttousetoreadamultisessiondiscneedstotakethisintoaccountbyreadingthe
lastwrittentableofcontentsordirectory.ManyolderCDROMdrivescannotreadmultisessiondiscs,so
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

5/9

11/25/2014

Compact Disc Formats Explained

watchoutforthis.ThedisccansubsequentlybeconvertedtoaRed/Yellow/Greenbookdiscby'Finalising'
thesession,toaddafinalTableOfContentswhichcanbereadbyanyCDROMplayer.
*WHITEBOOK
TheWhiteBookspecificationwasdevelopedtocovertheVideoCDformat,whichissupportedbyJVCand
MatsushitaaswellasPhilipsandSony.TheseVideoCDdiscsareaspecialkindofCDROM/XAbridge
discthatallowyoutoplayfeaturefilmsandmusicvideosonadedicatedVideoCDplayer,oronaCDi
playerequippedwithaDigitalVideocartridge.AcomputerequippedwithaCDROM/XAdrive,anMPEG1
decoderandahostplaybackapplicationcanalsobeusedtoplaythediscs,sotheycanalsobeusedfor
computerbasedtrainingapplications.BasedontheKaraokeCDstandard,VideoCDfeaturesfullscreen,
fullmotionvideoalongwithwithCDqualityaudio,andisindependentofbroadcaststandardssuchas
NTSCandPAL,so(unlikevideocassetteandlaserdiscformats)asinglediscplaysonanyVideoCD
platformworldwide.
*BLUEBOOK
BlueBookisthemostrecentofthe'colouringbooks'toappear,andthisspecifiestheCDExtrastandard,
whichwasdevelopedasawaytoincludeCDROMdataonanaudiodisc.Theideahereisthatastandard
audioCDwillgiveupalittleofitsspacesothatyoucanincludeatrackofCDROMdatacontainingsome
kindofinteractivedatarelatedtotheaudiowhichyoucanplayusingyourcomputer'sCDROMdriveand
screen.Thismightbeananimatedpresentationofsomeaspectoftheartist'swork,suchasexpanded
sleevenotes,lyricsormusic,orjustsomewildlycreativeimagestoaccompanythemusic.Possiblyitcould
bea'taster'forafullblowninteractiveCDROMversionofthealbum.AlsoknownasEnhancedCD,aCD
ExtraisactuallyamultisessionCDwhichcontainsaudiotracksinitsfirstsession,followedbyadatatrack
inthesecondsession.EarlyattemptstomakethiskindofCDsufferedfromtheproblemthatthefirsttrack
wasthedatatrackandcouldproducealoudclickinginyourspeakersifyouinadvertentlytriedtoplayit
despitethelargewarningstickersonthepackagingtellingyounottodothis!Thiswasallsortedoutwith
theBlueBookstandard,sonowtheCDPlayerwillnotattempttoplaythedatatrack.
ALLABOUTFILEFORMATS
TheYellowBookstandarddidnotspecifyanyfileformats,soearlyCDROMdevelopershadto'rolltheir
own'andthesewerenotcompatiblewitheachother.Fortunately,manufacturersquicklyrealizedthat
standardisationwasneeded,andtheInternationalStandardsOrganisationISO9660fileformat
subsequentlyemerged.YoucancreateapplicationsforMac,PCorUNIXsystemsusingthisfileformat,
andyoucanevenhaveapplicationprogramsforallthreeplatformsononeCDROM,withallthreeableto
accessthesamesetofdatafiles.TheproblemwithISO9660isthatitrestrictsdeveloperstoalowest
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

6/9

11/25/2014

Compact Disc Formats Explained

commondenominatorintermsofhowmanycharacterscanbeusedforthefilenames,forinstance,sothis
isnotsopopularanymore.
ItisperfectlypossibletodesignaCDROMforusewithoneparticularoperatingsystem,whichlets
developersusethefullrangeoffeaturesofthatoperatingsystem,suchaslongfilenames,desktopicons
andsoforth.So,forinstance,youcancreateCDROMdiscsinMacintoshHFSformatwhichwill'mount'on
thedesktopofanyMacintoshcomputer,justasthoughtheyweredisksfromanyothertypeofdiskdrive.
Thesecanholdupto650Mbofyourcomputerfilesinareadonlyformat.RewritableCDmachinesare
beginningtoappear,butthesearenotcommonlyinuseasyet,soyouwillmostlyencounterdiscswhich
canonlybewrittentoonce.

SUBCODES
EachsectoronanaudioCDcontainscontrolbytesidentifiedbythelettersPthroughtoW.Theseareoftenreferred
toassubchannelsorsubcodes,andthemostimportantarethefirsttwothePandQsubcodeswhichyoumay
haveseenreferredtointhismagazinebefore.
Forinstance,intheLeadInarea,theQsubcodecontainstheTableOfContents,whileintheProgramareaofthe
discthePsubcodecontainsinformationaboutwherethemusicstartsandends,andtheQsubcodecontains
absoluteandrelativetimeinformation.
Theothersubcodes,identifiedasRtoW,arenotalwaysused,butitisperfectlypossibletostoreadditional
informationinthem.AnearlyextensionofthebasicCDformat,called'CD+g',usedthesebitstoaddgraphicsand
MIDIdataforeachtrack,andsomespecialisedCD+gplayerswereproducedwhichhadvideoandMIDIoutputs.
ThesewereneveravailableintheUK,asfarasIamaware.
TherearevariousothercodeswhichcanbesetforCDdiscsandwhichyouneedtobeawareof.Forexample,ifyou
wanttomakesurethatalltherightsholdersgetpaidwhenyourdiscisbroadcast,youshouldbeincludinganISRC
code.ThisistheInternationalStandardRecordingCodewhichcanbeassignedtoeachandanyfinalmixtouniquely
identifythismix.Thecodecanthenbeused,alongwithrecordskeptbytherecordcompanies,royaltycollection
organisationsandrightsorganisations,totracktheownersandrightsholderswhoshouldbepaidwhentherecording
isbroadcastpubliclyorexploitedcommercially.
Ifthediscisreleasedcommercially,itwillalmostcertainlyincludeaMediaCatalogueNumber,whichisaunique
identificationnumberfortheCDintheformofaUPCorEANbarcode.Thesecodenumbersareallocatedbythe
EANorUPCauthoritiesandconsistof13consecutivedigitswhichareallocatedbyoneoftheseorganisations.
OlderDATandotherdigitalrecorderssometimesusedasystemof'preemphasis'onrecordedmaterial,witha
corresponding'deemphasis'onplayback.PreemphasisbooststhehighfrequenciespriortoA/Dconversion,while
deemphasisremovestheboostafterD/Aconversion.DeemphasiscircuitryisbuiltintoallCDplayerstoprovide
compatibilitywithanymaterialrecordedusingpreemphasis.However,theemphasisbitmustbesetto'on'inthe
track'sQcodesothattheCDplayerwillknowthatitshouldusethedeemphasiscircuitrywhilethistrackplaysback.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

7/9

11/25/2014

Compact Disc Formats Explained

EachtrackonaCDhasaCopyProhibit'flag'bitsettinginthetrack'sQsubcode,toindicatewhethercopyingthe
trackisallowed.ThisCopyProhibitbitwasoriginallyintendedtopreventdirectdigitalcopyingusingDATrecorders,
butvirtuallynorecordingequipmentusesthistoday,soithasnoeffectinpractice.Subsequently,theSerialCopy
ManagementSystem(SCMS)wasdevelopedtopreventusersfrommakingadigitalcopyofadigitalcopy.Inthis
system,theSCMS'flag'bitisincrementedwhenthesourcematerialisdigitallycopiedfromonedigitalrecording
devicetoanother,soyou'reallowedtomakeonedigitalcopyofthesourcematerialusingSCMSequipped
recorders,butyouwon'tbeabletomakeanyfurtherdigitalcopiesofthatrecording.
Checkingthis'flag'onanyCDtracksbeforeyouwritetheCDidentifiesthesetracksasthefirstcopies,soyouwon't
beabletorecordthemdigitallyfromtheCDontoanSCMSequippeddigitalrecorder.Ifyouwanttoallowdigital
copiestobemade,don'tsettheSCMSflagsontheCD.Then,ifyouuseanSCMSequippedrecordertomakea
copyoftheCD,itwillbethefirstdigitalcopyandwillhavetheSCMSflagssetforeachtrackbythesystembuiltinto
therecorder.Nowifyoutrytocopythatrecordingdigitally,SCMSwillpreventyou.
Bytheway,justincaseyouwerewondering,checkingSCMSwilloverridethesettingforCopyProhibit.

HybriddiscswhichwillworkwithMacandPCarealsoverypopular,asyoumightimagine.Youcan
createaCDROMwithbothMacHFSandISO9660filesystemswhichsharethesamedataandcanbe
readonbothMacandPC.ThissolvestheproblemofhavingtoproduceaMacintoshspecificCDfor
MacintoshusersandanISO9660CDforPCandUNIXusers.
Youcanalsomixaudioandcomputerdataononediscinvariousways.Originally,amixedmodeCD
wouldconsistofonedatatrackandseveralaudiotracks,withbothdataandaudiowritteninonesession.
Thedatatrackwouldalwaysbeplacedintrack1justinfrontoftheaudiotracksonthediscwhichwas
aproblem,asImentionedearlier,sincethedatatrackwouldproduceclicksinthespeakersifinadvertently
playedonanaudioCDplayer.Thismixedmodeformathaslargelybeensupersededbyanaudio/data
multisessionformatwherethefirstsessionconsistsofaudiotracksandthesecondsessionconsistsof
data.AnothertwistinthetaleisthatthissecondsessiondatacanbeinCDExtraformat,orinHFSorISO
9660XAformats,orinMac/ISOHybridXAformatwhichmakestheformatevenmoreversatile!
Asyoumayalreadyhavegathered,amultisessiondiscissocalledbecauseyoucanwriteonesetofdata
tofillpartofthedisc,andthenwriteone(ormore)additionalsetsofdatatofilltherestofthedisc.These
sessionsarelinkedtogetherinsuchawaythatonlyonelogicaldeviceappearswhentheCDismounted.
However,notallCDrecorderscanrecordthistypeofCDandnotallCDROMdrivescanreadthem.
A'multivolume'CDalsoconsistsofmultiplesessions,eachrecordedatadifferenttime,but,inthiscase,
eachofthesessionsiscompletelyindependentoftheothers.WhenthistypeofCDROMismountedon
yourcomputer'sdesktop,eachsessionwillappearasanindividuallogical'volume'.Inotherwords,ifyou
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

8/9

11/25/2014

Compact Disc Formats Explained

puttwosessionsonyourCDROMin,say,MacHFSformat,whenyouputthisintoyourMac'sCDROM
drive,twoiconswillappearonyourdesktop,eachrepresentingoneofthese'volumes'ofdata.Theselook
andbehavejustlikeharddiskicons,exceptthatthereisasmalllockedpadlockinthetoplefthandcorner
ofthewindowwhichappearswhenyouopeneitherofthesevolumesontoyourdesktop.Thisindicatesthat
thediscisreadonly.Again,notallCDrecorderscanrecordthistypeofCD,andnotallCDROMdrives
canreadthem.Finally,it'sworthnotingthatMacHFSCDROMscanonlybemultivolumeratherthan
multisession.
PublishedinSOSJanuary1998

AllcontentscopyrightSOSPublicationsGroupand/oritslicensors,19852014.Allrightsreserved.
Thecontentsofthisarticlearesubjecttoworldwidecopyrightprotectionandreproductioninwholeorpart,whethermechanicalorelectronic,isexpresslyforbiddenwithoutthepriorwrittenconsentofthe
Publishers.GreatcarehasbeentakentoensureaccuracyinthepreparationofthisarticlebutneitherSoundOnSoundLimitednorthepublisherscanbeheldresponsibleforitscontents.Theviewsexpressed
arethoseofthecontributorsandnotnecessarilythoseofthepublishers.
Websitedesigned&maintainedbyPBAssociates|SOS|RelativeMedia

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan98/articles/cdformats.htm?print=yes

9/9