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
Not applied on Gemini 3.5 Transcribe — the model can't combine vocabulary hints with word-level timestamps
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 1.5 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 1.5 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 1.5 is in preview, typically returns results faster, and supports 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，主要是两个在欧洲语言中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，意思可以截然相反；二是汉字书写体系——通过字形表意，而非拼音字母。正因如此，声调的准确识别在普通话转录中至关重要。英语里一个细微的拼写错误可能无关大碍，但普通话中一个声调的误判，往往会产生一个完全不同的词。输出字形方面，普通话又分为简体（中国大陆通用）和繁体（台湾及全球华人社区的标准），convert.express 对两者均提供支持。就准确率而言，普通话的整体表现较高。其音节结构规整、辅音群较少，使得语音空间相对其他声调语言更为集中。准确率下降的情况，主要出现在带有浓重地方口音或夹杂其他汉语方言的录音中，因为这些语音特征超出了普通话核心模型的优化范围。OpenAI Whisper、MAI-Transcribe 1.5 和 Gemini 3.5 Transcribe 均支持中文，系统会自动从音频中识别语言，无需手动选择。支持上传最大 2 GB 的中文录音，接受 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 分钟免费转录时长，超出部分按每分钟 €0.02 计费，每笔交易最低收费 €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？
- 标准普通话的转录准确率较高。其音节结构比较规律，汉藏语系的声调体系虽然对识别有一定要求，但一致性强，发音规范的普通话通常能获得清晰的转录结果。简体和繁体字形输出均受支持，字形选择不会影响准确率。需要注意的是方言混用问题：如果音频中普通话夹杂粤语、闽南语或带有浓重地方口音，错误率会明显上升，因为这些方言与普通话在音素层面存在本质差异，而非仅仅是口音轻重的区别。
- 中文转录需要多长时间？
- 大多数中文录音可以在一分钟内完成转录。处理时间随文件时长增加——一段 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。较长的文件会自动拆分、并行转录后再合并，无需在上传前手动剪切音频。
- 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，在上方上传选项中开启「翻译为英文」功能——OpenAI Whisper 会在一次处理中同时完成中文音频的转录和英文翻译，无需额外付费。如需翻译成其他语言，可先正常完成转录，然后在控制台中对已完成的转录文本使用「翻译」功能——该功能由 Claude AI 驱动，能将中文转录内容（包括摘要和待办事项）翻译成 convert.express 支持的任意其他语言，不限于英文。
- 转录中文应该选哪个模型？
- OpenAI Whisper、MAI-Transcribe 1.5 和 Gemini 3.5 Transcribe 均支持中文。OpenAI Whisper 是经过验证的成熟选择，语言覆盖范围广，支持一次处理即可完成到英文的翻译。MAI-Transcribe 1.5 目前处于预览阶段，返回结果通常更快，并支持对专有名词和专业术语进行实体偏向优化。Gemini 3.5 Transcribe 同样处于预览阶段，语言支持范围最广，并可在模型层面直接标注发言人。建议用一段短录音分别试用，选出最适合你录音内容的输出效果。
- 支持哪些音视频格式？
- 支持 MP3、WAV、M4A、FLAC、OGG、Opus、MP4、MOV、MKV 以及其他绝大多数常见音视频格式，可上传最大 2 GB 的文件。系统会自动从音频中识别语言，无需手动选择。