Convertessa

Convert AC-3 to AU. Offline.

Your files stay on your Mac.

Get the app
1,100+ conversion combinations ›_Command-line included
Convertessa app window showing the format catalog and drop area
What it does

What happens when you convert AC-3 to AU

AC-3 (Dolby Digital) is a lossy multi-channel audio codec used in DVDs, Blu-rays, and broadcast streams. Converting to AU decodes that compressed stream into raw PCM audio stored in the AU container. The result is an uncompressed audio file ready for workstations and command-line tools that read AU natively.

AC-3 Converter AU Converter AC-3 to AAC AC-3 to AIFF
How it works

Three steps. No upload required.

1

Drop your AC-3 files

Drag one .ac3 file or an entire folder onto Convertessa. Every file stays on your Mac — nothing is uploaded to any server.

2

Choose AU

Pick AU from the output format list. Convertessa writes standard AU files with uncompressed PCM audio, preserving the channel layout of the source.

3

Convert

Click Convert. Convertessa decodes each AC-3 stream to PCM and saves the result as .au. Batch jobs run in parallel and finish without any cloud round-trip.

Format catalog

From everyday files to pro media.

Images, audio, video, documents, archives and eBooks — all converted natively, right on your Mac.

Images

JPEGPNGHEICAVIFWebPTIFFSVGJPEG XL+7 more

Audio

MP3AACFLACWAVOGGOpusAIFF+9 more

Video

MP4MOVMatroskaWebMAVIMPEGAnimated GIF+10 more

Documents

PDFWordMarkdownHTMLPowerPointExcelLaTeX+29 more

Archives

ZIPTAR7-ZipGzipped TARRARISO+2 more

eBooks

EPUBMOBIAZW3FictionBook
Conversion explorer

What do you want to convert?

Pick a format you have — see everything Convertessa can turn it into.

— conversion combinations
I have a
can be converted to
From MP4

Features

Built for real work.

Batch conversion

Convert hundreds of files at once with per-type group defaults and individual overrides.

Modern image formats

First-class support for HEIC, AVIF and WebP — encode and decode, both ways. Read JPEG XL and a dozen more modern formats too.

Drag & drop

Drop files anywhere on the window. Native, instant, and exactly what you’d expect on a Mac.

Quality control

Dial in compression, resolution and bitrate. Keep originals pristine or shrink for sharing.

Collision-safe naming

Never overwrite a file by accident. Convertessa appends safe suffixes automatically.

Conversion history

Every job is logged locally. Re-run a previous conversion or revisit recent outputs in a click.

Archive the output

Bundle your converted files straight into a single ZIP, TAR or 7z — packaged and ready to share the moment a job finishes.

Convert from Finder

Right-click any file in Finder and choose Convert. A Quick Action handles it on the spot — no need to open the app first.

Compact mode

Shrink Convertessa to a tidy mini window that tucks into a corner — just a drop zone and a format picker for quick, one-off conversions.

Your files never leave your Mac.

No cloud. No account. No upload. Every conversion happens entirely on-device, using the power already in your Mac. What you convert is nobody’s business but yours.

On-device processing Zero telemetry No file uploads
For power users

There’s a command line, too.

Script conversions, wire them into your build, or batch a folder from the terminal. The same engine, no GUI required.

Read the full CLI documentation →
zsh — convertessa
# Convert a single file
$ convertessa input.ac3 --to au
✓ photo.au · 1.2 MB · 0.4s
 
# Batch a whole folder
$ convertessa ./*.ac3 --to au -o ~/Exports
✓ 14 files converted · 4.1s
Made to fit

And a compact mode.

Shrink Convertessa down to a small, focused window — drop, convert, done, with your recent conversions one click away.

Convertessa in compact mode — a small window with a drop area and recent conversions
Pricing

One price. Yours for good.

Lifetime license
$19
One-time payment
No subscription. No renewals. Ever.
Get the app
  • 1,000+ conversion combinations
  • Lifetime future updates
  • No account required
  • Unlimited devices

macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon & Intel

Changelog

What’s shipped so far.

New formats, new features, and fixes — every release, on the record.

FAQ

Good questions.

Convertessa is a native macOS app that converts your files between formats — images, audio, video, documents, archives and eBooks — entirely on your Mac. Drop a file in, choose an output, and it’s done. No uploads, no account, no subscription.
Convertessa is an orchestrator. Under the hood it relies on best-in-class open-source engines — FFmpeg for audio & video, Pandoc for documents, libvips for images, LibreOffice for office formats, and Calibre for eBooks. It installs them for you with a click, then calls the right tool, or chain of tools, in the right order for whatever you’re converting. You get one clean native interface instead of a tangle of command-line flags. These binaries aren’t bundled with the app and are never installed without your approval — Convertessa simply calls them in a terminal session on your behalf.
Popular ones include JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WebP and AVIF; MP3, AAC, FLAC and WAV; MP4, MOV and MKV; PDF, DOCX and EPUB; ZIP, TAR and 7z — and many more. See exactly what converts to what in the conversion explorer →
Email us and we’ll add it in an upcoming release. Convertessa’s format coverage grows with what people actually need, so your request genuinely helps shape the app.
Your files? Never. Every conversion happens locally on your Mac. Your files are never uploaded, and nothing you convert is ever sent anywhere. Our Privacy Policy spells out exactly what limited data the app does store.
No analytics, no tracking, no telemetry. Your files and conversions stay entirely on your Mac — nothing you convert is ever sent anywhere. The app periodically checks for software updates in the background; like any web request, that check reveals only standard request metadata (your IP and app/OS version) to our update server — never your files, name, email, or license — and updates are always user-approved. Our Privacy Policy spells out exactly what’s stored — and what isn’t.
Yes. Convertessa is a universal app and runs natively on Intel Macs. It requires macOS 14 or later.
Yes. It’s tuned for Apple Silicon (M-series) and runs natively — fast and energy-efficient. macOS 14 or later.
Yes — your license works on an unlimited number of your own Macs. Buy once and install it everywhere you work.
You get a genuinely useful, private, native Mac app for a single $19 payment — no subscription, ever. And your purchase directly supports a small independent developer and the app’s ongoing updates and new formats.
There’s no separate trial, but every purchase is backed by a 14-day money-back guarantee. If Convertessa isn’t right for you, contact your payment processor within 14 days to request a full refund — no questions asked. You can also email us and we’ll help route it.
Quite possibly — just email us. If you’re a student, run a non-profit, or have another good reason, reach out and we’ll sort you out.
Convertessa was built by Daler Azimov — a developer who needed a fast, private, native file converter for his own work, and decided to make the one he wished existed. Connect on LinkedIn →

No. AC-3 is a lossy codec, so some data was discarded when the original AC-3 file was encoded. Converting to AU decodes that stream to uncompressed PCM — no further loss occurs in this step.

Yes. Convertessa decodes every channel present in the AC-3 stream and writes them into the AU file. A 5.1 source produces a six-channel AU output with the original channel order intact.

Yes. Drop a folder onto Convertessa or run convertessa /your/folder --to au to process every AC-3 file in the directory in a single pass.

We’d love to hear from you. Email us and you’ll get a reply from a real person — the one who made the app.