Why do I sound different on the phone/answering machine then real life?

Question

People have told me I sound like an infant on the phone and have a higher voice on the phone, why is this?

Answer 1

You are used to hearing yer voice reverberating thru yer skull when you talk

but thats how others hear you

Answer 2

It might be because your phone is crappy. Most of the time it is weird to hear your own voice when it is recorded because you aren't used to hearing it. Just get a new phone. It would make it have a lot better clarity.

Answer 3

i wondered the same thing, lol i was just talking about how different i sound on the answer machine!! i am no help lol

Answer 4

that's actually how you really sound you just don't realize it when you talk until its played back to you.

Answer 5

How you sound on the phone or answering machine is how you really sound. We often don't hear our voice the same way ourselves

Answer 6

Its because the phone compresses the frequencies of your voice so that they can get more calls down the same line at once. It is NOT the way other people hear you all the time.  If you record yourself using a reasonble quality recorder and lay it back then that is how you sound to other people.

Answer 7

Don't feel bad, I sound like a cross between my sister and Mickey Mouse!

Answer 8

I know that I sound different on telephones, paging systems and answering machines. My voice level changes to a much higher octave - like a baby when I am not having eye contact with a person.

If you were to set up a recording device in your home while having a regular conversation with someone you know, you will notice a difference.

Answer 9

You have massive earwax buildup... Try some Q-tips and see if that clears it up...

Answer 10

A lot of it has to do with the speaker size on the phone.   In general, smaller speakers are better at reproducing high frequencies and pretty bad at reproducing the lows.  So most of the lower frequencies are "filtered out" on the phone speakers before it reaches the user's ears, hence the high pitched voice.  Think of how small the speaker driver is on an answering machine or a phone, and compare that size with a speaker used for a movie theater or a television.  The sounds and voices are pretty accurate (if not boomy) in a movie theater, right?  It's all about size.

Answer 11

either you change your voice to your phone voice which many people tend to do...Or you hear yourself different than other people do..I know When I talk on the phone I sound just like my sister and when I hear myself talk in person I sound nothing like here in my opion...So it must be my hearing at the time of talking...