What is a AU file?
Audacity project audio chunks
Audacity, an open source audio editor, breaks long tracks into small pieces so it can edit them more efficiently. Thus, when you save an Audacity Project File (.AUP), Audacity will automatically create a _data folder that has the same name as the AUP file and breaks the longer audio file into smaller chunks that have the .AU extension. Thus, when Audacity opens up the AUP Project File, it loads the individual AU files in the correct sequence automatically. The user should not move or rename and AU files in the _data folder.
Common uses for AU files
- Audacity audio editing
- Audio project files
- Audacity project folders
Who works with AU files?
Podcast editors and home-studio producers usually run into AU files when recovering audio from legacy Audacity projects, since older versions of the editor stored each track as small AU chunks. Unix system administrators and Java developers may also recognize the format from its origins as the standard sound file on Sun and NeXT workstations.
AU vs WAV: which should you use?
AU and WAV are both simple header-plus-data audio formats: WAV, created by Microsoft and IBM, became the de facto standard for uncompressed audio, while AU originated on Sun and NeXT systems and survives mainly in legacy Unix software and older Audacity project folders. Both can hold uncompressed PCM, but WAV has far broader support in modern editors, players, and web tools. Choose WAV when exporting or sharing audio; AU is typically something a legacy project or system hands to you rather than a format you pick.
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