How long does it take to type an audio cassette tape?
For your general guidance, one speaks about four times faster than one can type, so a one-hour tape should take four to six hours to transcribe (this is based on one person speaking clearly and following the guidelines given above). Note, however, that this can vary greatly. Please note that the time taken to transcribe a tape is dependent on: Clarity of the tape, clarity of the one speaking, regional accents of speaker(s), speed at which one speaks, number of people speaking together with the number and position of microphones, and content of the tape and amount of technical terms used. There are times when it may take much longer than this. For instance, a one hour tape containing a speaker dictating notes clearly and precisely directly into a microphone, may take four hours to transcribe, whereas a one hour tape containing a meeting with many speakers, perhaps with only one microphone, may take anything up to eight hours to transcribe.
