Free tool
MP3 translator
This MP3 translator turns the speech in an MP3 file into a transcript in another language: a podcast episode, a recorded lecture or an interview comes back translated line by line, with the time of every paragraph and the original words one click away.
- Free
- Any MP3 bitrate
- Nothing is stored
Drop your MP3 file here, or Choose your MP3 file
MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG or WebM. Up to 30 minutes of each file, 3 free files a day.
Working through a folder of MP3 interviews? NoteOwl transcribes MP3s on your Mac with unlimited transcription, labels each speaker and keeps every recording searchable.
How it works
How do you translate an MP3 file?
Drop the MP3 on the translator and pick the language you want to read it in; the spoken language is detected unless you choose it. The sound is transcribed in short pieces, then the transcript is translated a batch of lines at a time, every line keeping its time.
- 1
Drop in the MP3
A podcast episode, a lecture you downloaded or a file from a voice recorder. Mono or stereo, at any bitrate.
- 2
Pick the language to read
Translate into starts on English; switch it to any language on the list. Up to 30 minutes of each MP3.
- 3
Read and save
Copy the translation, or save it as TXT or Word, named after the MP3 with the new language code, such as lecture.fr.docx.
Where do MP3s worth translating come from?
Mostly from downloads. Podcasts, lectures, sermons and radio shows are published as MP3, and many voice recorders save it too. Translating one gives you text to read, search and quote, instead of an hour of listening in a language you only half follow.
Podcast episodes
An interview show in German or Portuguese, read in English while you look for the part you need.
Lectures and talks
A recorded class or conference session, turned into notes you can follow in your own language.
Recorder files
Interviews and meetings from a dictaphone or a phone app that saves its recordings as MP3.
How long does an MP3 take to translate?
About as long as transcribing it, plus a few seconds. In our tests, two and a half minutes of Spanish in an MP3 came back in English in 6 seconds, and an English MP3 of 2:19 became Spanish in 13 to 16 seconds.
The lines go to the translator in batches of consecutive lines, not one sentence at a time, so a sentence that runs across two lines is read whole.
- Spanish speech, 2:30, into English
- Pieces transcribed7
- Translation batches2
- Finished in6 s
- English speech, 2:19, into Spanish
- Pieces transcribed6
- Translation batches2
- Finished in13–16 s
| MP3 | Pieces transcribed | Translation batches | Finished in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish speech, 2:30, into English | 7 | 2 | 6 s |
| English speech, 2:19, into Spanish | 6 | 2 | 13–16 s |
Does a low-bitrate MP3 translate worse?
Not because of the bitrate. In our transcription test, one English recording saved as MP3 at 16, 24, 64 and 128 kbps made about the same number of slips every time. Background noise, distance from the microphone and people talking over each other matter far more.
Clear sound counts twice here: a word the transcription mishears is translated as heard. When a translated line reads oddly, switch to Original and look at the line it came from.
What do you get back from a translated MP3?
The translation in paragraphs, each with its start time, and the transcript in the spoken language behind the Original switch. The Word file opens with the recording’s length, the language pair, such as “Spanish → English”, and the date.
- TXT
- What it holdsThe translated paragraphs, with or without times
- Good forPasting into notes or an email
- Word
- What it holdsThe same text, headed with the length, the languages and the date
- Good forReports and research files
- SRT or VTT
- What it holdsThe translation as timed subtitles
- Good forCaptioning a clip that uses the same audio
- Original
- What it holdsThe transcript as spoken, at the same times
- Good forChecking a line or quoting the speaker exactly
| Download | What it holds | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| TXT | The translated paragraphs, with or without times | Pasting into notes or an email |
| Word | The same text, headed with the length, the languages and the date | Reports and research files |
| SRT or VTT | The translation as timed subtitles | Captioning a clip that uses the same audio |
| Original | The transcript as spoken, at the same times | Checking a line or quoting the speaker exactly |
Have a folder of MP3 recordings to get through?
NoteOwl imports MP3s of any length and transcribes them on your Mac with unlimited transcription, labels each speaker and keeps every recording searchable. For an MP3’s transcript in its own language, use MP3 to text.
FAQ
Questions about translating MP3 files
Is the MP3 translator free?
Yes, with no account: translate 3 MP3s a day, up to 30 minutes of each. The translation, the original transcript and all four downloads are included.
Is my MP3 uploaded?
The file stays on your device. Your browser decodes it and sends short pieces of the sound to a cloud AI transcription service, then the transcript’s text to a cloud AI translation service; each discards what it was sent. NoteOwl keeps neither the audio nor the words.
What if the MP3 runs longer than 30 minutes?
Its first 30 minutes are transcribed and translated, and a note above the result says so. To cover a longer episode, cut it into parts and translate them one by one.
Can I tell it which language the MP3 is in?
Yes. Spoken in starts on Detect automatically; when you know the language, set it there, and every piece of the MP3 is transcribed as that language before the translation starts.
Does it read the translation aloud?
No. It writes the translation for you to read, copy or save, with no spoken version. To put translated subtitles on a video instead, the video translator works from the video file.
Does the translation name the speakers?
No. The translated paragraphs carry times but no names. On a Mac, NoteOwl labels every speaker in the transcripts it makes.
Keep exploring
More audio translator tools
- Audio translatorA free audio translator: drop in a recording and get what was said in another language, as a translated transcript with times, Word, SRT or VTT, with the original beside it; nothing is stored
- M4A translatorTranslate a voice memo or other M4A recording free in your browser: a translated transcript with times, Word or SRT; nothing is stored
- WAV translatorTranslate the speech in a WAV recording free in your browser: a translated transcript with times, Word, SRT or VTT; nothing is stored
- OGG translatorTranslate an OGG or Opus voice message free in your browser, from WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal: a translated transcript; nothing is stored
- AAC translatorTranslate the speech in an AAC recording free in your browser: a translated transcript with times, Word or SRT; nothing is stored
MP3 recordings, transcribed and searchable on your Mac
Free to download. Runs entirely on your Mac.
macOS 26 or later · Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) · 16 GB memory minimum, 24 GB recommended
About NoteOwl
NoteOwl is private AI meeting notes and memory for the Mac. It captures meetings without a bot joining the call, labels every speaker, writes summaries and action items, and builds a memory of every conversation that you can chat with — fully offline, because the speech recognition and the AI run on the Mac itself. Dictation into any app is free; Pro is a one-time purchase.
NoteOwl pricing: what’s free and what Pro adds
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