Core Audio Format

The Core Audio Format is a file format for storing audio, developed by Apple Computer. It is compatible with Mac OS 10.4, and Mac OS 10.3 with QuickTime 7.

Core Audio Format is designed to overcome limitations of older digital audio formats, including AIFF and WAV. Similar to the QuickTime .mov file format, .caf can contain many different audio formats, metadata tracks, and more. Not limited to 4 GB file size, a single .caf file can theoretically hold hundreds of years of audio.

Soundtrack Pro uses the .caf format extensively for its loop and sound effects library, particularly for surround-sound audio compressed with the Apple Lossless codec.