CVU to AU Converter

Turn CVU audio into AU — no software installation needed

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Straightforward Process

Upload your CVU recording, select AU, and download the result — three steps, no technical skills required.

Broader Reach

CVU is a niche legacy format with minimal support. Converting to AU brings your audio into a format recognized by VLC and many other tools.

Rapid Conversion

Most CVU to AU conversions complete in seconds. The cloud-based engine processes recordings rapidly regardless of length.

How to convert CVU to AU

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose au or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your au file right afterwards

About formats

CVU is an unsigned variant of the CVS telephony audio format, differing in how delta-encoded values are represented in the binary stream. While CVS stores slope delta values as signed quantities, CVU treats them as unsigned, shifting the numerical interpretation of each sample. Both share the underlying CVSD modulation technique — 1-bit adaptive delta coding where step size varies according to recent output bit patterns — operating at comparable rates, typically 16 kbps for narrowband voice at 8 kHz. The signed-versus-unsigned distinction matters at the decoder, where correct interpretation determines proper waveform reconstruction. CVU files appear in telephony and embedded communication contexts where hardware adopted the unsigned convention. A practical advantage is straightforward interfacing with systems using unsigned arithmetic natively, avoiding sign extension in decoders. Like its signed counterpart, CVU achieves extreme bandwidth efficiency, compressing voice into compact bitstreams for constrained links. SoX supports CVU, providing a reliable path for converting these niche telephony recordings into modern formats for analysis or archival.
Developer: CCITT / ITU-T
Initial release: 1970
AU is an audio file format introduced by Sun Microsystems for its Unix workstations and the NeXT platform. It features a minimal 24-byte header specifying data offset, size, encoding type, sample rate, and channel count, followed by the audio payload. AU supports numerous encodings, including uncompressed linear PCM at various bit depths, mu-law and A-law companding (logarithmic compression used in telephone systems), and several ADPCM variants. This versatility made AU a workhorse across early Unix environments, web audio (Java applets defaulted to AU), and telephony applications. One advantage is simplicity: the compact header and straightforward structure make it trivial to parse, generate, and stream programmatically. The built-in mu-law option provides another benefit, delivering reasonable voice quality at just 8 KB per second — half the rate of 16-bit uncompressed audio — invaluable when storage and bandwidth were scarce. Although modern formats have largely supplanted AU in consumer applications, it retains a foothold in scientific computing and audio processing pipelines where minimal overhead and reliable cross-platform behavior are valued.
Developer: Sun Microsystems
Initial release: 1992

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert CVU to AU?

CVU is a legacy unfiltered encoding not supported by common audio tools. Converting to AU gives you standard Unix audio format.

How do I open a AU audio?

You can open AU with VLC, Audacity, SoX, and Unix/Linux media players.

Does CVU to AU conversion affect quality?

AU preserves audio data faithfully. Since CVU already has limited fidelity, the AU output matches the original quality exactly.

Can I convert CVU to AU on any device?

Yes — the converter runs entirely in your browser, so it works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile devices alike.

Can I convert multiple CVU recordings at once?

Yes — upload several CVU recordings simultaneously and they will all be converted to AU in parallel, saving you time.

Does CVU to AU conversion cost anything?

Standard conversions are available at no cost. Paid plans unlock higher limits and faster processing for heavy usage.