Glossary
Bitrate is how many bits of data are encoded per second of audio. Measured in kilobits per second (kbps) for compressed audio, megabits per second (Mbps) for uncompressed. Higher bitrate = more data = larger file = (usually) better quality. For transcription, anything above 64 kbps is fine — but the same content at higher bitrates may be worth keeping for human listening or future re-encoding.
Common bitrates and what they sound like
64 kbps — AM radio / phone quality. Audible compression artifacts.
96-128 kbps — most internet radio, YouTube audio extraction. Slight degradation on percussion and high frequencies.
192-256 kbps — podcast-grade. Imperceptibly different from CD quality to most listeners.
320 kbps — "high-quality" MP3 / AAC. The maximum for those codecs.
1,000+ kbps — uncompressed PCM (WAV) or lossless FLAC.
Constant vs variable bitrate
CBR (constant bitrate) uses the same bitrate for every second of audio. Predictable file size, slightly inefficient. VBR (variable bitrate) uses more bits for complex passages and fewer for silence/simple parts. Better quality-per-byte. Most modern encoders default to VBR. For transcription, the difference is irrelevant.
Bitrate's effect on transcription
Below 32 kbps, transcription accuracy degrades significantly — the codec is throwing away too much speech information. From 32 kbps to 320 kbps, accuracy is essentially flat. Above 320 kbps (lossless), no further accuracy gain. So if you're choosing a recording bitrate purely for transcription, 64-96 kbps mono is plenty. If you'll also use the audio for human listening, go to 128-192 kbps.
In practice
A 1-hour podcast at 128 kbps stereo MP3 is ~58 MB. The same hour at 320 kbps is ~144 MB. Both transcribe at the same accuracy on Transcript.you. If your podcast host (Buzzsprout, Libsyn) limits you to 250 MB per episode, 128 kbps fits a 5-hour episode; 320 kbps only fits 2 hours.
Related terms
Further reading
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does Bitrate mean in transcription?
How many bits of data are used per second of audio, in kbps. Streaming MP3 is 128 kbps; podcast-grade is 192-256 kbps; archival lossless is 1,000+ kbps.
Why does Bitrate matter when choosing a transcription workflow?
Bitrate affects how you understand transcript quality, timing, compatibility, or the technology behind speech-to-text results.
Where can I apply Bitrate on Transcript.you?
Use the related workflow at /mp3-to-text when you want to see how this glossary concept connects to an actual transcription task.
Browse the full transcription glossary or read the complete guide to AI transcription.