If I record my voice and listen to it - does it sound the same as everyone else hears it?

Question

So is the way I hear my voice while speaking what I really sound like, or is the recorded voice what everyone else hears?

Answer 1

Everyone says I sound like my parent and they are so proper it's sickening.  BTW I don't like the sound of my voice either.  That is what you sound like.

Answer 2

Yes it does... But not the same as you hear it... So it will sound different to you...

Answer 3

Your recorded voice is as everyone else hears it. It is nothing like you expect it to be because of the way you hear your own voice.

The first time I heard my own voice recorded was an absolute shock to me, even now after years of recording experience I still find difficulty in picking out my own voice in a recorded conversation. It is a useful tool though for correcting minor problems with phrasing, especially as a singer, as you don't normally pick up on things because you cannot 'hear' your own voice, as others do.

Answer 4

Your recorded voice is what everyone else hears. It sounds different to you because you hear it by "bone conduction", which means your voice resonates more efficiently to your cochlea (hearing "organ") through the bones of your head than it does through the air.

Other people only hear your voice through "air conduction". So do you when you hear a recording of your voice.

Answer 5

I hate leaving messages on answering machines because I think I sound terrible and now I know that's how everyone else hears me. Maybe that's why people on the X-Factor really think they can sing because they hear something different to everyone else.