AU to TAR Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
Sun Microsystems Audio and TAR Archive exist for different jobs: AU is the µ-law audio format of old Unix systems and Java applets — tiny mono files from another era. TAR preserves the exact file tree and permissions that Linux tooling expects.
Because the whole conversion happens on your device, it is instant, unlimited and genuinely private — no accounts, no watermarks, no files on anyone's server. Multiple files are converted in one go.
How AU compares to TAR
| AU | TAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | µ-law or PCM | None (pair with gzip/zstd) |
| Best for | Old system sounds and recordings | Linux packaging and source trees |
How to convert AU to TAR
- 1
Select your files
Select your AU file — it never leaves your device.
- 2
Convert instantly
The engine packs the file, byte for byte, into a TAR container — no re-encoding, no quality change.
- 3
Download results
Download the finished TAR archive.
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
About the TAR format
TAR (tape archive) is Unix's fifty-year-old answer to bundling: it concatenates files with headers into a single stream, preserving POSIX permissions, ownership and symlinks — but compressing nothing. It is the container half of the classic .tar.gz pairing and the native format of Linux source trees and backups.
Being pure bundling, TAR pairs with a compressor: gzip (the classic), bzip2, zstd. Alone, a TAR is the same size as its contents. Windows 10+ ships bsdtar, so even Windows can unpack it now — permissions aside, where NTFS has no room to be faithful.
+Strengths
- ✓Preserves Unix permissions and symlinks
- ✓Streamable: works over pipes and tapes
- ✓The standard of Linux distribution and backup
!Limitations
- −No compression by itself
- −No built-in encryption
- −Permissions meaningless on Windows filesystems
Why convert AU to TAR?
Think of it as moving your file to the container that fits the job. µ-law flavor sounds dated and mono TAR works differently: Preserves Unix permissions and symlinks If any of that sounds like your task, run the conversion — it takes seconds and nothing leaves your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this AU to TAR 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 AU to TAR?
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.
Will converting AU to TAR reduce audio quality?
If TAR is lossless, the output contains everything the AU file contains — no further loss is added. If TAR is lossy, one recompression pass is unavoidable; the quality slider controls how much. Loss that already happened in the source file can never be undone by converting.
Can I convert a whole folder of AU 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.