Digital Audio Recording for Transcription

Digital audio recording is becoming more affordable all the time and it has many advantages over analogue recordings so, if you haven't done so already, do consider switching to digital! See our articles pages for information on choosing the right equipment and digital versus analogue recordings for transcription.

Advantages to digital recording are outlined in our digital versus analogue article but briefly they are as follows:

	Digital recording quality is better because it does not suffer from 'tape hiss'
	Digital recordings can be copied again and again without any deterioration in quality.
	Your transcriptionist can indicate exactly where in the recording an inaudible word occurs, showing this with the time e.g. [2:20 inaudible word] .
	The file should be downloadable onto your PC and from there it can be sent to us via our website (or in some cases, where files are small, by email), so you do not have the extra time and cost issues involved with postage of tapes.

We can transcribe from a very wide range of digital audio file types. Transcripts are produced as Word documents and emailed to you.

The Digital File Types we Can Transcribe From

.aif	.au	.aac
.asf	.dct	.dss
.dvf	.flac	.mp3
.msv	.mp2	.mpga
.ogg	.ra	.ram
.rm	.sri	.vox
.wma	.wav

And don't worry if you don't see your particular digital audio file type here - just fill in our on-line quote request form or phone us on +44 (0)1953 880206 to get a quote tailored to your exact needs.

Affordable Transcription Services

Because the quality of digital audio recordings can genearlly be assumed to be good we can offer a per audio minute rate for digital audio transcription, based on the fact that a clear one-to-one interview will normally take in the region of four times the length of the audio to transcribe, with dictation taking slightly less time and groups taking longer. This gives you a fixed price for all your transcription work and makes it easier to budget. It is likely to work out more cost-effective than tape because digital audio recordings produce better quality recordings than analog tape recordings. Please see our transcription times and FAQ pages for information on the time taken to transcribe. A guide to prices is as follows, but please fill in our on-line quote request form for a quote tailored to your requirements if you think your recording might not be standard in quality or content.

Type of recording - assuming clear recording with minimal background noise and no strong accents	Price per Audio Minute
Transcription of dictation	£1.20
One-to-one or two-to-one interview transcription	£1.40
Conference transcription	£1.60
Focus group or round table discussion transcription	£2.00-2.50 (depending on numbers of people etc.)
Please note: This only applies to good quality digital recordings- assuming clear recording with minimal background noise and no strong accents. Our hourly rate for tapes is £20.00 per hour (or £18.00 per hour discounted rate). Please see the information on tapes and transcription times and type for more information on this. See also our pages for students universities, charities and institutions for discounts available.