How to Start an Audio Journal: Tips for Beginners

Converting sound to text has become essential for professionals, students, and content creators looking to save time and increase productivity. Whether you’re transcribing interviews, meetings, or lectures, using an automated sound-to-text converter can make your workflow faster and more efficient. With advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), apps now provide more accurate and feature-rich transcriptions than ever before.

In this blog, we’ll cover the best free and paid apps available in 2024 to help you convert sound to text, detailing their features, pros, cons, and pricing to help you choose the right tool for your needs. We’ll also introduce VOMO AI, a powerful transcription tool offering a free trial with unlimited transcriptions during the first week.

Why Use Sound-to-Text Apps?

Sound-to-text apps allow you to quickly convert audio into written text, offering benefits such as:

• Time-saving: Automated transcription is much faster than manually writing out conversations or interviews.
• Improved accuracy: AI-powered transcription apps can capture even complex conversations with high precision.
• Easier organization: Transcripts make it easier to search for specific parts of conversations and meetings, especially for long recordings.

Now, let’s explore the top tools available for converting sound to text in 2024.

1. VOMO AI (Free Trial & Paid)

VOMO AI is a powerful transcription tool designed to simplify the process of converting audio into text, whether it’s a YouTube video, meeting, lecture, or interview. It supports a variety of audio import methods, including direct recording, YouTube links, audio files, and iPhone Voice Memos, making it versatile for multiple scenarios. One standout feature is its Ask AI functionality, which goes beyond simple transcription to offer AI-generated summaries, making it easier to grasp key points without combing through lengthy recordings.

Key Features:

1. Multiple Audio Import Options: VOMO AI allows you to transcribe recordings, YouTube videos, voice files, and even batch transcribe iPhone Voice Memos. This flexibility makes it ideal for business meetings, lectures, interviews, and content creation.

2. AI-Powered Summaries: The Ask AI feature provides automatic summaries of transcripts, saving you time by highlighting the key takeaways from lengthy audio content.

3. Support for 50+ Languages: Transcribe audio in over 50 languages with high accuracy, making it useful for global teams and multilingual content.

4. Speaker Identification: For meetings or interviews with multiple participants, VOMO AI accurately identifies different speakers, making it easier to track conversations.

Pricing:

• Free Trial: 7 days of unlimited transcriptions across all supported formats.

• Paid Plans: Options include $9.99 per week or $71.99 annually, catering to users with ongoing transcription needs.

Pros:

• Unlimited transcriptions during the trial—great for high-volume needs like meetings, podcasts, or lectures.

• Versatile audio imports, supporting multiple file types and sources like YouTube and iPhone Voice Memos.

• AI-generated summaries streamline workflows by automatically pulling out the most important information.

• Accurate speaker identification for group conversations.

Cons:

• YouTube video transcription is limited to YouTube links, though VOMO supports all major audio file types.

2. Otter.ai (Free & Paid)

Otter.ai is well-known for its real-time transcription capabilities and is widely used for meetings, interviews, and lectures. Otter.ai provides real-time transcription and is a favorite among professionals and students.

Key Features:

• Real-time transcription and speaker identification.
• Integrates with platforms like Zoom to provide meeting transcripts.
• Allows collaboration within transcripts by sharing and editing.

Pricing:

• Free plan: 300 minutes of transcription per month.
• Paid plan: Starts at $8.33 per month for 1,200 minutes of transcription.

Pros:

• Real-time transcription.
• Integrates seamlessly with other tools like Zoom.
• Ideal for professional and business environments.

Cons:

• The free plan is limited to 300 minutes per month.
• You need to upgrade for more advanced features and more transcription time.

3. Google Docs Voice Typing (Free)

Google Docs Voice Typing is a built-in, free tool within Google Docs that allows users to transcribe audio by using the microphone on their computer. It’s a basic but highly accessible tool for those needing a quick solution for voice-to-text conversion.

Key Features:

• Free and works directly within Google Docs.
• Offers real-time transcription through your computer's microphone.
• Supports multiple languages.

Pricing:

• Free: Available within Google Docs.

Pros:

• Completely free with no subscription or hidden fees.
• Easy to use and accessible from any device with Google Docs.
• Supports voice-to-text in multiple languages.

Cons:

• Not as accurate as AI-powered transcription services.
• Requires manual interaction and only works for live dictation.

4. Rev (Paid)

Rev offers both automated and human transcription services, making it a reliable choice for those who need high-accuracy transcription. Rev is ideal for converting sound to text from meetings, interviews, podcasts, or videos.

Key Features:

• Automated transcription service with fast turnaround.
• Human transcription service for near-perfect accuracy.
• Supports multiple file types, including audio and video.

Pricing:

• Automated transcription: $0.25 per minute.
• Human transcription: $1.50 per minute.

Pros:

• Highly accurate, especially with human transcription.
• Fast turnaround with automated transcription.
• Supports both audio and video files.

Cons:

• More expensive compared to other services.
• No free plan.

5. Descript (Free & Paid)

Descript is a powerful transcription tool that doubles as an audio and video editing platform. This makes it perfect for content creators, podcasters, and video producers who need both transcription and editing functionality.

Key Features:

• Transcription and editing in one platform.
• Allows users to edit audio by editing the transcript directly.
• Supports multi-language transcription.

Pricing:

• Free plan: 3 hours of transcription.
• Paid plan: Starts at $12 per month for unlimited transcription.

Pros:

• Ideal for podcasters and content creators.
• The ability to edit audio through text is a unique and useful feature.
• Supports both video and audio files.

Cons:

• Paid version required for long-term use.
• Might be more complex than needed for simple transcription tasks.

Conclusion

Choosing the right sound-to-text converter depends on your needs, budget, and the type of audio you need transcribed. For those looking for a free trial with no limitations, VOMO AI offers a unique advantage—unlimited transcriptions for 7 days, giving you the freedom to test the service and transcribe as much content as you need before deciding on a subscription.

If you’re a professional or student who requires long-term solutions, Otter.ai and Descript offer competitive pricing and additional features like real-time transcription and editing. For those who need high accuracy and don't mind paying a bit more, Rev offers both automated and human transcription services to ensure precision.

Whether you're a content creator, student, or professional, these tools will help you convert sound to text in 2024, boosting your productivity and making transcription easier than ever before. If you want to try VOMO AI, take advantage of the 7-day free trial and see how it transforms your transcription process!