Transcribe long recordings from a Zoom H8 one mix for the whole take.
A 3-hour session recorded on a Zoom H8 is text in about 6 minutes when you upload the take's stereo mix rather than each input track. The first 20 minutes are free, the session uses 180 of a $6 pack's 500 minutes, and eight sessions of that length fit the $12 pack of 2,000.
Field or podcast, same path
The H8 records many inputs at once. The transcript only needs the one file that holds them all.
Find the mix in the take
The H8 records to an SD card, and a multitrack take usually leaves one WAV per input and a stereo mix. Check the take's folder on the card after copying it over; the mix is the file to upload. If the mix was switched off, combine the inputs in an editor first.
Field days and podcasts
As a field recorder the H8 sits through long interviews, walking tours and community meetings; as a podcast recorder it holds a table of guests. Both produce long takes where people talk over each other at times, and the mix keeps those moments in one place.
Three hours, worked out
A 16-bit, 48 kHz stereo mix is about 691 MB an hour, so a 3-hour take is about 2.07 GB, just over the 2 GB that uploads before a pack; it starts once a pack is on the account. At 24-bit it is about 3.1 GB, still under 5 GB. Either way, 180 minutes leaves 320 on the $6 pack.
Material for the edit
The returned text carries chapters with timestamps, key quotes with the people named, and the names, numbers and dates said. SRT and VTT drop onto a video timeline, and the chat finds the minute someone mentioned a place or a figure.
Multitrack takes elsewhere
Multitrack is the right way to record a long session, and the awkward shape to transcribe.
✗ Typical trouble
Too many files, each too large.
- The OpenAI Whisper API takes 25 MB at most
- Every input track sent and charged separately
- Three-hour WAVs cut to get past a limit
- Broken timestamps across the pieces
- Quotes found by scrubbing through audio
- Takes sitting on the SD card for months
✓ Mixed, sent, read
The take comes back as one document.
- One mix WAV per take
- A 3-hour take back in about 6 minutes
- People named in the chapters
- Timestamps that match the timeline
- No cost for the first 20 minutes
- Eight sessions on a $12 pack
Sample
A long community interview recorded in the field, as it comes back.
This sample is illustrative and written for this page, not taken from a real recording. Roles replace names.
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 $6 (500 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
$6/500 min
8 hours of audio — $0.72 an hour. One-time — credits never expire.
- 500 minutes of audio
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
- Executive summary & key quote
Best value
$12/2,000 min
33 hours of audio — $0.36 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 2,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- All export formats
- Unlimited AI chat per transcript
Bulk pack
$24/5,000 min
83 hours of audio — $0.29 an hour. Credits never expire.
- 5,000 minutes of audio
- Priority queue
- API access for batch pipelines
- All export formats
FAQ
Zoom H8 recordings, the common questions.
How long does a 3-hour H8 take need?
Roughly 6 minutes. A 4.94-hour recording on the proof page finished in 372 seconds, so a full day of takes is a short wait.
What will a 3-hour H8 take cost?
The 180 minutes come from the $6 pack of 500 after your first 20 free minutes, with 320 left. Eight sessions are 1,440 minutes and fit the $12 pack of 2,000; credits stay on the account with no expiry.
Should I upload the input tracks or the mix?
The mix. Input tracks are for editing; each one holds mostly a single microphone and is charged for the full take length if uploaded alone.
How big can an H8 file be?
5 GB or 10 hours per file. Up to 2 GB uploads before a pack, and a bigger file starts once a pack is on the account. Over 5 GB, export a 16-bit or MP3 copy.
Can the people speak another language?
Yes. The service detects 99 languages on its own. An oral history in Tagalog, a meeting in Swedish or a tour in Spanish needs nothing set beforehand.
What downloads are there, and is the recording private?
The take exports as TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON. As for privacy: recordings are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training.
Related
Field recorders and long sessions
Send the take from the H8. The first 20 minutes of the take are free.
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