MAUD to HCOM Converter

MAUD is an audio file format developed by MacroSystem for the Commodore Amiga platform, introduced in the early 1990s as part of their digital video and audio production tools. Built on the Amiga IFF (Interchange File Format) chunk architecture, MAUD files organize data into clearly delineated chunks — MHDR for the header, MDAT for sample data, and optional annotation chunks for metadata. The format supports mono and stereo layouts with bit depths of 8 or 16 bits and sample rates up to 48 kHz, which represented professional-grade specifications on Amiga hardware. Both signed linear PCM and A-law/mu-law encodings are available, offering a choice between fidelity and file size. MAUD saw primary use in the Amiga video production community, where MacroSystem Retina and VLab Motion boards demanded synchronized audio that the standard 8SVX format could not deliver. Conversion support exists today through SoX and libsndfile, ensuring vintage Amiga productions remain recoverable. Three distinct advantages stand out: clean IFF-based structure that any chunk-aware parser can navigate, 16-bit stereo capability ahead of typical Amiga audio, and lightweight overhead that left maximum CPU headroom for video rendering.