APE to AU Converter
FileFlip converts APE to AU entirely inside your browser, using FFmpeg compiled to WebAssembly. The file is never uploaded to a server: it is read off your disk, converted on your own machine, and saved back by the browser. That means no file-size limit, no queue and no account.
How do I convert an APE file to AU?#
- Drop your APE file onto the converter at the top of this page, or click it to pick one from your computer. You can add as many as you like.
- Leave the target set to AU and the conversion starts on its own. FileFlip downloads 30.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, then runs FFmpeg on your own machine.
- Save the AU file. Your browser writes it straight to your downloads folder, because there was never a server holding it.
Does converting APE to AU lose quality?#
It depends on what is inside the file. APE is a container rather than a codec, so whether the AU conversion copies the streams across untouched or re-encodes them is decided by the codecs that particular file happens to use.
Is it safe to convert APE files online?#
Yes, because nothing is uploaded. FileFlip converts APE files inside the browser tab you already have open, using WebAssembly builds of the same engines a desktop converter would install. Your file is read from your own disk into the page's memory, and no request carrying it is ever made.
You do not have to take that on trust. Open your browser's network panel, run a conversion, and you will see the engine come down and your file go nowhere. There is no upload, no server-side copy, no retention window, and no account tied to what you converted.
How FileFlip works lists every engine, its version and its download size, and shows how to check for yourself that nothing leaves your machine.
What APE to AU actually does to the file#
Converting APE to AU runs on FFmpeg, downloads 30.8 MB of WebAssembly the first time and nothing after that, re-encodes or copies through depending on the codecs in the file, and drops encoded streams.
| Engine | FFmpeg |
|---|---|
| Conversion path | One step: APE → AU |
| Downloaded to your browser | 30.8 MB, once, then cached by your browser |
| Quality | Decided by the codecs inside the file |
| You get back | One file |
| Where it runs | In a background worker, so the page stays responsive |
What survives the conversion
| What is in the file | This conversion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Encoded streams | Dropped | The target format has nowhere to put it. |
What is an APE file?#
An APE file holds audio compressed with Monkey's Audio, a lossless codec Matthew T. Ashland released in 2000 that trades slow, CPU-heavy decoding for smaller files than most other lossless formats.
Keep audio as APE when it was already ripped that way for an archive and the extra compression over FLAC actually matters for storage.
Convert APE to FLAC when the file needs to play on a portable player, a car stereo, or any app or device that only recognizes the more common lossless format.
What is an AU file?#
An AU file holds audio in Sun Microsystems' Unix workstation format, a plain header followed by raw sample data that was the standard system-alert and early web audio format before WAV and MP3 took over.
AU still shows up as the format Java's javax.sound and some Unix system tools default to for short sound effects, where its simplicity is the point.
Convert AU to WAV or MP3 when the audio needs to play in modern media players, browsers, or editing software that no longer ship AU support by default.
APE to AU questions people ask#
What creates an APE file?
An APE file is produced by encoding audio with Monkey's Audio, almost always through the ripping and tagging tools popular with Windows-based audio archivists, such as foobar2000 or dBpoweramp. It is rarely the format a recording device or streaming service hands you directly.
What still plays APE files?
foobar2000, JRiver Media Center, and dBpoweramp play APE natively on Windows, and VLC decodes it on any platform. Very few phones, portable players, or smart speakers support Monkey's Audio, which is the main practical drawback compared to FLAC.
Should I convert APE to FLAC or MP3?
Convert APE to FLAC to keep lossless quality while gaining support on far more devices and software; convert to MP3 only if the smaller lossy file size matters more than exact fidelity. Going from APE to FLAC loses nothing, since both are lossless and the original audio data is fully recovered either way.
What creates an AU file?
AU files come from Unix and Sun workstation software, from Java's built-in sound APIs, and from older system sound effects, since AU was the default audio format on SunOS and NeXT machines. Websites in the 1990s also used it for embedded sound clips before WAV and MP3 became standard.