Penguin Transcription Services |Digital transcription, dictation, interviews, focus groups, affordable transcription service

Transcription services from standard cassette tape for interviews (including university research interviews), dictation, vox pop transcription, production of oral history transcripts, film industry transcription etc.

Because tape quality can be so variable, and it can also be hard to judge the exact length of the recording on an audio tape, we are unable to give a per audio minute quote for tape transcription. Our hourly rate is £20 per hour of time taken but it is important to understand that it takes around four hours to transcribe one hour of clear, good-quality one-to-one interview and it can take much longer if the quality is poor in any way.

Standard tapes are generally reasonable quality, though not as good as digital recordings. However, they frequently suffer from tape 'hiss', an ambient background hiss caused by the size of the magnetic particles on the tape. If you use a noise reduction system such as Dolby, NR or DBX this will often substantially reduce the hiss.

The issue with tape hiss is that it can partially obscure speech or make it harder to hear or understand, and thus the time taken to transcribe the recording can be increased, as compared with digital recordings.

Unless the hiss is very severe, however, or unless there are other factors that increase the time taken, such as strong accents, background noise or a need for verbatim transcription then you should be able to safely assume a time of between four and five hours to transcribe a one-to-one interview of an hour in length. The time taken for the transcription of a group will always be longer, because of the need to distinguish between different voices and because the transcriptionist must 'tune in' to a variety of voices and accents, but will usually be in the region of 6 to 8 times the audio time i.e. an hour of recording will probably take between 6 and 8 hours to transcribe.

Please see our FAQ and transcription times pages for more information on the time taken to transcribe, and 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.

Digital recording is becoming more affordable all the time and it has many advantages over analogue recordings, so consider switching to digital! See our articles pages for information on choosing the right equipment and digital versus analogue.