StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR

StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR at a glance

StepAudio 3 ASR Max from StepFun and Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR from Alibaba Cloud are both in the Transcription category, available through the EmpirioLabs API.

Key differences

• StepAudio 3 ASR Max is the newer release (Aug 31, 2026); Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR was released on Jul 30, 2026.
• Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR lists the lower rate for Transcription (per hour of audio).

StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR: specs

StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR: API pricing

Live rates from the EmpirioLabs catalog for both models. Each rate card always matches what the API charges.

StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR: API parameters

Request parameters each model lists on EmpirioLabs, with the allowed values or range where one applies. A dash marks a parameter the model does not list.

StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR: limits and notes

StepAudio 3 ASR Max

Supports wav, mp3, ogg, m4a, and pcm input. PCM requests should include codec, sample rate, bit depth, and channel count. The language is detected automatically and cannot be set; Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, French, and Spanish are recognized, with languages other than Chinese and English in preview. Inverse text normalization is on by default and can be turned off with enable_itn. Hotwords and word timestamps are not available on this model. Audio is billed by its measured duration, with a one second minimum.

Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR

Sending audio

Send a file as multipart file, or JSON with audio_url or audio_base64, in common audio formats. Short clips and long recordings are both accepted.

Getting the result

The request returns a job_id and a poll_url right away. Poll GET /v1/jobs/<job-id> until status is completed. Short clips finish in seconds; long recordings take longer.

What comes back

The result of the completed job holds the full transcript as text and sentence segments with start and end times. The language is detected automatically, including Chinese dialects.

Billing

Billed per second of audio, rounded up to the next whole second, at the hourly rate shown.

How to call StepAudio 3 ASR Max and Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR

StepAudio 3 ASR Max runs through POST /v1/audio/transcriptions. The request returns a job_id right away; poll GET /v1/jobs/{job_id} until the job completes and read the output URLs from the result. Both models are called through the same endpoint. Set model to stepaudio-3-asr-max or qwen-audio-3-0-asr. Get an API key from the EmpirioLabs dashboard.

curl https://api.empiriolabs.ai/v1/audio/transcriptions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EMPIRIOLABS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "stepaudio-3-asr-max",
    "audio_url": "https://example.com/meeting-recording.mp3"
  }'

StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR: tests and guides

Prompt tests and comparison runs that cover both models.

Guides Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR vs Qwen Audio 3.1 ASR vs StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Deepgram Nova-3: one voicemail We gave Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR, Qwen Audio 3.1 ASR, StepAudio 3 ASR Max and Deepgram Nova-3 the same voicemail with a name,...

StepAudio 3 ASR Max vs Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR: common questions

What is the difference between StepAudio 3 ASR Max and Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR?

StepAudio 3 ASR Max is the newer release (Aug 31, 2026); Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR was released on Jul 30, 2026. Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR lists the lower rate for Transcription (per hour of audio). The specs, rate cards, and parameters on this page come from the live EmpirioLabs catalog.

Which is newer, StepAudio 3 ASR Max or Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR?

StepAudio 3 ASR Max is the newer release (Aug 31, 2026); Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR was released on Jul 30, 2026.

Which has the lower rate, StepAudio 3 ASR Max or Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR?

Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR lists the lower rate for Transcription (per hour of audio). Both live rate cards are on this page and always match what the API charges.

Can I switch between StepAudio 3 ASR Max and Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR without rebuilding my integration?

Yes. Both models use POST /v1/audio/transcriptions with the same EmpirioLabs API key, so most integrations switch by changing the model value. Check the parameters table on this page first if you rely on a model-specific parameter.

Can I try StepAudio 3 ASR Max and Qwen Audio 3.0 ASR in the browser before integrating?

Yes. Open each model in the EmpirioLabs playground and run the same prompt on both, with the parameters the API exposes.