# Hearing a recording of your own voice... What do you think of it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567 "2005-12-21T02:36:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/1 "2005-12-21T02:36:03Z")
Recently I heard my own voice recorded. At the time of speaking I knew it was being recoreded so it may have been altered by that. None-the-less I hated the sound of it… and at the same time noticed how very much like one of my brother’s I sound… who’s voice does _not_ sound bad when I hear it. If you’ve heard a recording of your own voice what did you think of it? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/2 "2005-12-21T02:42:35Z")
I thought it sounded odd the first time, but now it’s just my voice. I’ve heard it so much that it’s familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/3 "2005-12-21T02:48:18Z")
I hate it. It bugs the crap out of me. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/4 "2005-12-21T02:55:52Z")
Mine sounds awful: sort of muffled and weird. I don’t think my regular speaking voice sounds like that at all. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/5 "2005-12-21T03:04:20Z")
Hate it hate it hate it. I avoid having my voice taped, and if it’s ever taped without my express written consent, I try my damndest to avoid hearing it. The weird thing is, people say I sound like my mom, and her voice is perfectly normal. Nice, even. What gives? ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/6 "2005-12-21T03:05:22Z")
I think I sound like Malcolm FUCKING Jamal Warner. Grrr. Could be worse. Kayne West. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/7 "2005-12-21T03:05:33Z")
[Mr. Horse] “No Sir, I don’t like it.” [/mh] ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/8 "2005-12-21T03:25:30Z")
I’m used to my recorded voice. I think the reason people don’t like their recorded voice is that it just sounds different. I’d bet that if you heard the same voice on someone else, you wouldn’t think anything of it. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/9 "2005-12-21T03:37:39Z")
I have a nice voice but a little bit of a lisp I don’t like. It makes me sound like I’m baby talking even though I hate baby talkers. When I record voicemails I always put on sort of my angry voice because it sounds neutral and my neutral voice sounds a bit babyish. Especially since I sound like the God of Thunder inside my own head. Any time I hear my own voice I have a little phase of trying to use a deeper voice. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/10 "2005-12-21T03:43:23Z")
I can’t stand the sound of my own voice. It’s because I sound exactly like my sisters. It freaks me out - a lot. I avoid making pages at work because I don’t like to hear my voice on the PA system. I’ve actually bribed my boss and a coworker to make pages for me. When I leave a message on my answering machine, I always delete it as soon as I get home so I don’t have to listen to it. I don’t think I have an unattractive voice. I’ve received very inappropriate compliments from various customers and I even had an engineer at a former job develop a crush on me based only on hearing my voice. But, I still don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/11 "2005-12-21T03:46:23Z")
I actually like the sound of my voice, having spoken into a $1000 microphone, passed through a filter, compressor and limiter, with declicking. I like it better than the sound I hear coming out of my own body when I speak. I’d better… it earns us my paycheck! ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/12 "2005-12-21T04:04:41Z")
Whenever I listen to recordings of myself I notice how much I say “like” and other teenage-girl filler words. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/13 "2005-12-21T05:05:19Z")
I hate hearing my voice. I’ve been told many times that I have a sexy, deep voice, but when I hear it it sounds too high and nasally for my tastes. As **1920s Style “Death Ray”** said, I probably wouldn’t mind it from someone else, but it just sounds wrong outside of my own head. ---
**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/14 "2005-12-21T05:13:15Z")
I heard my voice on a recording a little while ago for the first time in years. The thing that struck me was that my voice had somehow broken without me knowing it! I mean, logically I knew it had probably occured at some point (I’m twenty), but still. So much deeper than I thought it was. So yeah, it’s kind of weird. ~ Isaac ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/15 "2005-12-21T05:24:58Z")
My voice is a lot deeper and goofier sounding on playback then it sounds in my own head. I have some kind of lisp or slur that makes my “s” sound like “sh” and my “th” sound vaguely like “zh.” I still like it though. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/16 "2005-12-21T05:25:37Z")
Freaks me out a little. Sounds dorkier than I realised, and I realise it is pretty dorky. However, I was listening to my husband’s voice recorded earlier today, and I know his voice so well, and when I heard it played back, I suddenly realised it \*did \* sound different. It sounded enough like him so that I knew it was him, with no question, but it sounded different, somehow. I couldn’t put my finger on it. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/17 "2005-12-21T06:51:03Z")
My voice sounds nasal when recorded, and acquires an American accent. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/18 "2005-12-21T07:06:14Z")
Inside my head: Robert Mitchum. On tape: Urkel. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/19 "2005-12-21T10:17:17Z")
I hate the sound of my own voice. I do anything I can to avoid hearing it. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567/20 "2005-12-21T12:46:08Z")
Another one for my voice sounds deeper when I hear it recorded. Which is good because in my head I sound like Alvin and the chipmonks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-a-recording-of-your-own-voice-what-do-you-think-of-it/336567.md?page=2)