WAV to Text Converter
Transcribe WAV recordings to text. Built for call recordings, interviews, dictation, Audacity exports and studio audio.
Drag & drop your file here
or browse files
Max file size: 500 MB
What a WAV file is, and why it is so large
WAV is a container that almost always holds uncompressed PCM audio: the raw samples, with nothing thrown away. That is why it is the default in audio editors, studio software and call recording systems, and also why the files are enormous next to an MP3 of the same length. Some people write it as "wave to text". Same format, same file.
The size is easy to estimate. CD-quality stereo, which is 44.1 kHz at 16 bits, runs to roughly 10 MB per minute. A mono recording at 16 kHz, which is plenty for speech, is closer to 2 MB per minute. So the 500 MB upload limit on this page is about 50 minutes of CD-quality stereo, or over four hours of speech-quality mono. Most call and dictation recordings are the second kind.
How to convert a WAV file to text
Upload the .wav using the box at the top of the page. Set the language to Auto and it is detected from the audio, or set it explicitly if you already know it. Turn on speaker detection for anything with more than one voice, such as a call, an interview or a meeting, so the transcript is broken into labelled turns rather than one unbroken block.
When processing finishes the transcript appears on the page with a word count. Copy it into your notes, download it as a TXT file, or export SRT subtitles with timestamps if the recording belongs to a video. Nothing is converted on your side first, and no software is installed.
Does uncompressed audio transcribe more accurately?
Not by itself. WAV preserves exactly what the microphone captured, and if what it captured was a distant, echoing conference room, the transcript will reflect that faithfully. A clean voice recorded close to a good microphone will transcribe well whether it is saved as WAV or as a 128 kbps MP3. Speech recognition is far more sensitive to noise, distance and crosstalk than to the last few bits of fidelity.
Where WAV genuinely helps is that it has not been through a lossy encoder, so there is no chance a low-bitrate export has smeared consonants together. Where it does not help is sample rate. Telephone audio is often 8 kHz, and an 8 kHz WAV is still telephone audio. For speech, aim for 16 kHz or higher when you have a choice at recording time.
Where WAV recordings come from
You rarely choose WAV deliberately. It is what the tool you used happened to write.
- Audacity and other audio editors, which export WAV by default.
- Handheld voice recorders and dictaphones, many of which record WAV at their higher quality settings.
- Call recording and contact centre systems, which archive calls as WAV.
- Studio DAWs and field recorders, where the whole point is to avoid compression.
- Some meeting and conferencing tools, when configured for an uncompressed audio export.
If your WAV is over 500 MB
Three options, in order of preference. First, trim it: silence at the start and end, or a long preamble before the real conversation, is easy to cut in any editor. Second, split it into parts at natural breaks and transcribe each one. Third, convert it to MP3 or M4A at 128 kbps or higher. That is roughly a tenth of the size, and for speech the transcript will be indistinguishable from the one you would get from the original.
If you convert, keep the WAV. The transcript is what you need today, but the uncompressed recording is the version worth archiving.
Speaker labels for calls and interviews
With speaker detection on, each change of voice starts a new line prefixed with a speaker label. Two people on a call come out as Speaker A and Speaker B, which you can then find-and-replace with names. This matters most for anything you will quote from later: a research interview, a customer call, a panel, a deposition-style recording.
It works best when people mostly take turns. Constant interruption and crosstalk are hard for any system to separate, and a recording where two people talk at once will produce merged lines in those moments. Leave it off for a single-speaker dictation or lecture, where labels add noise without adding information.
Transcript formats: TXT and SRT
TXT gives you plain text with speaker labels if you enabled them. It is what you want for meeting notes, quotes, or pasting into a document or a CRM. SRT gives you the same words broken into timed captions, ready to load into a video editor or upload alongside a video. If your WAV was extracted from a video and captions are the goal, the subtitle generator handles the whole flow from the video file without a separate audio export.
Privacy for sensitive recordings
Call recordings and interviews are often confidential. Files uploaded here are processed and then deleted after transcription, and no account is created, so there is no library of your recordings sitting behind a login. The transcript exists on your screen until you copy or download it. If the recording contains other people, check the recording consent rules that apply where you are before sharing the transcript on.
3 simple steps
Upload the WAV file
Drag in the .wav, or click the upload area and pick it from your computer.
Set language and speakers
Set the language to Auto to detect it, and enable speaker detection for calls and interviews.
Copy or export the transcript
Copy the text, save it as TXT, or download SRT subtitles with timestamps.
Why TranscribeX?
Reads WAV directly, uncompressed PCM included
Built for call recordings, interviews and dictation
Automatic language detection, or pick from 50+ languages
Speaker detection labels each voice on a call
TXT export for notes, SRT export for captions
Files up to 500 MB
Files are deleted after transcription
Free, no account required
Frequently asked questions
Upload the .wav at the top of this page, set the language to Auto or choose one, and turn on speaker detection for calls and interviews. The transcript appears on the page and can be copied or downloaded as TXT or SRT. No account or software is needed.
Yes. There is no charge, no registration and no watermark. The only limit is the 500 MB file size cap, which is about 50 minutes of CD-quality stereo or several hours of speech-quality mono.
Yes, up to 500 MB per upload. Because WAV is uncompressed, length is limited by size: a 16 kHz mono recording fits over four hours, while CD-quality stereo fits under an hour. Longer files can be trimmed, split, or converted to MP3 first.
Only marginally, and only when the recording itself is good. Accuracy depends far more on microphone distance, background noise and crosstalk than on the file format. A clean 128 kbps MP3 transcribes about as well as the same audio in WAV.
16 kHz or higher for speech. Telephone-quality 8 kHz audio still transcribes, but with more errors, because half the frequency range that distinguishes consonants is missing. Most recorders and editors default to 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, which is more than enough.
Yes. Choose the SRT export and you get the transcript split into timed captions. Load the file into a video editor or upload it alongside the video on platforms that accept subtitle files.
The same thing as WAV to text. WAV is short for Waveform Audio File Format, and people write it both ways. Any .wav file uploads here regardless of how you spell it.
Not unless it is over 500 MB. If it is, converting to MP3 or M4A at 128 kbps or higher cuts the size by around ten times with no meaningful effect on the transcript. Keep the original WAV as your archive copy.
Audacity and most audio editors, handheld voice recorders at their higher quality settings, call recording and contact centre systems, studio software, and field recorders. If you did not choose a format and the file is large, it is probably WAV.
Files are processed and then deleted after transcription, and no account is created, so nothing is stored under a login. The transcript is shown on the page for you to copy or download. Recording consent rules for the people on the recording are separate and depend on where you are.