TTA files are files encoded by the TTA Lossless Audio Codec, a free and real-time compressor. Based on adaptive prognostic filters, TTA has compared favorably against a majority of popular open-source peers. The codec was built to offer adequate compression levels while maintaining high operation speeds.

TTA performs lossless compression on multichannel 8, 16 and 24-bit data of WAV audio files. The term “lossless” refers to the fact that such compression results in literally no data or quality loss; when decompressed, the audio file data are bit-identical to those of their originals. Compression ratios achieved by the TTA codec vary, depending on music type, but range from 30% – 70% of the original. The TTA lossless compressed audio format supports both ID3v1 and ID3v2 information tags.

TTA allows for the storage of up to 20 audio CDs on a single DVD-R, retaining the original CD quality audio, plus detailed information in ID3 tags.

Features: Compression to as little as 30% of original file size * Realtime encoding/decoding algorithm * Minimal system requirements * Free and open source code and documentation * Compiles for several different platforms * Simple and convenient data format * Input plugins for various music players * Graphical user interface (GUI) for Windows users * DirectShow technology support * Hardware support.

You can convert TTA files using XRecode and other free converters. To play them in Winamp you can use the TTA Plugin for Winamp.