# Listening to a .cda file without the CD
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-a-cda-file-without-the-cd/718789
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 29, 2015, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-a-cda-file-without-the-cd/718789 "2015-04-29T08:53:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2015, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-a-cda-file-without-the-cd/718789/1 "2015-04-29T08:53:09Z")
OK, I’m afraid my question is awfully dumb but… fighting ignorance and all that.
A few months ago a coworker lent me a CD that contained audio files which I needed for a presentation. I made a copy of the tracks I needed to make sure that I had a backup but for some reason didn’t extract them. I basically just copied and pasted the file. I used the CD during the presentation then gave it back to my coworker. Now, all that I have left is the .cda files that I copied.
Is there a way to listen to them or do I have to ask for the CD again in order to do that?
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2015, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-a-cda-file-without-the-cd/718789/2 "2015-04-29T09:23:31Z")
You need the CD:
> [@](#):
>
> Each .CDA file is a kind of a pointer to the location of a specific track on the CD and contains no musical information. CDA files are all 44 bytes in length and each contain track times plus a special Windows shortcut that allows users to access the specific audio tracks.
>
> So if .CDA files contain no musical information, what happens if you “copy” a .CDA from an audio CD to your hard drive and then double click it?
>
> If the CD is still in the drive then the corresponding track will play from the CD. If you remove the CD you will get an error message. **That’s because the .CDA file contain no music, it only points to where the music is located on the CD.**
[http://www.techsupportalert.com/how\_to\_work\_with\_audio\_cd\_cda\_files.htm](http://www.techsupportalert.com/how_to_work_with_audio_cd_cda_files.htm)
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### Author:  [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-a-cda-file-without-the-cd/718789/3 "2015-04-29T11:40:39Z")
in the future, you need to use a program to extract (“rip”) the tracks to .wav, .mp3, or whatever format you want.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-a-cda-file-without-the-cd/718789/4 "2015-04-29T11:43:12Z")
> [@jz78817](#):
>
> in the future, you need to use a program to extract (“rip”) the tracks to .wav, .mp3, or whatever format you want.
Or just copy the entire disk (a disk copy, not a track copy). Commercial music CDs don’t have any copy protection, and if it was a home-made original, it’s unlikely to have any, either.
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### Author:  [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-a-cda-file-without-the-cd/718789/5 "2015-04-29T14:21:46Z")
Thanks for your answers.
I’ve asked my coworker whether she can lend me the CD again. If it’s not possible, I still have the transcript and I can work with that. I’ll be more careful next time, though.