DAX File

What are DAX files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a DAX file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your DAX files.

What is a DAX file?

DAX files have multiple uses, and DAKX Compressed Audio is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

DAKX Compressed Audio File

DAKX audio compression uses the power of reversible compression to shrink digital data streams into smaller DAX files. By maximizing the efficiency of data transfer, users can benefit from quality sound with minimal bandwidth consumption.

How to open DAX files

Important: Different programs may use files with the DAX file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your DAX file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested three different DAX openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: October 22, 2026

All known file formats using extension .DAX

While DAKX Compressed Audio File is a popular type of DAX-file, we know of 3 different uses of the .DAX file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

DAX Compressed CD Image

DAX Compressed CD Image is a legacy compressed disc‐image format developed for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) that shrinks UMD (Universal Media Disc) ISO files to reduce storage space while preserving full disc structure. It was once used for backup, testing, and playing PSP games via emulators or modified firmware systems instead of using uncompressed ISOs for all data.

Files in this format are created by compressing a PSP ISO image using a tool such as maxcso with the DAX mode. The compression algorithm is the same as that used by CSO (Compressed ISO) format (Deflate), but DAX uses fixed 8192-byte block sizes and once lacked support for non-compressed sectors (a feature added later, though in less efficient ways). Games stored in DAX can be played directly by PSP emulators or custom firmware that support reading compressed ISO formats; they are decompressed on-the-fly as needed.

Internal identification of this format begins with a signature at the start of the file: the first four bytes are 44 41 58 00 ("DAX\0"), which serves as a magic number for tools and emulators to distinguish it from other images.

OrangeCD Theme

OrangeCD Theme format is a text‐based theme file produced by the OrangeCD program from Firetongue Software. It stores the visual appearance settings used by OrangeCD for elements such as album art, background colours, fonts, header layout, and text style. It lets the user customize how OrangeCD displays song metadata, artist or album images, and lists by setting options for alignment, character set, field placement, colours, and HTML‐style page layout.

The theme file is created and edited by OrangeCD itself (or by users modifying theme templates provided by that program). After writing or selecting a theme, OrangeCD loads it to apply its defined styling every time it shows CD attributes or media lists. Users can modify backgrounds, artist sorting behaviour, header text, and font choices inside the theme to change the program's appearance.

The file is a plain text file. It begins with the characters /* at the very start. Within the content it includes human-readable keywords and labels such as FIRETONGUE SOFTWARE, WWW.FIRETONGUE.COM, BACKGROUND, ARTISTSORT, HEADER, ALBUM, STYLE, FONT, and TITLE. It also uses strings like HREF, HTML, BODY. These help OrangeCD parse the theme settings and map them to its UI display.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of DAX files. Remember, different programs may use DAX files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about DAX file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.