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Chocolate posted:I've read through the OP and I have a pretty good feel for what is out their but still have one question. I'm thinking about quitting my job (I live at home and quitting won't turn into me being homeless), if I don't want to do transcription 40 hours per week could I still make around $20,000 (working around 30 a week) a year with doing some sort of combination of liveops,odesk,leapsmart and lionbridge. I'm not entirely opposed to transcription but doing search evaluation seems more up my alley. Basically it seems a lot of people who use a site like leapsmart don't rely on it for their only source of income. It seems the people who are independent are doing transcription and using something like leapsmart to supplement what they make. So are any goons making a living off of search evaluation positions? I do nothing but transcription and when I get all the footage I request I can hit between $350 and $500 a week (So $16,800 and $24,000 a year, not counting taxes; I try to set aside about 30% of my earnings to cover any taxes and if there's some kind of hyper emergency like if a bullet came through the wall right now and I had to call an ambulance or whatever), but this is a part of the year where it's slow so it's closer to $150 to $300 a week right now. If I wanted to deal more with DT's poo poo I could earn more during the slow times, but for the most part it's not worth the headache and random loving timeframes I get from them for the miniscule pay and poo poo files. For what I earn doing one night's captioning of a ~46minute episode of whatever, I need to do about 75 minutes of DT work that will probably make me want to die because lately all they've had are phone calls. In the average week I request roughly 6 to 8 hours of footage. If I wanted to go fast on all that it could be between 36 and 48 work half-hours (On average it takes about 30 minutes to do 10 minutes of footage), but I'm a lazy piece of poo poo so I normally stretch my work out as much as possible and do whatever I want in between hitting hourly quotas. Been working on getting less lazy and requesting more work, though; I'd imagine I'd hit my top around 90, 95 minutes of footage per day, which is basically a movie's worth of length and close to $700 a week, but again, that's highly tentative since slow periods are basically whenever the gently caress, but I'm a fairly simple person so fast times like that can carry the slow periods for me for the most part. I'm still a fairly junior player in this whole thing, though, so make of that what you will. My usual pay per minute is either $1 or $1.25, while some people working on certain projects have reported like $7 a minute.
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Dec 10, 2014 07:38
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Although I can't speak for the transcription side of things, I think most people will warn you that, like any freelance job, there is the possibility of the unexpected such as of a lack of work for a long time or a service you depend heavily on going down. I make an okay amount doing freelance writing but I supplement it with a part time day job - at least I know that money is steady. However, I also have no family to support and can easily live off of $20k a year or even a little less, so it's something I can afford to play with. You'll probably have to look at your individual situation and see if it's something you can do.
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Dec 10, 2014 11:35
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Add me to the 'bailed on DT' list. It's been two years, I want to move on to something else for transcription in general, and I've got a stable hourly job that's giving me a raise, so it's not like walking away will gently caress me over during the holiday season. DT's a fantastic stepping stone for getting skin in the game, definitely, and it'll let you get used to different formats/get your typing speed up in general, but it's not a gig you want to stick around for indefinitely. The type of stuff I was doing for $.75/min was total bullshit, and you start to burn out on it after a while, especially when they decide to ignore your stated schedule. Next time I get back into transcription (probably after the holidays) it'll probably be with JKL, especially now that hourly-job side projects are getting relatively sane hours, and DT is no longer on my radar. Old Boot fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Dec 10, 2014 |
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Dec 10, 2014 17:54
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As a regular reader of this thread I'm not sure I've seen this done before, but: is anyone here interested in transcribing a 13.5 minute audio file overnight? It is a meeting but the audio was recorded by a professional and sounds pretty good. I believe there are six speakers. I do not need a verbatim transcript -- I'd be glad to leave the exact format up to the transcriber. Is the going rate for this kind of project a dollar per minute? If I understand that correctly I'll be glad to offer $15 via paypal for the work but it would have to be done in the next 12 hours or so. Mark Kidd fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Dec 10, 2014 |
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Dec 10, 2014 23:30
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Mark Kidd posted:As a regular reader of this thread I'm not sure I've seen this done before, but: is anyone here interested in transcribing a 13.5 minute audio file over the next few hours? It is a meeting but the audio was recorded by a professional and sounds pretty good. I believe there are six speakers. I'm not a regular in the thread, but as someone slaving away with slim pickings at Rev at the moment I'd gladly take it. I've done just over 130 hours of audio and have great metrics (the means by which Rev judges your quality of work are accuracy and formatting scores,) I can show you them if you like. I'm barely doing anything right now, so I could easily have that for you in the time frame you're talking about. E: Especially now that you've edit your time frame to 12 hours.
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Dec 10, 2014 23:55
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Dr. Witherbone posted:I'm not a regular in the thread, but as someone slaving away with slim pickings at Rev at the moment I'd gladly take it. Glad to work with you. I'll send a PM.
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Dec 10, 2014 23:59
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Mark Kidd posted:Glad to work with you. I'll send a PM. Great, just sent one in response, we should be able to get rolling pretty quickly.
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Dec 11, 2014 00:10
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Chocolate posted:I've read through the OP and I have a pretty good feel for what is out their but still have one question. I'm thinking about quitting my job (I live at home and quitting won't turn into me being homeless), if I don't want to do transcription 40 hours per week could I still make around $20,000 (working around 30 a week) a year with doing some sort of combination of liveops,odesk,leapsmart and lionbridge. I'm not entirely opposed to transcription but doing search evaluation seems more up my alley. Basically it seems a lot of people who use a site like leapsmart don't rely on it for their only source of income. It seems the people who are independent are doing transcription and using something like leapsmart to supplement what they make. So are any goons making a living off of search evaluation positions? I think Shima Honnou gave a good summary of what to expect with transcription. I'll just add that out of all the different freelance style work mentioned in this thread, Google rating is the worst one to depend on. Not that you should be depending on any one client. I did that work and had a few months go by with one or two tasks in my queue, meaning very tiny paychecks. They never fired me. They never told me when the task shortage would end or what was going on. With writing or transcription if one client goes up in smoke, you can apply to a dozen others and probably move up the pay chain a little bit too. Google rating isn't really a skill you can take with you and only a few outfits do it. It's great when the work's there, but there's no guarantee. The companies that do this are also run on a shoestring budget and in my experience treat contractors the worst.
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Dec 11, 2014 00:57
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Mark Kidd posted:As a regular reader of this thread I'm not sure I've seen this done before, but: is anyone here interested in transcribing a 13.5 minute audio file overnight? As a Reader of the OP Before You Posted you should have known better. I'm not gonna hand out bans or whatever but don't do that here, it's what SA-Mart is for. Thanks
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Dec 11, 2014 02:18
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It's been a while since I read the OP but of course after looking at it again you are totally right. If this kind of project comes up again, next time I will post a "Buying" thread in SA-Mart and post a link to it here. Edit: More recently than the OP I have seen a fair amount of recruiting and hiring going on this thread which I guess is treated differently than a one-time project? Edit2: This is also partly in my defense, but I've also seen freelancers subcontracting projects to other freelancers in this thread recently. That might be another scenario to add to the OP to improve its nuance. Mark Kidd fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Dec 11, 2014 |
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Dec 11, 2014 03:24
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Mark Kidd posted:It's been a while since I read the OP but of course after looking at it again you are totally right. If this kind of project comes up again, next time I will post a "Buying" thread in SA-Mart and post a link to it here. There's a big difference between people from established, researchable companies posting about job openings and a poster coming in and saying "Hey do this job for me for $X. I'll pay you, honest." edit: Not trying to pick on you, as we all appreciate a heads-up about work. ohnobugs fucked around with this message at 03:50 on Dec 11, 2014 |
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Dec 11, 2014 03:44
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AuntBuck if this was Facebook, I'd click "Like" on your post. As it is, I'll write this short note to say I agree with you and stop posting about it.
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Dec 11, 2014 03:48
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Mark Kidd posted:Edit: More recently than the OP I have seen a fair amount of recruiting and hiring going on this thread which I guess is treated differently than a one-time project? Good questions! I will ponder, thanks.
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Dec 11, 2014 03:49
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Old Boot posted:Add me to the 'bailed on DT' list. It's been two years, I want to move on to something else for transcription in general, and I've got a stable hourly job that's giving me a raise, so it's not like walking away will gently caress me over during the holiday season. I'm kind of feeling the same way about another company I work for that does general transcription. I've never posted them in the thread for other people to check out because I've just gotten such consistently bad audio from them. They start you out at $.85/min but some of their files wouldn't be worth it for three times that. Most of my best transcription horror stories come from them. They were also very strict about pauses. From their guidelines, pauses of 1-2 seconds do not need to be identified. Pauses 3-4 seconds should be tagged [pause] and pauses five seconds or greater need to be tagged and timed, [Pause 01:30 - 01:36]. This is stupid because some people talk slowly and that [pause] tag would be in between every word they uttered. But no, it's gotta be there.
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Dec 11, 2014 04:28
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AuntBuck posted:There's a big difference between people from established, researchable companies posting about job openings and a poster coming in and saying "Hey do this job for me for $X. I'll pay you, honest." Very true, and I knew I was taking a risk, but thankfully Mark Kidd was 100% upfront about payment, so I got lucky there. Regardless, I do think it's a good idea to discourage random posters from coming in and posting random requests.
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Dec 11, 2014 04:29
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AuntBuck posted:I'm kind of feeling the same way about another company I work for that does general transcription. I've never posted them in the thread for other people to check out because I've just gotten such consistently bad audio from them. They start you out at $.85/min but some of their files wouldn't be worth it for three times that. Most of my best transcription horror stories come from them. They were also very strict about pauses. From their guidelines, pauses of 1-2 seconds do not need to be identified. Pauses 3-4 seconds should be tagged [pause] and pauses five seconds or greater need to be tagged and timed, [Pause 01:30 - 01:36]. This is stupid because some people talk slowly and that [pause] tag would be in between every word they uttered. But no, it's gotta be there. That's [pause] mad. [pause 00:00-∞] gently caress.
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Dec 11, 2014 04:32
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I'm glad it worked out. This is really a pretty normal way for transcribers to get work. I was more annoyed with his "Well other people were doing it..." It may not be obvious to everyone but a lot of transcribers who've posted one-off projects in this thread work for the same companies and we know they're accountable. I'd hate to lose the ability to say, "Hey I don't have time to finish this transcription assignment, can one of you take it?" Of course there was that one blog incident a while back where people didn't get paid, or they got paid months later.
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Dec 11, 2014 04:39
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AuntBuck posted:Of course there was that one blog incident a while back where people didn't get paid, or they got paid months later. Yeah, that is exactly what I would like to avoid. SA-Mart already has clear policy in place to minimize bullshit, hence hosting those kinds of transactions there instead of here. Well, that, and this is really the general online freelancing discussion thread. Too much of specific people looking for work or offering work gets in the way of the more broadly interesting stuff.
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Dec 11, 2014 04:48
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Now that the semester is over, I've started looking at replacements for Writer's Domain in earnest (since writing five articles a day isn't really an option there lately). I got accepted at Zerys and Constant-Content, and I'm still waiting on Leapforce. I haven't seen any jobs yet on Zerys, and none of my articles for Constant-Content have been reviewed yet. How long is the waiting period, usually? Is there any reason my husband wouldn't be able to join Lionbridge while I do Leapforce? Assuming I get accepted, that is.
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Dec 12, 2014 21:23
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KentuckyFriedBonBon posted:Is there any reason my husband wouldn't be able to join Lionbridge while I do Leapforce? Assuming I get accepted, that is. Theoretically if they compared IP addresses and swapped notes they could sting you but the chances of that are nil. Some people here worked both themselves, I believe. Using different SSNs and names should have you completely in the clear.
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Dec 12, 2014 21:51
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KentuckyFriedBonBon posted:I haven't seen any jobs yet on Zerys, and none of my articles for Constant-Content have been reviewed yet. How long is the waiting period, usually? What was your entry score? You usually don't start seeing things until you get a 4 star rating, and even then you won't see much until you hit 4.5. If you see something by the client Digita, snag it. They don't pay much, but their articles are easy and quick to write, and so long as you throw in a ton of links to their blogs or websites they will pretty much always give you five stars. This will boost your rating nice and fast.
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Dec 13, 2014 02:21
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I didn't think they'd have a one-per-household policy across both sites but I figured I'd check to be safe. If Leapforce works out for me he'll definitely be interested in doing something similar. My entry score was four stars, it looks like there were some jobs posted an hour ago that got snagged before I could get them. I'll just have to be more diligent, it seems like. A lot of people on the official Zerys forums seem to think it's based on how much you've written as much as your score, so I got a little worried. Thanks for the heads-up! I'll definitely keep an eye out, I might have overlooked them otherwise.
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Dec 13, 2014 02:43
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Are you loving kidding me with this poo poo? I present to you, literally Boomhower: http://youtu.be/Qh5BV1ndpJk?t=2m12s 
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Dec 14, 2014 04:28
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That show's pretty good and fun to work on, actually. All the monster hunter shows are great and if all DT work was just those shows I'd still be putting minutes up for them. I did a long rear end video of 'ol Wild Bill skinning a bear once and I just transcribed those little hiccups in his speech as being laughs.
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Dec 14, 2014 04:58
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counterfeitsaint posted:Are you loving kidding me with this poo poo? Knew who that was before the video came up. That's one show that actually seems fun to watch.
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Dec 14, 2014 05:00
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Shima Honnou posted:That show's pretty good and fun to work on, actually. All the monster hunter shows are great and if all DT work was just those shows I'd still be putting minutes up for them. I did a long rear end video of 'ol Wild Bill skinning a bear once and I just transcribed those little hiccups in his speech as being laughs. The show is fascinating, but good ole Wild Bill needs to gently caress right off.
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Dec 14, 2014 05:01
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counterfeitsaint posted:The show is fascinating, but good ole Wild Bill needs to gently caress right off. Clearly you haven't spent 70 minutes with him as he slaps around a bear carcass telling it to hold still while he skins and harvests meat from it 
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Dec 14, 2014 05:13
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Shima Honnou posted:Clearly you haven't spent 70 minutes with him as he slaps around a bear carcass telling it to hold still while he skins and harvests meat from it Clearly. Also, holy poo poo there is two of them. I have to watch this show now just for a scene with them both together.
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Dec 14, 2014 05:21
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It probably also helps that my neighbor across the street sounds basically just like Wild Bill.
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Dec 14, 2014 05:26
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See, the reality TV I struggle with, but goddam I love it when we get the research projects in over there. The medical though, that one kills me. Not the subject, but the formatting. Why do you need the graphics? What are you using this for? Crazy people. Plus considering how assy that client is they should be paying an actual medical transcription place half the time.
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Dec 15, 2014 02:24
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The one that usually sends a bunch of little files? They sent me one from that client that was basically a PowerPoint presentation with dozens of slides a minute full of paragraphs of text, in addition to an audio lecture which they all wanted transcribed. I got about 12 minutes in and was at 72 pages with screencaps and formatted text and... I told them to reassign it.
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Dec 15, 2014 09:11
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AuntBuck posted:The one that usually sends a bunch of little files? They sent me one from that client that was basically a PowerPoint presentation with dozens of slides a minute full of paragraphs of text, in addition to an audio lecture which they all wanted transcribed. I got about 12 minutes in and was at 72 pages with screencaps and formatted text and... I told them to reassign it. That's the one! Sometimes they send five minute files with one line of screen cap, but sometimes it's all the things. That client normally drops HUNDREDS of files at a time. But yeah, intensive for the pay.
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Dec 15, 2014 09:24
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Come on they give you a five cent per minute raise on that stuff what more can you want? 
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Dec 15, 2014 16:58
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The other day I heard the most beautiful thing in the world, Honey Boo Boo Child is cancelled. DT has been chasing that dragon since it started or so I've heard. I have not been more thankful to see the death of a show in a long drat time.
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Dec 15, 2014 19:33
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Doing some reviews during this slowdown, and someone spelled Tom Cruise's name "Tom Cruz" 
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Dec 16, 2014 03:44
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Just wanted to say thanks for the responses guys. I'm going to dive into transcription pretty heavy here soon. I don't have really any expenses and I figure I can ride the ups and downs just fine.
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Dec 16, 2014 05:59
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Jedi Knight Luigi posted:Doing some reviews during this slowdown, and someone spelled Tom Cruise's name "Tom Cruz" That's clearly Tom Cruise's spicy Latin counterpart.
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Dec 16, 2014 08:44
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In honor of the holiday season, we're giving accounting some time off, and delaying everyone's paychecks an undermined amount of time. Good luck with those Christmas presents bitches! Ugh. Edit: Maybe I misunderstood? Delaying the first check in January with three weeks notice is far less lovely than delaying the last check before Christmas with one weeks notice. The email seems kinda unclear, I'll have to ask and see which one is actually happening. counterfeitsaint fucked around with this message at 11:24 on Dec 17, 2014 |
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Dec 17, 2014 05:29
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At my other job, QA editing, I once came upon "binge-eating" transcribed as "bean-jazzing." I have never lost my temper at any mistake before, but that one? Hoo-boy. It went through a transcriptionist and an editor. And you know what made me the maddest about it? That god-drat hyphen. That means someone didn't just reflexively type it; someone went in and though "Well, this is a compound verb, to jazz the bean." My god that was a bad day, back then. 
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Dec 17, 2014 09:11
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If I can't understand it, I won't take a guess, at least not for captioning. Run it a few times and if I still can't understand it, it's going [inaudible] and someone with a significantly better sound system or whatever else can handle it because it's probably better than taking a guess that's hilariously wrong. DT actively makes you guess, because if the QC person sees an [INAUDIBLE] in whatever little section they go over they send it back to you, usually regardless of whether or not you can understand what the gently caress is said. So I'd just do the whole [guess?] [PH] thing and if they wanted it done more perfectly they shouldn't ship me phone calls and literal answering machine messages or whatever.
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Dec 17, 2014 13:25
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