How to Transcribe an MP3 File to Text
Turning an MP3 into text: what to upload, what a lossy file costs you, what to do about a long recording, and why music is a different problem.
The Scriptorium team ·
Upload the MP3 to an MP3 to text converter, choose the language, and read the transcript it returns. You do not need to convert the file to WAV first, and you do not need to trim it unless it is longer than your limit.
The steps
- Open MP3 to text and choose the file, or drop it onto the box.
- Pick the spoken language if you know it; leave it on automatic only when you do not.
- Wait for the transcript. A short recording takes a short time; a long one takes longer.
- Read it while listening to the first minute or two, to see what kind of mistakes it makes.
- Correct what is wrong, then copy the text or export it as a text, SRT, VTT, Markdown or CSV file.
Does the MP3 format hurt accuracy?
A little, in the worst case. MP3 is lossy: the encoder discards detail to make the file small. At ordinary speech bitrates that is rarely what limits the transcript. Much more often it is background noise, a distant microphone or two people talking at once. The exception is an MP3 made by converting another lossy file, or one saved at a very low bitrate to save space. If the original is still around, transcribe the original.
Music and songs
Speech recognition is built for speech. Sung lyrics over instruments are usually incomplete or wrong. If you need lyrics, a lyrics source is a better bet than a transcript.
A recording longer than your limit
The no-account preview is capped by length and file size. Two honest options: create a free account, or cut the part you need out of the recording with an audio editor and upload that. Do not split mid-sentence, or both halves will start and end with a clipped word.
Whatever the format, the transcript is a draft. Check names, numbers and anything you will quote against the audio.