Whether you’re a journalist, researcher, podcaster or business professional, the quality of your recording has a direct impact on the quality of your transcript. A clear, well recorded file leads to a faster turnaround, fewer errors and a more accurate transcript. A poor one leads to gaps, guesswork and delays. Here’s our guide to getting your recordings right, including a few things that have changed now that so many recordings start on a video call rather than a handheld device.
1. Choose the Right Equipment
- The quality of your recording equipment has a significant effect on the clarity of your audio. Invest in an external microphone that plugs into your recording device and place it as close to the speaker as possible.
- For focus groups, a small mic for each participant works far better than one microphone trying to pick up everyone in the room.
- Whether you’re using a digital recorder or recording directly to a computer, make sure the device supports high resolution audio formats. Devices with built in noise cancelling features can help too.
- If your recording is happening on Zoom, Teams or Google Meet, use the platform’s own recording function rather than a phone or second device pointed at a speaker. It produces a far cleaner file.
2. Reduce Background Noise
- Choose the quietest space available. Avoid rooms next to traffic, air conditioning units or anywhere with a noticeable echo, unless you’re using a close mic on each participant.
- Hard surfaces such as tiles and large windows cause sound to bounce around a room, so where you have a choice, a room with carpets, curtains or soft furnishings will always record more clearly.
- Turn off background noise sources where you can. Fans, fridges and laptop cooling fans all add a low hum that’s more disruptive to a transcript than people expect.
- Where noise can’t be avoided, noise cancelling software can help, but it works best alongside a sensible choice of location, not instead of one.
3. Get Microphone Placement Right
- It may sound obvious, but microphone placement can make an enormous difference to the quality of a recording — and ultimately, the quality of the transcript.
- The closer the microphone is to the people speaking, the clearer the audio is likely to be. A good recording allows us to produce a full, accurate transcript without spending unnecessary time trying to decipher muffled or distant speech. Poor audio can mean isolated words, names or phrases simply cannot be heard clearly, resulting in a patchy transcript with avoidable inaudible sections.
- One of the most common problems we encounter is a laptop placed in the middle of a large table and expected to pick up several people sitting some distance away. Unfortunately, it rarely produces consistently clear audio.
- Wherever possible, position the microphone close to the people speaking. For meetings with several participants, consider a microphone designed to capture sound from around the room, or use more than one microphone for larger spaces.
- For anyone joining remotely, a headset or earbuds with a built-in microphone can make a significant difference. Getting the microphone closer to the speaker will usually improve the recording far more than adjusting settings afterwards.
- The simple rule: the better the recording, the more complete and accurate the transcript.
4. Encourage Clear Speech
- Ask participants to speak clearly and at a natural pace. Mumbling or speaking too quickly makes transcription considerably harder. A consistent volume throughout the recording also matters. Speaking too softly or too loudly affects audio quality and makes it harder to capture words accurately.
- If you need voice ID In group settings, having each person say their name and give a brief introduction, this makes it much easier to identify who’s talking later on. Referring to them by name throughout is also helpful.
5. Run a Test Recording
- Before your main recording, record a short test clip and listen back. Check for background noise, clarity and volume levels between speakers. This gives you the chance to adjust your equipment or environment before the recording that matters.
- It’s just as useful for online meetings as in person ones. A shaky Wi-Fi connection or a noisy household can undo an otherwise good setup, and it’s far better to spot that in a thirty second test than partway through a real interview.
6. Use Professional Transcription Services
- For the best accuracy, use a professional transcription service with human transcribers. Human transcribers understand context, jargon and nuance in a way automated tools still can’t, which matters most in exactly the situations where accuracy counts, such as HR cases, legal matters and academic research.
- Many providers, including Transcribe It, also offer a hybrid service that combines AI speed with human accuracy checking, a good option for large volumes of straightforward audio.
- Using our professional transcription services at Transcribe It, you can be confident of an accurate transcription within 24 hours, giving you more time to focus on the content itself.
7. Be Careful With AI Notetaker Bots
- AI notetaker bots that join a call automatically, such as Otter, Fireflies or Granola, have become a common way to capture meetings. They’re convenient, but they bring a few things worth checking before you rely on them.
- Some join the call visibly as a participant and announce that they’re recording, others capture audio quietly in the background from the host’s device. Either way, make sure everyone on the call knows a recording is being made and consents to it, just as you would with any other recording method.
- If the meeting covers anything sensitive, such as an HR matter, a legal discussion or client information, check where the bot processes and stores the audio, and for how long, before you use it.
8. Consider Where Your Audio Goes
- The same care taken to produce a secure recording should continue throughout its entire journey — from recording and transfer to transcription and final deletion.
- More recordings than ever are processed or stored in the cloud rather than remaining on a single device. That is not necessarily a concern, but for confidential material — such as HR proceedings, legal recordings, police interviews or research involving personal data — it is important to check how and where those files are being handled.
- Look for appropriate encryption, controlled access, a clear data retention and deletion policy, and compliance with relevant data protection requirements such as UK GDPR. Security should be considered from the moment a recording is created, not simply when it is sent for transcription.
- At Transcribe It, data security is integral to the way we work. We are Cyber Essentials certified, operate in accordance with UK GDPR and the NCSC’s 14 Cloud Security Principles, and use a secure client collaboration portal with access restricted to authorised individuals. We also use ThreatLocker Zero-Trust protection and Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) as additional layers of protection.
- Recordings are securely deleted once the completed transcript has been shared with the client, while transcripts are retained for a maximum of 90 days before deletion. Client material is accessible only to the members of our team specifically allocated to that work.
9. Let Software Help, But Don’t Rely on It Alone
- Real time noise cleanup tools such as Krisp have become widely used, particularly for remote and hybrid meetings, and can genuinely improve a recording before it’s even transcribed. They’re worth using where background noise is a known problem. But they work best as one part of a good setup rather than a fix for a poor one. A well placed microphone in a reasonably quiet room will still outperform software trying to rescue a bad recording after the fact.
Conclusion
Achieving excellent recording quality is a critical step in ensuring your transcripts are clear, accurate and useful. Whether you’re recording interviews, podcasts or meetings, these practices will help you produce professional grade recordings and high quality transcripts, so your valuable information is captured and communicated effectively.
Please give us a call on 01992 445 411 or use our contact form and we’ll discuss how we can help you with your UK transcription needs. Alternatively, you can email us your transcription enquiry at info@transcribeit.co.uk and we’ll be in touch with a quote!
