convert audio files to text

There is so many text-to-speech software to choose from – whether you want to tell stories, dictate or use voice search, these apps help you do a great job. However, in some moments you may need to convert an audio file to text. Also, in this case, you have several options to choose from to make the conversion: all, in a really simple and fast way.

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Let’s find out the 6 best ways to convert audio files to text.

Voice typing in Word / Google Docs

Before looking for external software, we recommend that you try this small workaround that works on both Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or any other full-featured word processing software.

First, prepare the audio files you want to convert for playback and enable voice typing in your word processing software. In Google Docs go to “Tools -> Voice Typing” to activate dictation.

For Microsoft Word you need to:

  • Enable online dictation/speech recognition on macOS or Windows 10
  • At this point, you can use the keyboard shortcut set to activate dictation (Win + H in Windows 10, Command key twice in Mac) and open Word.
  • Once you’ve set up voice dictation or typing, open your word processing software, then play the audio file into your PC’s microphone (or play it on your PC so the microphone can “hear” it).

Bear File Converter

If you want simple audio to text conversion for short notes, Bear File Converter is for you. Based on the Baidu recognition engine, this software can do a really great job of converting clear audio with a few annoying noises. However, the online software is not very accurate in converting MP3 song files to text. Also, online software does not record for more than three minutes.

360Converter

If you are looking for slightly better results for converting your audio file to text then 360converter is for you. This software supports both audio and video. The results can be downloaded as a Word or PDF file. However, there are limitations to freeware. While the software is good enough to transcribe pre-recorded conversations and speeches, you will still not get professional results.

Sobolsoft

Sobolsoft

If you want a professional result when converting an MP3 file to text, Sobolsoft is the software for you.
Using Sobolsoft you will not have time limits in terms of output and you will be able to take advantage of intuitive options that will allow you to convert multiple files and split timelines. The results are far better than the previous options. Although you can try Sobolsoft for free, you will need to purchase it instead to take advantage of all the features and features of this software.

InqScribe

While it doesn’t directly convert audio to text, InqScribe is an intuitive digital transcription tool that makes a manual entry as easy as possible. With this software, you can quickly insert timecodes anywhere in the transcript and work on the rest just as if you were using a word processor. You can assign – with a single keystroke – keyboard shortcuts to and insert snippet variables to release frequently used text.
InqScribe is not free but you can try it for free for 14 days, without the need to enter payment methods.

Use the text-to-speech apps on your phone

Use the text-to-speech apps on your phone

If the audio source is on a different device, you can use the voice to text converter apps available for your phone to convert it to text. Speechnotes is a very good Android app that can do a good transcription. This application is absolutely free and is capable of providing fairly accurate results. However, you can only take notes separately and cannot transcribe the results into the audio or video source.

Conclusion

The solutions we have listed for you in our article, allow you to convert audio files to text with a good degree of automation. Obviously, the results will vary based on the application you choose to use. It is not possible to achieve absolute accuracy in this particular activity but, among all, InqScribe is the software and that allows you to achieve good results.