Core Audio Format
Audio file format
The Core Audio Format is a container format for storing audio, developed by Apple Inc. It is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 and higher; Mac OS X 10.3 needs QuickTime 7 to be installed.
Core Audio Format is designed to overcome limitations of older digital audio formats, including AIFF and WAV. Just like the QuickTime .mov container, a .caf container can contain many different audio formats, metadata tracks, and much more data. Like the RF64, it is not limited to a 4 GB file size and a single .caf file can theoretically save hundreds of years of recorded audio due to its use of 64-bit file offsets.
GarageBand, Soundtrack Pro, and Logic Studio use the .caf format for their loop and sound effects library, particularly for surround-sound audio compressed with the Apple Lossless (ALAC) codec. It is also what is used to send Audio Messages over iMessage on iOS and macOS.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Core Audio Format”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.