Transcribe a long AIFC file AIFF-C from the Mac.
A long AIFC file holds either uncompressed audio at about 635 MB an hour (16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo) or a compressed codec such as IMA4 at roughly a quarter of that, so a 3-hour uncompressed AIFC is near 1.9 GB and still uploads before any pack. It transcribes at about 2 minutes per audio hour; the opening minutes are a free preview, and 180 minutes fit the $4 pack of 300.
AIFC, explained
AIFF's extended form: the same Mac container, with room for a codec inside.
Where .aifc comes from
AIFF-C, saved as .aifc or sometimes simply .aif, is the extended version of Apple's AIFF. Mac audio tools and system services write it, often holding plain little-endian PCM (marked sowt), sometimes IMA4, μ-law or floating-point audio. Older Mac voice and interview recordings, and audio exported by some Mac apps, end up in it.
Size depends on what is inside
Uncompressed 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo is about 635 MB an hour, so 2 GB arrives near 3.1 hours and 5 GB near 7.9. IMA4 compresses to roughly a quarter, about 170 MB an hour, so ten hours sit near 1.7 GB. A mono recording halves either figure. To see which kind you have, open the file's info in VLC or run ffprobe, which names the codec in its first lines.
Uploading or converting
Many AIFC files go in as they are; drop it in the box under 500 MB, or use upload page for larger files, up to 10 hours or 5 GB. If the upload refuses it, convert to MP3 or MP4 with ffmpeg or VLC: ffmpeg -i session.aifc -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 96k session.mp3 makes a small file that keeps the speech.
What comes back
A long AIFC returns a brief of its argument or conversation, chapters with timestamps, the names, numbers and dates said, the questions it answers, and a chat over the text. Each speaker is identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters.
Why AIFC files trip tools up
It looks like AIFF, but software that only reads plain AIFF may balk at what is inside.
✗ A Mac file on the wrong desk
An .aifc moved to another computer, or into a web tool, meets software that does not expect it.
- Pickers that do not list .aifc
- Players that open AIFF but not AIFF-C
- Uncompressed files that take an age to upload
- Time limits that end after an hour
- Splitting a file only for a length rule
- No outline of a long session
✓ Hours of AIFC, readable
Upload as it is, or convert once, and get one transcript back.
- Three hours in about 6 minutes
- 10 hours or 5 GB per file
- a free preview of the opening minutes to start
- $4 for 300 minutes
- Chapters with timestamps
- Five export formats
Sample
A long recorded interview, as it comes back.
Illustrative only: written for this page, not taken from a real recording or person.
Export
One transcript. Five clean formats.
Every pack exports all five — no format is held back for a higher tier.
Plain text
De-ummed paragraphs. Ready to paste.
SRT captions
Timed to the speech. Every video editor reads this.
WebVTT
HTML5 player + YouTube uploads.
Show notes
Formatted with chapters and pull-quotes.
Machine-readable
Timestamped text for your own tools.
Pricing
Honest pricing, no surprises.
A pack from $4 (300 minutes) opens the full transcript. After that, no subscription and no auto-renew — every tier is a one-time minute pack, and credits never expire. Buy once, use the minutes whenever you need them.
Casual pack
$4/300 min
5 hours of audio — $0.80 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 300 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$18/3,000 min
50 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 3,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- All export formats
- AI chat over the whole transcript
Bulk pack
$32/6,000 min
100 hours of audio — $0.32 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 6,000 minutes of audio
- Summary, chapters and key quotes
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
Long AIFC files, the common questions.
Is AIFC the same as AIFF?
Close. AIFC, also called AIFF-C, is the extended form that can hold compressed audio and records which codec is inside. Plain AIFF holds only uncompressed big-endian PCM.
How long does a long AIFC take to transcribe?
About 2 minutes per audio hour: three hours in roughly 6 minutes, ten hours in about 20. With a large uncompressed file the upload is the slow part, so a compressed copy may get you to the text sooner.
What does a back catalogue cost?
Three hours on their own fit the $4 pack of 300. Packs are one-time and never expire.
My uncompressed AIFC is over 5 GB.
Convert it to MP3 or M4A first; speech needs far less than CD-quality audio, and an hour of 96 kbps MP3 is about 43 MB. A file up to 5 GB uploaded before the first pack starts right away.
It runs longer than 10 hours.
Split it into two files of under 10 hours and upload each. Each part comes back with its own timestamps from zero.
Which languages, and where is the audio processed?
99 languages are detected automatically. Recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training. Downloads come as TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON.
Related
Other Mac and uncompressed formats
Upload the AIFC. The opening minutes are a free preview.
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