2 Ways To Improve Quality of Audio Files For Transcription

Dealing with faulty audio quality is definitely one of the most frustrating things that can ever happen to a transcriptionist. Since not a lot of people have access to high-quality studio-quality equipment, most transcriptionists would have to make use of what little they have.

Despite having to deal with what the transcriptionist already has, there are still other ways for the transcriptionist to improve the quality of audio files when it comes to transcription. For those that have tried to transcribe faulty audio quality files, they already know how hard this can be on the transcriptionist not only making them do more work but also taking up more of their time and thus their potential income as well.

There are two fundamental ways for a transcriptionist to improve the audio quality of a certain audio file. In order to come up with quality transcription, the transcriptionist has to have the best audio quality possible. Although this is not always attainable, it still helps to improve the audio either way.

Two ways to improve audio quality

Prevention

For the transcriptionist that has control of the audio or can give instructions to the person taking the recording, preventing getting faulty audio quality is much better than having to fix the faulty audio at hand. With control over the recording, the transcriptionist can improve the audio quality by applying a few techniques.

• Opt for good microphones

Obviously, the better the microphone, the better the audio quality that can be recorded. However, with good mics, it is important to learn how to use them. Some microphones function differently than others and the worst thing that could happen would be for an audio NOT to be recorded due to the one recording not knowing how to work the microphone.

• Setup

If there is control over the recording location, it would be better to use a location that is a little bit isolated from unwanted noise in order to instantly get better audio quality. Of course, this is not always possible so setting up the mics in the right position is important as well.

• Turn off ambient noises

It is important to turn off anything within the room that could potentially generate some ambient noise. Objects like computers or air conditioners could be a source of this. Other things that can be turned off are motorcycles, blenders, and etc. Basically, you would want to turn off anything that produces unwanted noise in the background.

• Checking the background

If there is a particular low background hiss when testing out the recording device, try reducing the total gain of the microphone by just a little bit. This usually solves the small hisses.

• Closer microphone but not too close

It is important to remain at the right distance from the speaker since if a microphone is too close, the volume could be overwhelming and still result in bad audio quality. Extending the hand between the thumb and the pinky finger would give the transcriptionist or person recording the ideal distance between the microphone and the speaker.

• Testing

It is important to test out the equipment before using it. Instead of just testing in a quiet place, testing the mic in public could also give the one recording an idea of what to do when in that situation.

Audio editing tools/software

There are a number of different audio editing tools that are available to the public. One of these particular tools is Audacity which allows the transcriptionist to get better audio quality for transcription later on. Audacity is free to download and free to use for the transcriptionist to trim up and split long audio files and even remove the background noise.

Another amazing thing that this particular audio editing thing can do is to adjust the volumes and also adjust the pitch which could make the transcription easier to do. In order to transcribe long audio, it is important to break it up into parts in order for the transcriptionist not to get lost when transcribing the whole audio.

Audacity, obviously, isn’t the only audio editing tool out there. However, this is one of the tools that are easily accessible for new transcriptionists or other people who need to edit certain audio. While the audio quality might be faulty at first, audacity could significantly improve the overall output of the said file.

Other premium audio editing software could provide better output for the said audio file when it gets out. It is important to check reviews and do appropriate research in order to pick out the best audio editing tool for the transcriptionist.

Using a transcription tool

Using a transcription tool in order to produce automatic transcription is also very important. For faulty audios, the transcriptionist might want to focus more on correcting or editing certain parts of the transcription instead of having to transcribe the whole transcription word by word. Since faulty audio files would require more editing, the transcriptionist should pick the right transcription tool as well.

There are a few things in a transcription tool that the transcriptionist should look for:

1. In-platform editing

Editing the transcription within the platform itself is very important. Instead of having to move from software to software, it would save the transcriptionist a lot of time if editing could be done within the transcription tool itself.

2. Quality estimation

The transcription tool should provide the transcriptionist with an estimation of how well done a transcription is. This would allow the transcriptionist to gauge how much effort should be put into editing the transcription.

3. Automatic transcription

Obviously, automatic transcription is the key point of using the transcription tool. However, not all transcription tools are that accurate. It is important to use an advanced AI-tech transcription tool in order to get accurate and swift results.

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