Transcribe a long W64 file from a recording session that ran for hours.
A W64 (Wave64) file at 48 kHz, 24-bit stereo takes about 1,037 MB per hour, so the 5 GB limit arrives near 4.8 hours, well before the 10-hour one, and transcription runs at about 2 minutes per audio hour. If the upload refuses the file, convert it to MP3 first; a 4-hour session is 240 minutes, inside the $6 pack of 500 minutes after the first 20 minutes free.
Wave64, worked out
W64 exists because WAV stops at 4 GB. That also makes it the format most likely to pass 5 GB.
Why your file is a W64
A standard WAV stores its size in 32 bits, which caps it at 4 GB. Some DAWs and recorders write Sony's Wave64 instead so a long take can keep going. At 48 kHz, 24-bit stereo, a WAV reaches 4 GB at about 3.9 hours, which is when long podcast and rehearsal sessions tend to become W64.
Bits to megabytes per hour
48,000 samples a second times 24 bits times 2 channels is 2,304,000 bits a second, or 288 KB. Times 3,600 seconds, that is about 1,037 MB an hour. At 96 kHz it doubles to about 2.1 GB an hour, and an 8-track session at 48/24 is over 4 GB an hour.
Convert or mix down first
If the upload refuses the file, convert it to MP3 first; FLAC also works and roughly halves a W64. For speech, a mono 64 kbps MP3 is plenty: ffmpeg -i session.w64 -ac 1 -b:a 64k session.mp3 brings 10 hours to about 288 MB. A bigger lossless export continues on the upload page.
What comes back from a long session
A rehearsal, a recorded panel or a podcast session returns with a brief of its main points, chapters with timestamps, the names, numbers and dates said, and a chat over the text. Hosts and guests are identified and named in the summary, key quotes and chapters.
Why W64 files get turned away
A file built to pass 4 GB meets tools built for a few megabytes.
✗ Size limits that never fit
A single hour of 48/24 stereo W64 is roughly forty times the OpenAI Whisper API's documented 25 MB upload limit.
- W64 extension not recognised
- Uploads that time out past a gigabyte
- Splitting a session into many WAVs
- Timestamps restarting on every piece
- Exporting a new mix for every tool
- Nothing that summarises the full session
✓ One W64, one timeline
Send the W64 under 5 GB, or a mono MP3 of it, and the session comes back as one transcript.
- Takes up to 5 GB or 10 hours
- Roughly 2 minutes of processing an hour
- Mono MP3 mixdown near 29 MB an hour
- Chapters spanning the full session
- Hosts and guests named in the session summary
- A 4-hour session on the $6 pack
Sample
A long podcast recording session, transcribed.
This sample is illustrative; it was written for this page and is not from a real show or studio. Times show the position in a session file that ran past four hours.
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
Long W64 files, the common questions.
How long does a W64 take to transcribe?
About 2 minutes per hour of audio once uploaded, so a 4-hour session takes roughly 8 minutes. A multi-gigabyte file takes longer to upload than to transcribe.
What does a W64 session cost?
A 4-hour session is 240 minutes on the $6 pack of 500. Five such sessions total 1,200 minutes on the $12 pack of 2,000, and ten total 2,400 minutes on the $24 pack of 5,000. The first 20 minutes are on us for new visitors.
How big is a W64 per hour, and where are the limits?
About 1,037 MB an hour at 48 kHz, 24-bit stereo, and about 2.1 GB at 96 kHz. One file can be up to 5 GB or 10 hours, and up to 2 GB before your first pack, which a 48/24 stereo W64 passes at just under 2 hours.
The W64 is over 5 GB. Split it or convert it?
Converting is simpler: a mono MP3 or a FLAC keeps the session as one file with one timeline. Split only if the recording is longer than 10 hours, at a natural break.
Which languages does it recognise in a W64?
99, detected automatically, and a session that switches language is detected on its main language. Music and sound effects on the track are not transcribed; the speech is.
Which exports, and is the session private?
One W64 transcript gives you TXT, DOCX, SRT, VTT and JSON. W64 sessions are transcribed on our own servers and are never used for training.
Related
Other long formats
Upload the session. W64 under 5 GB, or its MP3 mixdown.
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