diff --git a/lib/tasks/gather.js b/lib/tasks/gather.js
index b5ef89eb..a7e1d7e2 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/gather.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/gather.js
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ class TaskGather extends SttTask {
       if (this.data.recognizer?.deepgramOptions?.shortUtterance) this.shortUtterance = true;
     }
 
-    const opts = this.setChannelVarsForStt(this, this.sttCredentials, this.data.recognizer);
+    const opts = this.setChannelVarsForStt(this, this.sttCredentials, this.language, this.data.recognizer);
     switch (this.vendor) {
       case 'google':
         this.bugname = `${this.bugname_prefix}google_transcribe`;
diff --git a/lib/tasks/transcribe.js b/lib/tasks/transcribe.js
index c6a387c4..455b3010 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/transcribe.js
+++ b/lib/tasks/transcribe.js
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ class TaskTranscribe extends SttTask {
       if (this.isContinuousAsr) this._doContinuousAsrWithDeepgram(this.asrTimeout);
     }
 
-    const opts = this.setChannelVarsForStt(this, this.sttCredentials, this.data.recognizer);
+    const opts = this.setChannelVarsForStt(this, this.sttCredentials, this.language, this.data.recognizer);
     switch (this.vendor) {
       case 'google':
         this.bugname = `${this.bugname_prefix}google_transcribe`;
diff --git a/lib/utils/amd-utils.js b/lib/utils/amd-utils.js
index 39cf49fe..a981e82d 100644
--- a/lib/utils/amd-utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils/amd-utils.js
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ module.exports = (logger) => {
 
     /* set stt options */
     logger.info(`starting amd for vendor ${vendor} and language ${language}`);
-    const sttOpts = amd.setChannelVarsForStt({name: TaskName.Gather}, sttCredentials, {
+    const sttOpts = amd.setChannelVarsForStt({name: TaskName.Gather}, sttCredentials, language, {
       vendor,
       hints,
       enhancedModel: true,
diff --git a/lib/utils/transcription-utils.js b/lib/utils/transcription-utils.js
index c3a4ab43..01fcbbc4 100644
--- a/lib/utils/transcription-utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils/transcription-utils.js
@@ -102,6 +102,50 @@ const stickyVars = {
   ]
 };
 
+const optimalDeepramModels = {
+  zh: ['base', 'base'],
+  'zh-CN':['base', 'base'],
+  'zh-TW': ['base', 'base'],
+  da: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  en: ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'en-US': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'en-AU': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'en-GB': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'en-IN': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'en-NZ': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  nl: ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  fr: ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'fr-CA': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  de: ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  hi: ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'hi-Latn': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  id: ['base', 'base'],
+  it: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  ja: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  ko: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  no: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  pl: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  pt: ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'pt-BR': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'pt-PT': ['base', 'base'],
+  ru: ['base', 'base'],
+  es: ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'es-419': ['nova-2-conversationalai', 'nova-2'],
+  'es-LATAM': ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  sv: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  ta: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  taq: ['enhanced', 'enhanced'],
+  tr: ['base', 'base'],
+  uk: ['base', 'base']
+};
+
+const selectDefaultDeepgramModel = (task, language) => {
+  if (language in optimalDeepramModels) {
+    const [gather, transcribe] = optimalDeepramModels[language];
+    return task.name === TaskName.Gather ? gather : transcribe;
+  }
+};
+
 const consolidateTranscripts = (bufferedTranscripts, channel, language) => {
   if (bufferedTranscripts.length === 1) return bufferedTranscripts[0];
   let totalConfidence = 0;
@@ -424,7 +468,7 @@ module.exports = (logger) => {
     }
   };
 
-  const setChannelVarsForStt = (task, sttCredentials, rOpts = {}) => {
+  const setChannelVarsForStt = (task, sttCredentials, language, rOpts = {}) => {
     let opts = {};
     const {enable, voiceMs = 0, mode = -1} = rOpts.vad || {};
     const vad = {enable, voiceMs, mode};
@@ -568,6 +612,9 @@ module.exports = (logger) => {
     }
     else if ('deepgram' === vendor) {
       const {deepgramOptions = {}} = rOpts;
+      if (!deepgramOptions.model) {
+        deepgramOptions.model = selectDefaultDeepgramModel(task, language);
+      }
       opts = {
         ...opts,
         ...(sttCredentials.api_key) &&