I listen to podcasts. I watch videos. I watch podcasts of different languages. But more than anything I read and write. I practice languages. That’s just how I roll. And sometimes, my ramblings bring me as far as understanding English meaning of some specific kikuyu translation texts.
Frequently I want to save an audio snippet or video clip for future reference. Sure I could save the source media file, if I had unlimited disk space. But what I usually do is keep a link to the original source and text synopsis of the snippet. That both saves on storage and makes future searches for that particular item simpler.
If you’re like me, you really want the original text more than a synopsis. It take s a bit of extra effort, but I have a nice solution that uses only a Mac and open source software. Read below for instructions on converting an MP3 audio file to a text document.
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The Basics of Configuring Your Mac to Transcribe .MP3 Audio
Here’s what you need:
- The original media (.mp3 file, for example)
- Soundflower. Soundflower is an application that creates a virtual audio channel and directs audio input and output to physical or virtual devices.
- Audacity. Audacity is a free application for recording and editing sounds.
- TextEdit.app. TextEdit is the default text editor/word processor that is included in Mac OS X.
Follow the instructions on the developer websites to get all of the software installed and working on your system. Once you have the software installed, the next step is to configure your Mac to use Soundflower for dictation.
- Open System Preferences and click on “Dictation & Speech”
- Select the Dictation tab
- Select “Soundflower (2ch)” as the dictation input source
- Click Dictation to “On”
- Tick the “Use Enhanced Dictation” box
Your Mac is ready for dictation. When dictation is turned on in TextEdit (or a another word processing app), your Mac will transcribe sound from the Soundflower input source.
Getting Your Audio and Text Files Ready
Next, you need to queue up the audio file in Audacity and direct output to Soundflower. For those who are new to Audacity, this will be the trickiest step. But relax, you don’t need to learn much about Audacity beyond deciding what section of sound to play and how to select the audio output from the default speakers to Soundflower.
- Launch Audacity
- Import your audio file into audacity (File–> Import, or simply drag the file into the center of the Audacity screen.)
- Click the play button to give it a listen, then click stop once your confident you have the right sound clip/transcription area.
- Choose Audacity –> Preferences –> Devices. Under playback, choose “Soundflower (2ch)” to switch the output from the onboard speakers to Soundflower. Click “OK”
With Audacity and your sound file queued up, its time to turn your attention to TextEdit.
- Launch TextEdit
- Create a “New Document”
- You may want to add some meta data to the document, such as the podcast name, episode #, publish date and URL, to go along with the key transcript.
- Position the cursor in the file where you want the transcript to appear.
And … Action!
It’s time to start audio playback and dictation transcription. Here both sequence and timing are important:
- In Audacity, move the scrubber start location 10-15 seconds before the key transcription area.
- Press “Play.” The scrubber and meters will start moving, though you won’t hear any sound. The audio signal is going to Soundflower instead of to the speakers.
- Put focus on Text edit and position the cursor where you want the transcription to begin.
- Select Edit –> Start Dictation. (or use the hot key combination, Fn Fn). A microphone icon with a “Done” button will appear to the left of your document.
- Text will start appearing in the document. It will likely lag by about 3-5 seconds.
- After approximately 30 seconds press the “done” button. Transcription will continue until complete.
This is the fun part: watch as transcription happens in real time right in the document window. Look Ma, no hands!
And now you have the original text (and most likely a few errors) as text to save. In the future you can easily search and retrieve the information.
An Excellent Alternative: Google Docs Voice Typing
While the solution above works great for offline work, one alternative with a lot of promise is Google Docs. The Voice Typing feature work much like the dictation service in Mac OS. It has the crowdsourcing advantages and privacy disadvantages of other Google products. If you’re OK with that, I found Voice Typing to do an very good job with accuracy and it can go longer that Mac OS dictation.
To use Google Voice Typing, follow all of the steps above with Soundflower, Dictation preferences and configuring Audacity. Instead of using TextEdit, you’ll want to start the Chrome browser and create a Google Doc. Once you are in document, Select Tools –> Voice typing
The user interface and process of starting and stopping transcription is the same as with TextEdit.
Dictation and Transcription Limitations
This process sets you well on you way to the goal of a high fidelity audio transcription. But it will be short of perfect. Here’s what you can do to go from good to perfect:
- Understand that Mac OS dictation transcription works for a maximum of 30 seconds at a time. If you need longer, you may want to use an alternate technology such as Dragon.
- Audio playback needs to start before dictation/transcription begins in TextEdit. TextEdit needs to be in focus for dictation to work. If you set the Audacity scrubber a few seconds ahead of target snippet, you’ll be fine.
- Transcription cannot intuit punctuation. You’ll need to add that after the fact.
- If you have multiple speakers or a noisy background, you may need to complete one additional step of creating a pristine audio file to work from. This can be done by listening to the sound through headphones and speaking the text into an audio recorder. Use the recording of your voice to drive the transcription.
Are you in need of transcription services? Well, then an audio to text translator software is the thing for you. But then, the market today is full of many such software programs which make spotting a reliable one often a hard task.
- A Text Converter should be able to easily convert from the audio into text.Some speech to text software do not do the best job of turning speech into something readable. In the case of these software, you should know what to look for if you want reliable audio-to-text converters.
- Audio to text converter free download - MediaHuman Audio Converter, Switch Audio and Mp3 Converter Free, Text Converter, and many more programs.
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- To convert a Mac OS text file to a Unix text file using Perl, at the Unix shell prompt, enter: perl -p -e 's/ r/ n/g' unixfile.txt To convert from a Unix text file to a Mac OS text file with Perl, at the Unix shell prompt, enter.
Convert audio files to text using this free service. I'm always interested in file conversion services, and I've often written on these pages about how to convert between Word, PDF, Excel and so on. But here's something a little different, and very clever.
However, you don’t have to bother anymore as here we have compiled a full list of some of the best audio to text translator software programs that will make everything simpler for you.
GoTranscript
This is another very powerful audio to text transcription converter which is used by companies globally. From academic transcriptions to legal ones- GoTranscript can perform all. The service program is largely used by students, academic professionals, lawyers, police, judges and so on. The company also assures an award-winner customer support.
Express Scribe
You are getting a pro audio player program here for Mac or PC that assists in audio recording transcriptions. The program comes with valuable features to help the typists such as varied speed playback, video playing, multi-channel control, file management and so on. Upside down text autocad for mac 2018. The user will control the audio playback here with keyboard hot keys or transcription foot-pedal.
VoiceBase
The software is equipped with APIs that helps in speech recognition & speech analytics which further helps in easy insight into what customer speaks to the company staff. The software promises accurate-most speech recognition. The keyword spotting analysis as facilitated by the software helps in efficient and fast extraction of insights.
Speechlogger
Note pad plain text editor for mac. This is a very reputed web app which is dedicated to fantastic speech recognition for converting audio to text versions as well as immediate voice translation. The program runs on advanced speech-to-text technology by Google to ensure best results. It’s the sole app that comes with auto-save, auto-punctuation, timestamps, in-text editing & export options.
Dragon for Mac
This all-new software has to be on the list as it promises 15 percent more accurate speedy speech recognition than ever. You are also getting versatile transcription & mobility features that hike up your productivity at the work place. If you want to reduce the typing stress, just dictate to Dragon and it will do the work for you.
InqScribe
The list would stay incomplete without the mention of Inqscribe. It’s a much recommended name among transcribers which enables one to play videos & type the transcripts in same window. Whether you are taking notes or need word-to-word transcription, this audio to text conversion program would be your handy aide for everything.
Audio to Text Translator Software for Various Platforms
You will find a huge assortment of audio to text translator software applications for various platforms today. The one you are going for should match your system’s OS as otherwise it won’t work. Not every such software programs are meant for all operating systems as there are some software applications that only work for specific OS.
Free Windows Audio to Text Translator
When it comes to a good free Windows audio to text translator software, Wave To Text is a great name no doubt. This is a speech recognition-based (English) dictation program with audio to text conversion facility. You will be able to convert from voice to the text file just in real-time.
Free Android Audio to Text Translator – Evernote
If you are in quest of a good free Android audio to text translator software, don’t look past Evernote . It was previously meant to just record the audio notes like meeting notes or lectures but it now it can even turn the audiofiles to text. The app will save both the text & audio files together so that it’s easier for you to find out your recorded note.
Free Mac Audio to Text Translator Software – MAXQDA
When you are in quest of a credible free Mac audio to text translator software, MAXQDA would be a great option anyday. The powerful transcription software comes with a robust data analysis functionality which makes data recognition easier for the users. Best text message recovery software for mac. It can analyze audio & video files, interviews, online surveys & images.
Most Popular Audio to Text Translator for 2016 – Transcribe
The best bit about Transcribe is that it comes with audio player integrated well with text editor and that too on same screen. This way, you are saved from switching back & forth between audio player & editor. No wonder, a great deal of time is saved, much to the convenience of users.
Convert Audio To Text Freeware
If you want to know about most popular audio to text translator software for 2016, Transcribe is the name for you. It’s a favorite of students and journalists as it helps them to save volumes of time and enhance productivity, courtesy the software’s 2-3x faster audio transcription service. It’s used all over the world.
What is an Audio to Text Translator Software?
Convert Audio To Text Software
An audio to text translator software is a program which helps to convert audio files into text files. Thus, it’s also referred to as transcription software sometimes. The transcription process can be performed manually or even automatically- however, it will depend on the very advancement of your software.
The audio to text converter software comes with speech recognition capacity and can convert various kinds of audio files such as interviews, music files in MP3, online surveys and so on. Some of the more advanced options can even convert video files and images into text files. The leading ones also come with in-text editing feature.
How to Install Audio to Text Translator Software?
To install audio to text translator software, download the chosen software first through its download link. However, before you click on the download link, make sure the software matches your system’s OS. After you download the software, you will have the installation link followed by the needed instructions on installing the software.
Benefits of Audio to Text Translator Software
Transcription App For Mac
Convert Mp3 To Text
Many times you would need to have a text copy of the audio files for a better understanding of the matter. It could be noted from a lecture or meeting or a phone conversation with a client or for any data in an audio file. A textual picture always assures a better grasp on any information or message.
This is where the audio to text translator software options come in. These are largely used by students, journalists, medical professionals, solicitors, police, court clerk, lawyers and so on. There are some audio to text converter softwares that are specifically designed for certain industries like medical or law.
When you are planning to install an audio to text converter program, check out what kind of audio files the program can support. Your chosen one should be able to support all major audio files. When it comes to using these software programs, well, they are pretty simple to run.
