Play HCA files in your browser
The CRIWARE sound format of many phone and console games. Play an HCA right here, loop and all, and keep it as an MP3 or WAV. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your game's sound plays the moment it opens, twice through its loop and then a fade, its whole waveform across your screen.
- Its whole waveform • Press or drag to jump
- Back and ahead 10 seconds • Half, 1.5× or double speed
- Show tags • Codec, loop, sample rate and channels
- Export • Save as MP3 or WAV
About HCA
HCA, High Compression Audio, is CRI Middleware's format in ADX2, the sound tools of CRIWARE. Studios use it for the music and voices of phone and console games alike, Japanese studios above all, and keep the files inside ACB cue sheets and AWB wave banks.
HCA packs sound about as small as an MP3 with a transform codec of CRI's own, in frames that each carry a check of their own, with the loop in its header. Many games encrypt their HCA files with a key of their own, and the header shows it: the top bit of each of its letters is set.
Filepeek plays an HCA in your browser with vgmstream, twice through its loop and then a fade, with its waveform, speeds and tags, and Export saves it as MP3 or WAV. An HCA encrypted with its game's key doesn't play: Filepeek carries no game's keys and takes none, and it says so.
CRI HCA audio
.hca
Format
- MIME type
- application/octet-stream
- Made by
- CRI Middleware
Inside the file
- Audio
- CRI's own transform codec
- Size
- About like an MP3
- Loop
- Where the music starts over
- Found in
- ACB cue sheets and AWB banks
Opens in every browser
Filepeek plays HCA files in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. No browser plays them by itself.
- YouChromePlays through Filepeek
- YouEdgePlays through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxPlays through Filepeek
- YouSafariPlays through Filepeek
Apps that open HCA
- Windowsfoobar2000 with vgmstream, free • CRI Atom Craft, for developers
- MacNo app built in plays it • vgmstream-cli, from Homebrew, turns it into a WAV
- iPhone and iPadNo app built in plays it
- AndroidNo app built in plays it • An MP3 saved here plays anywhere
Questions
How do I play an HCA file?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek an HCA. It plays in your browser, twice through its loop and then a 5 second fade, the way a game loops its music.
Can I turn an HCA into an MP3?
Yes. Choose Export, then Save as MP3 or WAV, and the sound is saved as it plays here, loop and fade included.
Why does it say my HCA is encrypted?
Many games encrypt their HCA files with a key of their own, set in CRI's tools. Filepeek carries no game's keys and takes none, so those don't play, and it says so.
Where are a game's HCA files?
Usually inside its ACB and AWB files, which Filepeek opens as folders of their sounds, each named after its cue.