How long does it take to transcribe a one-hour recording?
In a typical case, where a professional recording has been made and there are no audio problems, speaker issues (accents or overlapping speech) or special requests (separate voice I.D. of multiple speakers, time coding, etc.), a professional transcriptionist can type approximately 15 minutes of clearly recorded speech in one hour. We’ve worked with good transcriptionists who have taken longer than this. Thus, it takes a minimum of four hours to transcribe a one-hour tape. The factors described below, however, operate to increase transcription time. Recording quality A variety of factors can affect recording quality: the recording equipment itself; how the equipment was used; the type of room the audio is being recorded in; background noise; recording volume; the type of microphone or tape used. Voice clarity A speaker’s voice may be hard to hear because he or she is too far from the microphone, mumbles, has a heavy foreign accent, or speaks too fast. Any of these factors can slow a tra
