AU to MP3 Converter
Convert classic Sun / NeXT audio (.au, .snd) to MP3 — useful for legacy Unix archives and academic samples.
Drop your audio file here
or click to browse a file
.au and .snd files (Sun / NeXT audio, common on old Unix workstations) both work.
About this AU to MP3 converter
AU is the audio format that came out of Sun Microsystems and was widely used on Unix workstations in the 1990s. It also showed up under the .snd extension on NeXT hardware. Modern players generally don't open it, which makes legacy academic recordings, old course samples and archived workstation backups awkward to play.
Drop your AU file here and you'll get a 192k MP3 in seconds.
How to convert AU to MP3
- 01
Drop in a .au or .snd file
Both extensions are the same Sun / NeXT format.
- 02
Click convert
The engine decodes the audio (μ-law, A-law or linear PCM) and encodes a 192k MP3.
- 03
Download the MP3
Plays everywhere — useful for archives, lecture material and old samples.
Why convert AU to MP3
- Modern playback — AU is barely supported anywhere now
- Smaller files than the source (lossy compression)
- Free, private, no install
- No watermark, no signup, no length cap
- Handles μ-law, A-law and linear PCM AU variants
- Useful for digitising old Unix workstation archives
AU to MP3 FAQ
What encoding does AU use?
AU files can carry μ-law (most common), A-law, or linear PCM samples. The converter handles all three transparently — you don't need to pick.
Why is AU so rare?
It was a Unix workstation format from the era of NeXT and Sun. When those platforms faded, AU mostly went with them. WAV and AIFF won out for general use.
Will I lose audio quality?
It's lossy compression to MP3, so there's some loss. AU files were usually telephony-quality to begin with, so MP3 at 192k is more than enough to preserve everything in them.
Is my file kept private?
Yes. We don't analyse or index your file.
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