Extract text from CDQ files
To convert your CDQ file to another format, you need CDex or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "Metadata Cache" file type, you need software like CDex or a similar tool.
The .CDQ file extension serves two distinct technical roles that often confuse users.
Most commonly, it acts as a Compact Disc Database Cache (QUAC format) generated by legacy CD ripping software like CDex. These files are local databases that store metadata - such as artist names, album titles, and tracklists - so the software doesn't need to re-query online servers like freedb or CDDB every time a disc is inserted. The primary friction point here is obsolescence: modern media players (like VLC or iTunes) cannot read .CDQ files, leaving valuable music catalog data locked inside a proprietary binary/text hybrid format. Users often seek to convert these to CSV, TXT, or JSON to migrate their library metadata to Excel or modern media servers.
In professional lighting workflows, .CDQ represents a Show File for ChamSys QuickQ consoles. These are binary containers holding complex lighting patches, cue stacks, and user settings. The constraint here is hardware lock-in: a QuickQ .CDQ file cannot be opened by standard text editors or converted to PDF for viewing. It is strictly designed to be loaded back onto a QuickQ console or the QuickQ Designer software for simulation. For these users, the goal is typically identifying the file version for safe Archiving or transferring show data between consoles.
Convert.Guru analyzes your CDQ file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted 00A, SAV and GPKG files.
If you want to convert CDQ file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use CDex or similar software from the "Compact Disc Database Cache" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to CDQ, try CDex or another comparable tool in the "Compact Disc Database Cache" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our CDQ converter.