Free WAV to text converter
WAV is what field recorders, DAWs, and interview rigs export, because nothing is thrown away. That also makes the files large and completely unsearchable. Upload a WAV and Hilite gives you the words back, with timestamps, in a transcript you can correct and export.
Upload a file and download the transcript.
How to convert a WAV file to text
- 1
Upload the WAV
Drop the file in as it is. Uncompressed audio is fine, and there is no need to export an MP3 copy first.
- 2
Pick the language
Choose the spoken language, or let Hilite detect it.
- 3
Read and correct
Click a line to hear it. Uncompressed recordings usually transcribe cleanly, so this is mostly about names and terminology.
- 4
Export or keep editing
Download the transcript, or carry on in Hilite to clean up the audio and cut it from the text.
Keep working inside the Hilite editor
Your uploaded files open directly in a focused editor view. Arrange your clips, preview the timeline, adjust transitions, and export when the track sounds perfectly right.
- Review the transcript in context
- Keep timestamps with the words
- Copy, export, or keep editing
Input formats
Output formats
Built for every kind of audio
Whatever you are making, this tool helps you get to a cleaner, more useful result, then hand off to Hilite to enhance and polish.
- Nothing lost on the way inWAV keeps the whole recording, which is exactly what you want feeding a transcript. Compressing first can only take detail away.
- Made for recorder and DAW exportsZoom and Tascam recorders, Audacity, Logic and Reaper all export WAV. Upload whatever they give you.
- Text you can edit the audio withIn Hilite the transcript drives the cut, so the file you just transcribed is already halfway to being edited.
Made for podcasters and their teams
Trim the dead air off the top and tail, and every recording is ready to edit, enhance, and publish.
FAQ
Common questions
If you do not see your question here, the support team replies within one business day.
- Yes, it is free to start. Longer files, saved projects, and some export formats may need a free Hilite account.
- No. Upload the WAV. Compressing first discards detail and cannot improve the transcript.
- Uncompressed audio is big by nature and that is expected. If a very long session gives you trouble, splitting it into segments is the usual fix.
- Yes, with speaker labels where the recording supports them, and you can export timed subtitles as SRT.
- MP3, M4A, and MP4 work the same way, and each has its own page.
Turn a WAV recording into text
Upload the file, read the transcript, and carry on in Hilite when the recording needs editing, enhancement, or publishing.