AI Audio Transcriptors Analysis: Are They Truly Rendering Word for Word?

If you’ve ever transcribed an audio file, you know how incredibly tedious the process can be. Listening to the audio, pausing, rewinding, typing out each word—good lord! It’s an exhausting cycle that demands a huge investment of time and effort. But thank goodness for technological advancements! These days, all it takes is a simple audio upload, and voilà—you have a transcription ready in minutes. It’s as magical as Hermione casting “Wingardium Leviosa” to make a feather float effortlessly in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

What’s more, many of these transcription tools now boast our two favorite words: AI-powered features! Naturally, we couldn’t resist doing what we do best—putting these tools to the test. As we dove into the task, we couldn’t help but feel like Tony Stark in Iron Man, tinkering with gadgets to see just how far we could push the technology. After all, that’s what we do, and we always aim to do it right!

Today, we’re putting five transcription tools under the spotlight: Riverside, Restream, Notta, Auris AI, and Otter AI.

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Three of these tools managed to impress us—a rare feat, as you’d know if you’ve been keeping up with our newsletters! For our test, we chose Robert Frost’s timeless classic, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” We recorded the poem as an audio file, ready to see how well these tools could transcribe it. Here’s a quick reminder of the poem’s words for context:

Let’s dive deeper into this newsletter to uncover which tools hit the mark and which ones were simply shooting in the dark!?

First up is Restream

When we visited the website, everything seemed straightforward and effortless. All we needed to do was upload the audio and wait for the transcription to appear. In theory, it should have taken just a few minutes to get what we needed… or so we thought.

We waited… and waited… and then waited some more. At this point, we felt like Jack from Titanic, stuck in icy waters and waiting for rescue. This tool was taking an eternity to transcribe! Still, we decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and moved on to the next contender—Riverside.

Riverside, true to its name, initially seemed calm and seamless—like a peaceful picnic by the water. We uploaded the audio and patiently waited for the transcription to appear.

But soon, it felt like we were reliving Groundhog Day, stuck in a never-ending loop of waiting. Once again, we had to put our faith in the tool and decided to circle back later, moving on to the next contender—Notta.

Unlike Restream and Riverside, which were straightforward and simple to navigate, Notta felt like stepping into the Matrix—complex and overwhelming at first glance. But we didn’t mind, because it quickly won us over. First, it was fast and efficient, unlike the previous two tools, and second, it provided helpful tutorials and step-by-step guidance throughout the process.

We uploaded the audio and received the transcription surprisingly quickly—what a relief after all the waiting we endured with the earlier tools! Even better, the content was highly accurate, matching the audio word for word. Great job, Notta｜AI meeting notes & audio transcription !

That said, we do need to highlight three minor drawbacks. First, the constant barrage of notifications felt like being in The Truman Show, where everything is just a bit too much.

While we appreciated Notta’s enthusiasm to help, it quickly became overwhelming. Second, finding the transcription wasn’t as intuitive as it should’ve been. We had to dig through the ‘All Files’ section instead of accessing it effortlessly. Lastly, when we did locate the transcription, it was obstructed by a ‘start 3-day trial’ message. It felt like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory—tempting us with a treat we weren’t allowed to enjoy!

However, Notta did redeem itself with its AI-powered feature, which added a touch of sophistication to the experience.

We did as commanded and were provided with an analysis of the poem!

We followed the instructions and were provided with an analysis of the poem!

This feature is pretty cool, especially for anyone seeking a deeper insight into the transcription. So, kudos to Notta—‘Notta’ bad at all! Overall, this tool performed well and gets a good grade from us.

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At this point, we decided to revisit Restream and Riverside. And, well… they were still transcribing… but never mind. It was time to move on to Otter.ai .

This tool was somewhat similar to Notta, however much less intimidating. We followed the usual process of uploading the audio and received a transcription that was as accurate as a Math theorem!

Another bonus of this tool was its AI feature, which provided an analysis of the poem, much like Notta. Additionally, Otter AI was much easier to use compared to Notta, earning it a few extra points. It gets a “far exceeds expectations” rating from us!

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We then decided to revisit Restream and Riverside. At this point, we felt like jilted lovers pining for an ex! With a bit of hope, we returned to the sites, expecting the transcripts to be ready… but take a wild guess at what we found… STILL TRANSCRIBING!

As much as we didn’t want to, we just had to move on from this ex! Riverside and Restream, you are out of this race!?

And the last tool to be tested was Auris AI .?

This tool transcribed the poem flawlessly—kudos to Auris AI for that! However, we were surprised to find that there was no AI feature available, despite the tool’s name. It reminded us of The Wizard of Oz—promising the magic of AI, but leaving us a little disappointed when we pulled back the curtain!

In our opinion, Otter AI takes the trophy for the best AI transcription tool, with Notta as the worthy runner-up. As for the rest of the tools... well, we think it’s safe to say we’ve said enough!

So, if you're looking to integrate Audio to Text tool for your app, be sure to evaluate our winners or you may schedule a call to discuss AI integrations with us ( GrayCyan ) at: https://calendly.com/graycyan-websites-software-seo-ads-apps/linkedin

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We will see you next time with some more AI product reviews.