How to make audio CD image files from .cue file?

[aeneas]

Just discovered how to use IMGburn to burn audio CDs from music collection.  It seems that the process involves creating something called a .cue file, which appears to basically be a list of the files to be written onto the CD as tracks.  However, it also looks like this .cue file only provides a portion of what is needed to burn the CD.  In that, it depends on the structure of the file system at the time it is created.

What if, at some later date, one wanted to burn another CD.  For example, the original CD is damaged and in need of replacement.  It doesn't look like you could depend solely on the .cue file to remake the CD.  However, it is recognized that a set of 3 files with types .cue, .bin, .cdt are what results when making an image copy of an audio CD.  It would seem like good practice to make the backup image before burning the original CD.  Then using that set of image files to burn the original CD allows one verify that the backup set is capable of producing the desired result.

Is this possible using IMGburn?  If so, how can the .cue file created by IMGburn be used to create the backup image set of files?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

You can’t use that initial cue to build a backup image. It can only be used to burn a disc.

If you want to save that stuff so you can burn another copy some time, either keep a copy of the audio files alongside the cue or use Read mode on the burnt disc to get a new bin/cue set.

[dbminter]

That is something I've wondered for a while now.  Why can't .CUE be created to an image file first?  Why must .CUE immediately be burned to disc?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

There no ‘mode’ for it. It would basically be an image conversion mode.

[aeneas]

Thanks for the clarification.  I was thinking it could be similar to the Ez-Mode operation referred to as "create image file from files/folders".