What is the best free program to transcribe a .wav audio file???

NOTE: to make AAC files it's best to use the Apple AAC encoder which you can use with Foobar2000 as I would explain the process but it's easier for me to just link you to this file... www.datafilehost.com/d/5fc43cd2 ; extract that to your foobar2000\encoders folder (i.e. for example... C:\Foobar2000\encoders\ and in there will be a 'QTfiles' folder if you did it correctly) and you can make AAC files with Apple AAC encoder (without the Apple junk on your computer. NOTE: if you already got iTunes installed you probably won't need to do this as Foobar2000 will likely work already but I dislike that iTunes junk which is why I use this method) which is the best AAC encoder out there. NOTE: you need Foobar2000 and the Encoders Pack installed for that to work! if you encode MP3 files or Opus files you don't need to download that file as it's strictly for AAC.

also, as a general guideline for music... I suggest using 128kbps for AAC or Opus as that's basically the sweet spot for quality/file size. another thing ill say... for music, when it comes to AAC or Opus formats, 96kbps or 128kbps or 160kbps (192kbps in rare cases) one of those three settings would be all you need given listening tests on hydrogenaud.io/ who are basically experts on this stuff as if your trying to save on storage space use the 96kbps as if you got storage space to burn 160-192kbps is a option. but as a general guideline... 128kbps is a safe choice as I doubt you will be disappointed in the sound quality at that rate as even 96kbps is pretty good. with Opus, which is the most advanced lossy encoder right now, you can go lower as I think you will be surprised at the quality that has at those very low bit rates like 32kbps/48kbps/64kbps given how little space they use. but for the more sound quality concerned... 96kbps is a safe general minimum for AAC/Opus. I would generally avoid MP3 since it requires more bit rate to achieve a certain quality. so unless you must use MP3 I would opt for AAC or Opus. but AAC is a safer bet since it's widely supported where as Opus, while a bit better, does not have a lot of hardware support etc. basically I suggest 128kbps Apple AAC (q64 TVBR) which you can use with Foobar2000 as you can adjust these settings from within Foobar2000.... like once your WAV file (or FLAC etc) is loaded into Foobar2000 you simply right click it and select 'convert' and from there you can adjust things by selecting the '...' which takes you to a 'converter setup' menu. if you want to make AAC files like iTunes does... set Foobar2000 under Apple AAC to... 'Constrained VBR' and set to 256kbps. but this is generally a bit overkill and not efficient as you generally won't need to go more than 192kbps and I usually keep it to the default mode in general which is the VBR (or what some refer to as TVBR mode) as I suggest TVBR (True VBR) over CVBR(Constrained VBR) (NOTE: VBR stands for 'Variable Bit Rate') mostly because based on listening tests it's pretty much the same sound quality but file are generally a little bit smaller for the same settings. so for example if you use TVBR 128kbps vs CVBR 128kbps, chances are the TVBR files will be a bit smaller on average than the CVBR ones.

here is how I have my 'Convert' menu setup (to access it you simply right click a audio file you want to convert in Foobar2000)...

if your wondering how I got that stuff named you simply click the '...' at the bottom (the one listed under WAV) and things can be configured to your liking from there as you can add in MP3/OGG etc if you want to but at this point in time there is not much reason, unless you must have MP3 for compatibility with old hardware etc, to use anything other than AAC or Opus.