Save disk space for ISOs: Difference between revisions

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;Audio-CD & Mixed-Mode Discs

PCs, Sega-CD, PC-Engine, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn all have one thing in common: they use the standard CD-ROM format. Early game developers frequently stored game soundtracks as standard Red Book Audio-CD tracks alongside the game's data track. This is commonly known as a "Mixed-Mode CD". Because Red Book audio is completely uncompressed (16-bit, 44.1kHz stereo), it is highly inefficient for storage. A standard 700 MB CD can only hold about 80 minutes of audio, meaning games utilizing heavy CD audio soundtracks had drastically less room for actual game data.

PCs, Sega-CD, PC-Engine, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn all have one thing in common: they use the standard CD-ROM format. Early game developers frequently stored game soundtracks as standard Red Book Audio-CD tracks alongside the game's data track. This is commonly known as a "Mixed-Mode CD". Because Red Book audio is completely uncompressed (16-bit, 44.1kHz stereo), it is highly inefficient for storage. A standard 700 MB CD can only hold about 80 minutes of audio, meaning games utilizing heavy CD audio soundtracks had drastically less room for actual game data. To maximize storage efficiency, developers gradually abandoned Red Book audio in favor of compressed, custom audio formats stored directly within the game's data track. By the fifth generation of consoles ([[PlayStation emulators|PS1]] & [[Sega Saturn emulators|Saturn]]), the Audio-CD portion of a disc was frequently reduced to a single warning track advising users not to play the disc in a conventional [[[[Home media players|home stereo]] ("Do not play this in a conventional CD player"). Despite this shift, several prominent titles continued to rely heavily on Red Book audio like ''Vib-Ribbon'' and ''Wipeout'' (PS1), or ''Battle Garegga'' and ''Daytona USA'' (Saturn).

Because Mixed-Mode CDs contain multiple tracks, they '''cannot''' be properly archived using standard <tt>.iso</tt> files (which only support a single data track). Instead, data-dumping software typically utilizes one of two methods:

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** <tt>.bin</tt>: A raw, sector-by-sector image of the entire disc, containing the game data, audio tracks, and system data.

** <tt>.cue</tt>: A text metadata file (cue sheet) that tells the emulator or burner exactly where each data and audio track begins and ends.

** As mentioned in the [[Ripping games]] page, if you have one of the European PSX games that features LibCrypt copy protection, then you will have a <tt>.sbi</tt> file in addition to the <tt>.bin/.cue</tt> file in the same directory as the game file.

* '''Light Dump (ISO + MP3/FLAC/WAV + CUE):'''

** <tt>.iso</tt>: Contains ''only'' the data track of the game.

** <tt>.mp3/.flac/.wav</tt>: The audio tracks ripped as separate files to save space.

** <tt>.cue</tt>: A modified cue sheet pointing to the separate audio files.

As optical drive emulation matured, developers shifted away from Red Book audio toward compressed, custom formats stored directly inside the game's data track. By the fifth generation ([[PlayStation emulators|PS1]] & [[Sega Saturn emulators|Saturn]]), the Audio-CD portion of the disc was often reduced to a single warning track ("Do not play this in a conventional CD player"). However, many prominent titles—like ''Vib-Ribbon'' and ''Wipeout'' (PS1), or ''Battle Garegga'' and ''Daytona USA'' (Saturn)—still relied heavily on Red Book audio. Furthermore, as mentioned in the [[Ripping games]] page, if you have one of the European PSX games that features LibCrypt copy protection, then you will have a <tt>.sbi</tt> file in addition to the <tt>.bin/.cue</tt> file in the same directory as the game file.

;Light Dump

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 ;Audio-CD & Mixed-Mode Discs
-PCs, Sega-CD, PC-Engine, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn all have one thing in common: they use the standard CD-ROM format. Early game developers frequently stored game soundtracks as standard Red Book Audio-CD tracks alongside the game's data track. This is commonly known as a "Mixed-Mode CD". Because Red Book audio is completely uncompressed (16-bit, 44.1kHz stereo), it is highly inefficient for storage. A standard 700 MB CD can only hold about 80 minutes of audio, meaning games utilizing heavy CD audio soundtracks had drastically less room for actual game data.
+PCs, Sega-CD, PC-Engine, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn all have one thing in common: they use the standard CD-ROM format. Early game developers frequently stored game soundtracks as standard Red Book Audio-CD tracks alongside the game's data track. This is commonly known as a "Mixed-Mode CD". Because Red Book audio is completely uncompressed (16-bit, 44.1kHz stereo), it is highly inefficient for storage. A standard 700 MB CD can only hold about 80 minutes of audio, meaning games utilizing heavy CD audio soundtracks had drastically less room for actual game data.  To maximize storage efficiency, developers gradually abandoned Red Book audio in favor of compressed, custom audio formats stored directly within the game's data track. By the fifth generation of consoles ([[PlayStation emulators|PS1]] & [[Sega Saturn emulators|Saturn]]), the Audio-CD portion of a disc was frequently reduced to a single warning track advising users not to play the disc in a conventional [[[[Home media players|home stereo]] ("Do not play this in a conventional CD player"). Despite this shift, several prominent titles continued to rely heavily on Red Book audio like ''Vib-Ribbon'' and ''Wipeout'' (PS1), or ''Battle Garegga'' and ''Daytona USA'' (Saturn).
 Because Mixed-Mode CDs contain multiple tracks, they '''cannot''' be properly archived using standard <tt>.iso</tt> files (which only support a single data track). Instead, data-dumping software typically utilizes one of two methods:
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 ** <tt>.bin</tt>: A raw, sector-by-sector image of the entire disc, containing the game data, audio tracks, and system data.
 ** <tt>.cue</tt>: A text metadata file (cue sheet) that tells the emulator or burner exactly where each data and audio track begins and ends.
+** As mentioned in the [[Ripping games]] page, if you have one of the European PSX games that features LibCrypt copy protection, then you will have a <tt>.sbi</tt> file in addition to the <tt>.bin/.cue</tt> file in the same directory as the game file.
 * '''Light Dump (ISO + MP3/FLAC/WAV + CUE):'''
 ** <tt>.iso</tt>: Contains ''only'' the data track of the game.
 ** <tt>.mp3/.flac/.wav</tt>: The audio tracks ripped as separate files to save space.
 ** <tt>.cue</tt>: A modified cue sheet pointing to the separate audio files.
-As optical drive emulation matured, developers shifted away from Red Book audio toward compressed, custom formats stored directly inside the game's data track. By the fifth generation ([[PlayStation emulators|PS1]] & [[Sega Saturn emulators|Saturn]]), the Audio-CD portion of the disc was often reduced to a single warning track ("Do not play this in a conventional CD player"). However, many prominent titles—like ''Vib-Ribbon'' and ''Wipeout'' (PS1), or ''Battle Garegga'' and ''Daytona USA'' (Saturn)—still relied heavily on Red Book audio. Furthermore, as mentioned in the [[Ripping games]] page, if you have one of the European PSX games that features LibCrypt copy protection, then you will have a <tt>.sbi</tt> file in addition to the <tt>.bin/.cue</tt> file in the same directory as the game file.
 ;Light Dump