Talkback Chat turns talkback, intercom and comms audio into text in real time, with a separate color for each speaker. Everything runs on your own Mac: no cloud, your audio goes nowhere.
Try free for 7 days How it works ↓Mac with Apple Silicon · macOS 14+ · no card needed
Speech recognition runs locally on your own Mac. You do not create an account and no audio goes to a server, so you can tell production no audio leaves the room. Everything works just as well without internet.
Every channel has its own color and a meter that moves with it, so you recognize the speaker before you have read the line. Channels that belong together go into a group, and clicking that group shows only those lines.
Words appear while someone is still talking. If you want it calmer, let the text arrive per sentence or per paragraph instead of word by word. Every channel has its own gate against bleed from the room, and you pick which engine your Mac runs (two engines, or three on macOS 26).
Pair a second Mac over the same network and you both read along. You decide per channel what you send and receive, so the monitor engineer doesn't automatically get everything from FOH. Discussion happens in its own chat channel; when exporting you choose whether the chat is included. Traffic between the two Macs is encrypted.
On first launch you paste your license key and the app fetches the speech model. After that you assign a microphone or an interface channel to each speaker.
02As soon as someone speaks the text appears in that channel’s color, with the meters beside it so you can see which channel is open.
03Filter by speaker or group and search back through the transcript. Words like go or stand-by can be made to light up, and if someone else needs to read along, you pair a second Mac.
While someone speaks you see light provisional text; after a short pause the final text lands. The feed scrolls along and jumps back to the newest lines whenever you want. Individual lines can be copied with one click. Speakers can be bundled into groups, say Monitors or Backstage: collapse a group when things get busy, or click it to read only that group.
Transcript21:47 Front of House21:47:08Copy. Announce mic up 2 dB. Lighting21:47:14Standby lighting cue 47. Monitors21:47:19wedge on the drum riser is Parakeet + WhisperRECOMMENDEDParakeet for the live text, Whisper large-v3 for the final text. One-time download: about 5 GB (3.8 GB with Whisper Light). Whisper (pure)TRANSLATESWhisper for both the live and the final text. Can translate to English. One-time download: 1.5 or 2.9 GB. ApplemacOS 26+macOS’s own speech recognition. No model download and hardly any disk space: macOS manages its own language pack.Pick the engine that fits your Mac and the job. For Whisper you choose Best quality (full large-v3, 2.9 GB) or Light (large-v3-turbo, 1.5 GB, a little faster, for Macs with little memory). In our test measurements (with synthetic voices) Best quality made roughly a third fewer errors with mixed Dutch/English. Brand and model names such as DiGiCo SD12, QLab, Clear-Com and SM58 are written the official way automatically. You also tune reading mode, first-word speed and GPU performance.
Choose the audio device and channel per speaker; changes take effect as soon as you save. A per-channel noise gate keeps background noise out of the transcript, and experimental bleed suppression damps crosstalk between two mics on the same audio device.
Noise-gateTHRESHOLD PER CHANNEL MonitorsCLOSEDOPEN−38 dB LightingCLOSEDOPEN−44 dB Every channel has its own threshold. Anything below it does not open the gate. Drag them independently. MacBook ProLAN · encryptedSendAllFront of HouseMonitorsLightingBroadcastChatReceiveAllRegie-micZaal-talkbackChatOne Mac transcribes, the other follows along live and chats over your own local network. Each Mac has its own token for that. In the routing matrix you set exactly what you send to whom and what you receive.
Search the transcript live (⌘F) while text comes in. Have the app alert you to specific keywords with a sound alert, a flash over the line or the whole screen, and a color mark in the transcript. Add proper names and jargon to the vocabulary for better recognition.
KeywordsSOUND + FLASH ON cue 47pyroencore Stage Manager21:48:02Standby pyro, on my go only. Lighting21:48:09Cue 47 complete, standing by for 48. ChatTTS ON Front of HouseSPOKENEncore is a go, standby after 52. You21:52:31Copy, standing by. Each sender its own voice and output. Local, in 30+ languages; the voices download on first use (385 MB).Next to the transcript sits its own chat: confer with paired Macs in a separate channel, apart from the speakers. You see when someone is typing, and you flag messages just like transcript lines. Turn on text-to-speech and chat is read aloud, with its own voice and output device per sender. You hear the control room while your eyes stay on the stage.
With the Whisper (pure) engine, Talkback translates the final text to English. The live text stays in the source language, so you miss nothing while the conversation runs.
Save your setup as a showfile: channels, gate thresholds, vocabulary, keywords and colors. The transcript exports separately, as .txt, .srt or .json, as a table for Excel (.csv) or as Pro Tools markers. You decide where the files live on your Mac.
Dark, light or system theme, high contrast and a color-blind-safe palette that uses cues beyond color, so you can tell speakers apart without color vision.
Sidebar · channels & groups Settings · System Settings · Audio Two Macs · follow along Light themeDark themeTalkback processes everything on your own Mac. Speech recognition runs locally on your own Mac; no audio and no text goes to the internet or a cloud service. No account needed. If you pair a second Mac, that traffic stays on your own local network, secured per Mac with a token and encrypted. Your pairing keys, storage paths and keyword lists are not sent to a paired Mac.
Read the full privacy statement →
Audiostays on your Mac Transcriptstays on your Mac License checkyour key and a device label (a code, not a name) Model-downloadone-time, on your initiative TelemetrynoneWhat your Mac needs.
Monthly or yearly, everything included: all updates, new speech models and support. For 2 Macs, or 5 for your whole crew. Try it free for 7 days first, no card needed: get a trial key.
Yearly · save ~40%Monthly Personal · 2 Macs € 19the first yearthen € 29 per year € 3,99per monthcancel any monthFor you, on your own 2 Macs.
Buy PersonalBuy Personal Team · 5 Macs € 49the first yearthen € 59 per year € 7,99per monthcancel any monthOne key for the whole crew, on 5 Macs.
Buy TeamBuy TeamWant to try first? 7 days free, no card needed →
Every email gets a personal reply from the maker.
Ready for every new macOSFree updates for as long as your subscription runs.
Your audio stays yoursEverything runs locally. No cloud, no account.
You help decideVote for new features on the roadmap.
By starting your subscription you agree to the License Terms; our Privacy Statement explains how we handle your data.
Prices incl. VAT · Direct download, outside the App Store · Payment, VAT and invoice handled by Lemon Squeezy (merchant of record) · Refund policy
Get a free trial key with just your name and e-mail; no card needed. Lemon Squeezy e-mails you the download link and your key right away. On first launch the app asks for the key: paste it in the field and click Activate. The trial works for 7 days on one Mac and then simply stops; nothing is charged. Want to keep going? Buy Personal or Team (monthly or yearly) and paste the new key in the app. Each Mac can try it for free once.
Not for transcribing: everything runs locally. Internet is only needed to download a speech model the first time, to activate your subscription and now and then for a short subscription check. Without a connection the app keeps working until the end of your paid year plus 14 days, and always at least 30 days after the last successful check. This does not apply during the trial: without a connection the app stops when the trial ends.
If your Mac has an Apple Silicon chip (M1 or newer) and runs macOS 14 (Sonoma) or newer, yes. Intel Macs are not supported. On macOS 14 and 15, Parakeet + Whisper and Whisper (pure) work as normal; only the Apple engine needs macOS 26 or newer. Plan on about 4 to 5.5 GB of free disk space for the speech models (Parakeet 2.3 GB plus Whisper 2.9 GB or 1.5 GB; translating and read-aloud each fetch a small extra model). The app itself is available in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
You can still pair, but the traffic between the two Macs is then not encrypted. The app says so clearly. So update both Macs to the same version; when pairing you then see the same six-digit pairing code on both Macs, and if it matches, nobody is in between.
Drag Talkback Chat from Applications to the Trash. The folder ~/Library/Application Support/Talkback Chat then still holds your speech models (models), your settings (talkback_config.json) and your license details. You can delete that folder too: in Finder choose Go → Go to Folder… and paste the path. Your settings are then gone too, and you enter your license key again later. The log is in ~/Library/Logs/Talkback Native. Only want the models gone? Remove them in the app under Settings → Storage → Models, with the Remove button per model. You can download them again later. The read-aloud voices are in ~/.cache/supertonic3 (about 385 MB), your showfiles in ~/Documents/Talkback Showfiles.
On 2 Macs at the same time, or 5 with Team. Need more? Simply add a second subscription: every key counts its own Macs. Moving to another Mac? On the old Mac, click "Deactivate license on this Mac" under Settings → License.
Speech models and macOS change fast. The subscription pays for the upkeep: new models, updates for new macOS versions and support. The first year is € 19, then € 29 per year: less than € 2.50 a month.
Your subscription runs until the end of the year you already paid for. If you are a consumer and your subscription has renewed automatically after the first year, you can also cancel mid-term with one month’s notice and get the rest of that year refunded pro rata (mail support@talkbackchat.com). After that the app stops transcribing. Your exports and showfiles stay on your Mac.
Your key is in every Lemon Squeezy order e-mail. Click View order there to see your key and the download link again. E-mail gone? Search your mailbox for "Lemon Squeezy", including the spam folder.
Yes, to English, with the Whisper (pure) engine. The live text stays in the source language.
Yes: pair a second Mac on the same local network. It runs the same app on the second seat of your license, follows live and can chat.
It can, on heavy settings. Set GPU performance to Low (safest for fanless Macs; takes effect after restarting the app) or pick the Light Whisper model.
Talkback is a tool for reading along, not a replacement for your intercom. Speech recognition sometimes makes mistakes. Never use it as the only channel for safety-critical cues, such as pyro, rigging, SFX or a show stop.
No. Your audio never leaves your Mac, and your transcript only goes to a Mac you pair yourself on your own network. The only internet traffic is the subscription check (your key plus a device label), the one-time model download and the update check.
Check the guide first; most answers are there. Otherwise mail support@talkbackchat.com. The app has a "Send feedback" button under Settings → Info that opens your mail client with your version, macOS and Mac model already filled in, which saves a round trip.
Talkback Chat exists thanks to people who share their work freely. Thank you to the makers of these models and libraries; without them this app would not exist.
Whisper · OpenAIParakeet · NVIDIASupertonic · SupertoneMLX · AppleONNX Runtime · MicrosoftWebRTC VAD · GoogleSparkleHugging FaceAll components and their licenses are listed in the license terms →
Get a free trial key with just your name and e-mail, download the app and read your comms. No card needed: the trial simply stops after 7 days. Your audio stays yours.
Try free for 7 daysApple Silicon · macOS 14+ · no Talkback account needed
After that: € 3.99 per month or € 19 the first year (then € 29 per year). Team (5 Macs): € 7.99 per month or € 49 the first year (then € 59). Cancel any time.
← Back to the siteEverything about installing, setting up and using the app. Search this page with ⌘F. Something not working? Check Troubleshooting first.
Install and activateFirst-time setupChoosing an engineDuring the showPairing several MacsExportingTroubleshootingLicense and MacsSubscriptionContactYou need a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) and macOS 14 or newer.
The app uses your Mac's language. Pick another language under Settings → System.
The app tells you when a new version is available. To check yourself, use the menu Talkback Chat → Check for Updates…
On first launch macOS asks for access to your microphone and audio inputs. Click Allow; without it the app hears nothing.
Select several rows (⇧ or ⌘ click) and change one: the others follow, like in Excel. In the Patch tab you connect inputs to speakers by clicking or dragging in the grid. Double-click removes a connection.
Names and jargon the app gets wrong go in Settings → Vocabulary. Words you don't want to miss, like your own name or "stand-by", go under Settings → Display → Keywords. See During the show.
Save your whole setup (channels, names, gates, routing) as a showfile with ⇧⌘S; after that ⌘S saves quickly. Open it at the next show with ⌘O. No need to set anything up again.
Under Settings → System you pick the engine. Everything runs on your own Mac; the app downloads a model the first time you choose it. Not sure? Pick Parakeet + Whisper.
Parakeet + WhisperRecommended. Fast live text, then an accurate final version.Whisper (pure)Whisper for both the live and the final text. The only one that can translate to English.ApplemacOS's own speech recognition. No model download. Less accurate with jargon and mixed languages. Only on macOS 26 or newer.For Whisper you choose between Best quality and Light. Light is smaller and faster, handy on a MacBook Air.
Parakeet + WhisperAbout 5 GB (3.8 GB with Whisper Light)Whisper (pure)2.9 GB (best quality) or 1.5 GB (light)AppleNo downloadRead-aloudAbout 385 MB of voices, onceRemove a model you no longer use under Settings → Storage.
Every speaker has their own color. Scroll back to reread something and following pauses by itself; the button at the bottom right takes you back to the latest.
⌘F opens the search bar. Matches are highlighted; Enter or ⌘G jumps to the next, ⇧Enter to the previous, Esc closes.
Under Settings → Display → Keywords you add words you don't want to miss. A match lights up, can flash and can play a sound alert.
Does the app keep getting a name or term wrong? Add it in Settings → Vocabulary. The app recognizes it better after that.
At the bottom is a chat bar for messages to paired Macs, separate from the transcript. If you like, the app reads chat messages aloud in a voice of your choice. Only chat is read aloud, not the transcript.
Macs can't find each other? See Troubleshooting.
⌘E opens the export window. Choose the kind of file, what goes in it (channels, chat or only the selected channel) and which times to include. Then pick a location in Finder.
TextA readable log, with names and times.Subtitles (.srt)For video, timed from the start.Pro ToolsOne marker per line on timecode, with the speaker's name.Table (.csv)Opens in Excel or Numbers, one row per line.Data (.json)Everything with all timings, for building your own tools.You can combine times: clock time, time from start and timecode.
Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to Talkback Chat.
Drag Talkback Chat to Applications first and launch it from there. Updates and settings don't work properly from the disk image.
Check that you have enough free disk space (see Engines) and a good Wi‑Fi connection. Then try again. The app only works on Macs with Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or newer.
Set GPU performance to Low under Settings → System and restart the app, or pick the Light Whisper model. Especially useful on a MacBook Air.
Translating to English only works with the Whisper (pure) engine. Pick it under Settings → System.
Your key is already active on the maximum number of Macs. Deactivate it on a Mac you no longer use (see License and Macs). Can't do that? Mail support@talkbackchat.com.
Search your mailbox for "Lemon Squeezy": your order e-mail with the key is there. Or sign in at talkbackchat.lemonsqueezy.com/billing.
Click Settings → Info → Send feedback in the app. A diagnostics file appears on your desktop. Attach it to your mail to support@talkbackchat.com so we can help you faster.
With Personal you use your key on 2 Macs, with Team on 5.
On the old Mac, click Deactivate license on this Mac under Settings → License. Then activate the same key on the new Mac. Old Mac gone or broken? Mail support@talkbackchat.com and we'll free the seat.
Wiping or reinstalling your Mac? Deactivate the license first if you can. That keeps the seat free.
The app checks your subscription at most once a day (and more often, at most every 10 minutes, right after your subscription or trial has expired, so a renewal is picked up straight away). Without internet it keeps working until the end of your paid year plus 14 days, and always at least 30 days after the last successful check. This does not apply during the trial: without a connection the app stops when the trial ends.
Try it free for 7 days first with a trial key, no card needed. A subscription (monthly or yearly) renews automatically until you cancel.
Cancel, update your payment details, download invoices or switch to Team via the link in your order e-mail, or at talkbackchat.lemonsqueezy.com/billing.
If you cancel, the app keeps working until the end of the period you paid for. Your exports and showfiles stay on your Mac.
Not happy? You get your money back in full within 14 days of your first payment (see the refund policy). After the first year, consumers can cancel monthly and get the unused part back. Mail support@talkbackchat.com for that.
Stuck? Mail support@talkbackchat.com and attach the diagnostics file (Settings → Info → Send feedback). Found a security issue? Mail security@talkbackchat.com.