我做謄寫的這些年以來,常常喜歡找好的耳機。幾年前沒有固定辦公室之前,常常在咖啡廳工作,耳機換了好幾個,依然沒辦法不受外邊吵雜聲干擾。

為了細聽錄音內容,我往往調高音量,或者等外邊不吵鬧的時候再謄寫。後來搬到共用辦公室,環境是比咖啡廳安靜,但還是有人喜歡高談闊論,玩手機也是調到最高音量,因此對其他人造成困擾。這個情況若要做謄寫,一小時錄音可能要寫兩天。

後來買了抗噪耳機 Bose Quiet Comfort,所以最近一年可以很專心聽錄音內容而且不受外邊吵雜聲干擾。唯一缺點就是耳機的藍芽功能有時候不大穩定,在沒有冷氣的室內戴久了會覺得耳邊很熱。但這些都不難解決,因為耳機可以接線,而且在悶熱的環境中不要使用抗噪耳機就好了。

I had always been looking for good headphones all these years working on transcription. Several years ago when I had not have a permanent office, I often worked at cafes and tried several headphones – none of which was able to block outside noise.

To listen to audio files clearer, I often raised the volume. Or I had to wait until the noise around me subsided before I could continue writing the transcript. I then moved to a co-working space, whose environment was quieter than that of a cafe. But still, you ran into people who talked loud and played with their smart phones with loud volume.

When it was noisy out there, a one-hour audio file could take me two days.

The situation improved a lot when I bought noise-cancelling headphones Bose Quiet Comfort. For the past year I have been working on transcription without being interrupted by outside noise. There are two weaknesses though. Sometimes the bluetooth function of the headphones is not stable, and you feel hot when you put on headphones in a room without air-conditioning.

Compared to persistent outside noise, it is not difficult to tackle these problems. Firstly, you can always connect the headphones to your laptop or phone with a wire. Secondly, not to use the headphones when you find the room you are working in to be quite warm.