Transcribe Chinese Audio or Video to Text
Upload any Chinese recording — OpenAI Whisper detects the language automatically and returns an accurate transcript in seconds.
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MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC · MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM · up to 2 GB
Set language, translation, or vocabulary hints below before transcribing
YouTube, Dropbox, Google Drive, or any direct MP3/MP4 link
Transcription model
Transcript style
Removes fillers and false starts for readable text
Names, acronyms, or domain terms that improve accuracy
MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC · MP4, MOV, MKV · up to 2 GB · 10 minutes free every day
About Chinese transcription
Mandarin Chinese sits in the Sino-Tibetan family alongside Tibetan and Burmese, but its transcription profile is shaped most sharply by two features that have no real equivalent in European languages: a tonal system where the same syllable pronounced with a falling pitch means something entirely different from the same syllable on a rising one, and a writing system that maps meaning through characters rather than a phonetic alphabet. For any speech-recognition task, that tonal density raises the stakes on getting pitch right — a mishear that would produce a minor spelling variant in English can produce a completely different word in Mandarin. The output character set splits further into Simplified (used in mainland China) and Traditional (standard in Taiwan and much of the global diaspora), and convert.express covers both. Accuracy for Mandarin is rated high. The language has consistent syllable structure and relatively few consonant clusters, which keeps the phonetic search space narrower than many other high-tone languages. Where results tend to degrade is in heavily regional speech or mixing with other Chinese varieties, since those introduce sound patterns the core Mandarin model is not optimized for.
OpenAI Whisper, MAI-Transcribe 2 and Gemini 3.5 Transcribe all support Chinese, detected automatically from the audio — no manual language selection is needed. Upload any Chinese recording up to 2 GB — MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, MP4, MOV, and most common audio and video formats are accepted. Every account includes 10 free minutes of transcription per day; longer files are billed at €0.02 per minute with a €0.50 minimum per transaction. Transcripts download as plain text and are automatically deleted within 24 hours of upload.
Available transcription models
10 min
Free every day
€0.02
Per minute beyond quota
< 1 min
Typical turnaround
Tips for the best results
- Use a quiet environment — background noise is the biggest source of transcription errors.
- Speak at a natural pace; extremely fast speech reduces accuracy in any language.
- MP3 or M4A files work great; uncompressed WAV is ideal for professional recordings.
- Files up to 2 GB are supported — long recordings are automatically split and merged.
Frequently asked questions
- How accurate is AI transcription for Chinese?
- For standard Mandarin, accuracy is high. The syllable structure is fairly regular, and the Sino-Tibetan tonal system, while demanding, is consistent enough that well-spoken Mandarin transcribes cleanly. Both Simplified and Traditional character output are supported, so the script choice does not affect accuracy. The main caveat is dialect mixing: audio that blends Mandarin with Cantonese, Hokkien, or heavy regional accents will see more errors, because those varieties differ from Mandarin at the phoneme level, not just in accent.
- How long does Chinese transcription take?
- Most Chinese recordings are ready in under a minute. Processing time scales with file length — a 10-minute recording typically returns results in 20–40 seconds, and a one-hour recording in around 4–6 minutes. Longer files are automatically split, transcribed in parallel, and merged, so you never need to cut your audio before uploading.
- Can I translate Chinese audio to English or other languages?
- Yes, two ways. For a quick English-only result, enable "Translate to English" in the upload options above — OpenAI Whisper transcribes and translates Chinese audio to English text in a single pass, at no extra cost. For any other target language, first transcribe normally, then use the Translate action on the finished transcript in your dashboard — it's powered by Claude AI and can translate the Chinese transcript (or its summary and action list) into any of convert.express's other supported languages, not just English.
- Which transcription model should I use for Chinese?
- OpenAI Whisper, MAI-Transcribe 2 and Gemini 3.5 Transcribe all support Chinese. OpenAI Whisper is the established choice, with broad language coverage and single-pass translation to English. MAI-Transcribe 2 is in preview, with whole-file speaker labeling, word-level timestamps, and entity biasing for proper names and terminology. Gemini 3.5 Transcribe is in preview, has the widest language coverage, and labels speakers in-model. Try them on a short clip to see which output suits your recording.
- What audio and video formats are supported?
- MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, Opus, MP4, MOV, MKV, and most other common audio and video formats are accepted. Files up to 2 GB can be uploaded. The language is detected automatically from the audio — no manual language selection is needed.
中文 · convert.express
普通话属于汉藏语系，与藏语、缅甸语同属一脉，但影响其语音识别难度的，主要是两个欧洲语言几乎没有对应概念的特征：一是声调系统——同一个音节，声调不同，意思可以截然不同；二是以表意汉字而非拼音字母来承载意义的书写系统。正因为声调如此关键，语音识别稍有偏差，在英语里可能只是个拼写错误，在普通话里却可能变成一个完全不同的词。汉字输出又分为简体（中国大陆通用）和繁体（台湾及全球华人社区普遍使用），convert.express 两者均支持。总体而言，普通话的识别准确率较高。其音节结构较为规整，辅音丛也相对较少，这使得音素搜索空间比许多其他声调语言更为有限。准确率下降的情况，通常出现在地方口音较重、或与其他汉语方言混用的音频中，因为这些语音模式并非核心普通话模型所针对优化的范围。OpenAI Whisper、MAI-Transcribe 2 和 Gemini 3.5 Transcribe 均支持中文，语言可从音频中自动检测，无需手动选择。上传任意中文录音，文件大小上限为 2 GB，支持 MP3、WAV、M4A、FLAC、MP4、MOV 等绝大多数常见音视频格式。每个账户每天享有 10 分钟的免费转录额度；超出部分按每分钟 €0.02 计费，每笔交易最低消费 €0.50。转录文本可下载为纯文本格式，并在上传后 24 小时内自动删除。
- AI 转录中文的准确率如何？
- 对于标准普通话，识别准确率较高。普通话的音节结构相当规整，汉藏语系的声调系统虽然复杂，但一致性强，发音标准的普通话转录效果通常很好。简体和繁体字输出均支持，字体选择不影响识别准确率。主要的注意点在于方言混用：如果音频中普通话夹杂粤语、闽南语或较重的地方口音，错误率会明显上升，因为这些变体与普通话在音素层面就存在差异，不只是口音轻重的问题。
- 中文转录需要多长时间？
- 大多数中文录音在一分钟内即可完成转录。处理时间随文件时长线性增长——10 分钟的录音通常在 20 至 40 秒内返回结果，一小时的录音大约需要 4 至 6 分钟。较长的文件会自动分段、并行转录后再合并，无需在上传前手动裁剪音频。
- 能把中文音频翻译成英文或其他语言吗？
- 可以，有两种方式。如果只需要快速获得英文结果，可以在上方上传选项中开启「Translate to English」功能——OpenAI Whisper 会在一次处理中同步完成中文音频的转录和英文翻译，无需额外付费。如果需要翻译成其他语言，可以先正常完成转录，再在控制台中对已生成的文本使用「翻译」功能——该功能由 Claude AI 驱动，可将中文转录内容（包括摘要和待办事项列表）翻译成 convert.express 支持的任意语言，不限于英文。
- 转录中文应该选哪个模型？
- OpenAI Whisper、MAI-Transcribe 2 和 Gemini 3.5 Transcribe 均支持中文。OpenAI Whisper 是经过验证的成熟选择，语言覆盖广，支持一次处理直接翻译为英文。MAI-Transcribe 2 目前处于预览阶段，内置说话人标注、词级时间戳，以及针对专有名词和专业术语的实体增强功能。Gemini 3.5 Transcribe 同样处于预览阶段，语言覆盖范围最广，并可在模型内直接完成说话人标注。建议用一段短音频分别试用，看看哪个模型的输出最适合你的录音。
- 支持哪些音视频格式？
- 支持 MP3、WAV、M4A、FLAC、OGG、Opus、MP4、MOV、MKV 及其他绝大多数常见音视频格式，文件大小上限为 2 GB。语言可从音频中自动检测，无需手动选择。