Free tool
WAV translator
This WAV translator reads a WAV recording in your browser, however large, writes down the speech and translates it, giving you a transcript in another language with the time of every paragraph, ready to quote, file or share.
- Free
- Large WAVs welcome
- Nothing is stored
Drop your WAV file here, or Choose your WAV file
MP3, M4A, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG or WebM. Up to 30 minutes of each file, 3 free files a day.
Recording interviews as WAV? NoteOwl transcribes WAV files of any length on your Mac with unlimited transcription and labels each speaker.
How it works
How do you translate a WAV file?
Drop the WAV on the page and choose the language to translate into. The page reads the file a slice at a time, turns it into 16 kHz mono, cuts it at pauses and has each piece transcribed; then the transcript is translated line by line, every time kept.
- 1
Add the WAV
From a field recorder, an audio editor’s export or a phone system: mono, stereo or more channels.
- 2
Choose the languages
Leave Spoken in on Detect automatically or set it, then pick the language to read. The first 30 minutes are translated.
- 3
Save the result
Copy the translation or download TXT, Word, SRT or VTT. Switch to Original for the transcript as spoken.
Will your recorder’s WAV open here?
Almost certainly. Ordinary PCM files at 16 or 24 bits, 32-bit float, phone-system µ-law and A-law, multichannel and broadcast WAVs all opened in Chrome, Edge and Safari in our tests. Only ADPCM, a compressed and rarer kind, needs Safari.
- PCM, 16 or 24 bits, stereo
- Typical sourceField recorders, audio editors
- Opens inChrome, Edge, Safari
- 32-bit float
- Typical sourceRecorders and editing software that keep headroom
- Opens inChrome, Edge, Safari
- µ-law or A-law, 8 kHz mono
- Typical sourcePhone systems and call recordings
- Opens inChrome, Edge, Safari
- Four channels, 24-bit
- Typical sourceMulti-microphone setups
- Opens inChrome, Edge, Safari
- IMA ADPCM
- Typical sourceA compressed variant, now uncommon
- Opens inSafari only
| WAV | Typical source | Opens in |
|---|---|---|
| PCM, 16 or 24 bits, stereo | Field recorders, audio editors | Chrome, Edge, Safari |
| 32-bit float | Recorders and editing software that keep headroom | Chrome, Edge, Safari |
| µ-law or A-law, 8 kHz mono | Phone systems and call recordings | Chrome, Edge, Safari |
| Four channels, 24-bit | Multi-microphone setups | Chrome, Edge, Safari |
| IMA ADPCM | A compressed variant, now uncommon | Safari only |
Does a huge WAV slow the translation down?
No. The page streams the file instead of loading it whole: a 70-minute, 1.2 GB WAV was ready to cut into pieces in about 4 seconds in Chrome. Only the first 30 minutes are transcribed and translated, whatever the file’s size.
Every WAV is brought down to 16 kHz, 16-bit mono before it’s cut into pieces, so a 96 kHz studio file and a call recording go through the same steps.
How do you quote a translated interview accurately?
Quote from the translation, then check it against the source. Every translated paragraph keeps its start time, so you can find the spot in the WAV and listen; the Original switch shows the words as transcribed. Names, figures and technical terms are worth checking first.
Find the moment
The time beside a paragraph is where it begins in the recording, to the second.
Read the source line
Original shows the transcript in the spoken language, at the same times as the translation.
Listen to odd phrases
A word the transcription got wrong is translated as heard, so a strange line deserves a listen.
Two microphones on two channels: does that work?
Yes. The channels are averaged into one before transcription, so both voices end up in the translation, in the order they spoke. The result doesn’t say who is who: the web translator has no speaker labels.
Translating research interviews recorded as WAV?
NoteOwl imports WAV recordings of any length and transcribes them on your Mac with unlimited transcription, labelling each speaker so every quote has a name. For one WAV’s transcript in its own language, use WAV to text.
FAQ
Questions about translating WAV recordings
Is the WAV translator free?
Yes. There’s no account, you can translate 3 WAV files a day, and up to 30 minutes of each one is transcribed and translated, with all four downloads.
How big a WAV can I drop in?
As big as you like: the limit is length, not size, and the page uses the first 30 minutes. It reads the WAV a slice at a time, so even a gigabyte-sized file is ready in seconds.
Is my WAV uploaded?
No. Your browser reads it and sends only short pieces of its sound, compressed to a fraction of the size, to a cloud AI transcription service, then the text to a cloud AI translation service. Each discards what it gets, and NoteOwl keeps nothing.
What if the page can’t read my WAV?
It’s most likely an ADPCM WAV, a compressed kind that Chrome and Edge can’t decode. Open the page in Safari and try again, or export the recording from your editor as an ordinary PCM WAV.
Can it translate a phone-system recording?
Yes. Call recordings saved as 8 kHz µ-law or A-law WAV open in every major browser. Phone audio carries less detail than a good microphone, so check names and numbers against the original transcript.
Which languages can it translate between?
The speech can be in any language on the Spoken in list, detected or chosen, and the translation can go into English or any language under Translate into, such as French, Polish or Vietnamese.
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
- 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 translatorTranslate the speech in an MP3 file free in your browser: a translated transcript with times, Word, SRT or VTT, and the original; 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
Interviews and field recordings, transcribed 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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