Speech to Text Best Practices

Before You Transcribe

Keep files within the supported formats (MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, OGG, AAC) and under 500 MB - if a source is larger, compress or trim it before uploading rather than fighting an upload timeout.
Not sure what to expect? Try one of the built-in example clips first (e.g. “Gujarati finance news”) to see how real code-mixed, domain-specific speech gets transcribed before you commit your own recording.
Set the language to the actual spoken language, not a related or assumed one - this affects the model’s phonetic expectations for the whole recording, not just word choice.
Provide an accurate speaker count whenever you know it. For a two-person interview this is trivial; for a roundtable or panel, it’s often the single biggest factor in transcript accuracy.
If you’re unsure of the exact count, round upward - merging an unused extra slot is a smaller error than splitting an undercounted one.

Known Hard Cases

Recordings with cross-talk or overlapping speech (common in interviews and panels) will see diarization accuracy dip in exactly those overlapping segments - this is a known hard case for diarization generally, not specific to any one recording.

Where possible, prefer recordings where speakers don’t talk over each other.
For recurring recording series with the same participants, note the correct speaker count once - you’ll set it the same way every time, and getting it right the first time saves a re-transcription later.

After Transcribing

Review the transcript for consistency before exporting, especially around overlapping segments.
Use the download or share icons on the Transcript panel to get a clean file rather than copying text directly from the screen.