This first CD format called CD Digital Audio or CD-DA for short, defined the audio CD used in all regular CD players and was the original music CD format, storing audio information as digital PCM data. This was defined by the Red Book standard. The Red Book was first published in 1980, and specifies physical specifications for compact disks, the size of the media, the spacing of the tracks, etc. All of the subsequent standards that came after CD-DA build on the original Red Book specification.

The Red Book that was developed by Philips and Sony, who are the the creators of the original compact disc technology.