APE to AU Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
Monkey's Audio and Sun Microsystems Audio exist for different jobs: APE (Monkey's Audio) squeezes music harder than FLAC at the cost of slower decoding — the audiophile archiver of the 2000s, still everywhere on music forums. Converting AU to WAV preserves the samples in a format every modern tool reads.
This converter runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly — your files never leave your device, nothing is uploaded, and there are no watermarks, sign-ups or queues. Drop in several files at once to convert them as a batch.
How APE compares to AU
| APE | AU | |
|---|---|---|
| Compatibility | ffmpeg,foobar2000, Monkey's Audio | Legacy Unix tools |
| Best for | Music forum album archives | Old system sounds and recordings |
How to convert APE to AU
- 1
Select your files
Drag & drop your APE files onto the area above, or click to browse. You can add multiple files at once for batch conversion.
- 2
Convert instantly
Click "Convert to AU". The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly — no upload, no queue, no waiting.
- 3
Download results
Download each converted AU file individually, or grab everything at once as a ZIP archive.
About the APE format
Monkey's Audio (APE) is the compression-per-bit champion of lossless audio: typically 5-8% smaller than FLAC, paid for with CPU-heavy decode. An entire decade of music-forum album shares from the mid-2000s exists only as APE, often split into .cue-sheet + single-image files.
Conversion to FLAC keeps every sample and finally makes the album playable in car stereos and phones; the ffmpeg APE decoder handles the standard versions including the 4000-series compression.
+ Strengths
- ✓Best-in-class lossless ratios
- ✓Free and open (original was freeware)
- ✓Cue-sheet album pairs are common
! Limitations
- −Decode speed is 5-10x slower than FLAC
- −Almost no hardware support
- −Format stability criticized historically
About the AU format
AU is Sun Microsystems' audio format from the Unix workstation age: a small header followed by µ-law (or PCM) samples. Java's applet era shipped it everywhere, and old Unix sound tooling still emits it.
Modern players increasingly skip it. Converting AU to WAV preserves the samples bit-for-bit while moving the file into universal territory — the standard rescue path for system sounds and old recordings.
+ Strengths
- ✓Simple, lossless sample storage
- ✓Native to old Unix/Java tooling
! Limitations
- −µ-law flavor sounds dated and mono
- −Dropped by modern players
Why convert APE to AU?
There is a concrete reason this conversion exists: Decode speed is 5-10x slower than FLAC AU sidesteps that — Simple, lossless sample storage If that is your situation, the tool above settles it in seconds, entirely on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this APE to AU converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Is there a file size limit for APE to AU?
The only limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded. Files up to a few hundred megabytes work fine on a modern desktop browser; very large files simply take a little longer.
Can I convert a whole folder of APE files?
You can select many files at once and they are processed in a single batch. Output files land in one ZIP download when there is more than one result.
Are tags like title and artist preserved?
Tag handling varies between target formats and this conversion focuses on the audio itself. For archival copies where tags matter, keep the original file; the converted copy is for playback and sharing.