# Audio CD Red Book Checker Check album tracks against the Red Book CD-DA standard: 44.1 kHz / 16-bit / stereo PCM, sample peaks, 4-second minimum tracks, 99-track limit, and disc capacity in sectors. > Canonical page: https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-cd-red-book-checker - **Category:** Media - **Keywords:** red book, cd-da, iec 60908, audio cd, cd-r, 44.1 khz, 16-bit, cd mastering, pregap, cd sectors, disc capacity, burn check ## Overview The Red Book (IEC 60908) defines the Compact Disc Digital Audio format, and this tool audits your track files against the parts that matter before a burn: 44,100 Hz sample rate, signed 16-bit, two-channel linear PCM, per-track sample peaks against a configurable ceiling (0 dBFS is the format limit — values above it cannot exist in 16-bit files but can in the source that produced them), the 4-second minimum track length (which includes the mandatory 2-second track-1 pregap), the 99-track limit, and total capacity. Duration is translated into CD sectors at 75 sectors per second, 588 samples and 2,352 bytes per sector — the same arithmetic a burning app uses when it lays out the table of contents. FLAC or AIFF inputs are flagged as needing conversion (they are lossless, so nothing is lost), lossy inputs are hard failures, and the capacity check reports both the pure program duration and the layout with the standard 2-second pauses most burners insert. Files are read, never modified. ## Inputs - **Album tracks (audio files or ZIP)** (file) - **Disc capacity** (select) - **Peak ceiling (dBFS)** (number): e.g. 0 ## When to use - Before burning an audio CD-R master to ensure compatibility with standalone CD players. - During the final quality check of a mastering bundle to catch improper sample rates or bit depths. - When checking whether an album's total duration and pregaps fit within 74-minute or 80-minute media limits. ## How it works - Upload audio files or a ZIP bundle containing your album tracks. - Select your target disc capacity (74 or 80 minutes) and define an optional peak ceiling in dBFS. - The tool inspects PCM metadata, sample rates (44.1 kHz), bit depths (16-bit signed), stereo channels, track durations, and sample peaks. - An interactive report displays track-by-track pass/fail badges, calculated CD sectors (75 sectors/sec), and actionable remediation notes. ## Use cases - Mastering engineers verifying final production masters before creating DDP images or CD-R reference discs. - Independent musicians validating WAV files prior to submitting them to CD replication and duplication plants. - Archivists confirming that digitized tracks match exact Compact Disc Digital Audio specifications. ## Frequently asked questions ### What audio format does Red Book CD-DA require? Red Book requires uncompressed two-channel stereo linear PCM audio at a 44,100 Hz (44.1 kHz) sample rate with 16-bit signed integer resolution. ### Why did my 24-bit or 48 kHz tracks fail the check? Standard audio CD players only support 16-bit / 44.1 kHz PCM audio. Higher resolution files must be resampled and dithered down to 16-bit / 44.1 kHz. ### What is the minimum track duration allowed? Red Book specifies a minimum track length of 4 seconds, which includes any required 2-second pregap before the first track. ### Does this tool modify or convert my audio files? No. The tool performs a read-only audit and reports compliance issues without modifying or re-encoding your source audio. ### How is disc capacity measured in CD sectors? CD audio is structured into 75 sectors per second, with each sector containing 588 audio samples (2,352 bytes) across stereo channels. ## Related tools - [CALM Act Commercial Loudness Checker](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-calm-act-checker): Check whether a commercial is louder than the programme it accompanies, per the FCC CALM Act rules and ATSC A/85: compare average loudness, grade the excess on the A/85 listener comfort scale, and flag loud-opening “gaming” with momentary-loudness diagnostics. - [Podcast RSS Enclosure Checker](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-podcast-rss-enclosure-checker): Validate podcast episode audio against hosting expectations and cross-check it with your RSS feed: enclosure URL / length / type attributes, itunes:duration, GUID uniqueness, RFC 2822 dates, platform codecs and bitrates — byte-exact enclosure lengths included. - [Audio Dictation Quality Checker](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-dictation-quality-checker): Check whether audio is suitable for transcription using SNR, clipping, format, channels, and speech activity. - [Audio Duration Checker](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-duration-checker): Get the exact duration of an audio file - [Audio Mix Translation Checker](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-mix-translation-checker): Simulate your mix on phone, laptop, earbud, car, club, mono and noisy-street playback, export every render in a ZIP, and report what survives each system. - [Audio Platform Delivery Checker](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-platform-delivery-checker): Check podcast or spoken-audio files against platform delivery profiles, including codec, loudness, metadata, chapters, cover art, and decodability. - [Codec Artifact Detector](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-codec-artifact-detector): Compare an original master with its lossy encode and flag pre-echo, transient smearing, bandwidth loss and stereo damage, with per-event timestamps. - [Audio Caption Sync Checker](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-caption-sync-checker): Compare SRT or WebVTT cue timing with likely speech activity and flag timing drift. ## Samples - [Copyright-Free FLAC Audio Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/flac-samples): Lossless FLAC audio samples for testing and development, mirrored from MP3 set with nature sounds and meditation music - [Copyright-Free MP3 Audio Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/mp3-samples): Collection of royalty-free audio samples for testing and development purposes including nature sounds, meditation music, and ambient audio - [Copyright-Free WAV Audio Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/wav-samples): Uncompressed PCM WAV audio samples for testing and development, mirrored from MP3 set with nature sounds and meditation music - [Copyright-Free Raw PCM Audio Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/pcm-samples): Raw PCM s16le audio samples featuring nature ambience and relaxing music for waveform, playback, and conversion workflows