The CD Tester - CDDA Benchmark Program measures your CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and system performances while playing audio CD's through measuring Digital Audio Extraction (DAE). DAE is the method used to gather access to audio data in an audio disc. The faster and more problem-free your CD/DVD can read digital audio, the more reliable the program which makes use of DAE, will be. CD Test Benchmark Program measures the speed of the DAE and the CPU usage during this operation. Many low end to middle performance computers are affected by DAE that it is almost impossible to perform other tasks on the computer during DAE operations.

Also if the system's CPU is slow, the quality of the digital audio can be adversely affected by "drop outs".

The CD Test Benchmark Program is capable of two kinds of tests. One type accesses and measures memory space and the other uses the WAVE output device. By selecting the "Output Device" you choose which tests you want to perform. The tests differ and they are both usefull to find out if your system is ready for and capable of DAE.