Singer Girl and I had a discussion on device voices, and what makes them sound male or female or just a robot with a pitch. So why do you pick the device voice you pick? Also, what does that voice represent to you? Is it an extension of you somehow? Is it like a friend? Is it just the voice that is easiest to listen to? Is it like a color, and you like having that sound of a particular person around you?
Just interested in what these voices mean and represent to people.
By OldBear, 25 September, 2026
Forum
Assistive Technology
Comments
Re: Has the volume of the voice has changed for you
o cool! yeah i think i herd something like that on a few youtube videos but i didn't fully no that, i'm from Australia so idk if we get any of that fansy tts stuff here
Re: I understand I were hearing aids now too
There's lots of musicians, even singers, who have to use them, usually after having worked for years, Brian Johnson of AC/DC comes to mind. I do, however, wonder if the beats of combined notes could be felt and worked with just on feeling speakers vibrating by someone who is both deaf and blind.
I'm catching a little interest in the back of my mind, so perhaps I will work on my voice, speaking or maybe singing, in this artistic faze while it lasts. I'll need to build a sound proof booth... to humiliate myself in.
Automated phone Services
I cannot remember for sure, might've been the Social Security administration. But there is a service out there that uses the Tom voice for its automated service, like press 1 to do this, press 2 to do that, etc.
Good times. 👍
Re: Automated phone Services
In Australia, we have a Taxy service called Black And White Cabs. When you call their normal line, obviously the robot answers for you. The voice of the robot is actually the Karen Australian voice. Whilst if I may not be mistaken, Karen may have also been used in some GPS satnavs as well.
Awesome
Yes, Brian it was the Social Security administration that uses time for the Automated service. It’s pretty awesome what you guys had Karen for the taxi in Australia. I love that. Wish we could have that here. But hey, at least my phone gets to use her voice. I actually kind of had forgotten that the vocalizer voices were used in other areas before they became a screen reader voices. That’s kind of cool so that means the side people have to hear them too. At the quest diagnostic place it’s a lab where you get blood work done. They have a kiosk and the kiosk. Use Samantha when you go in to check in to their lab. It’s the regular Samantha Voice. It’s pretty awesome. Yes Michael, Thomas is definitely better in earlier versions than what we have now. His quality regressed a lot in iOS 16. That’s when a lot of of the Voice qualities regressed was when we got a whole bunch of new voices in iOS 16 and they got the updated vocalizer voices to use on the Apple devices and that’s when a lot of the voices get more I don’t know compressed or distorted or something one of those probably both. Yeah I don’t like the enhanced time as much now than what we had earlier, but I suppose it’s nothing that really can be changed at this point. The only way that would happen is if we were allowed to use the older generation of these voices on the iPhone maybe as a third-party app or something here we are. As far as being able to make my Music with hearing aids, I actually found that my music making was enhanced when I got my hearing aids. It actually allowed me to hear things clearer than I ever had in my life, and it completely changed my singing voice for the better completely need it sound like a whole different voice like and I really good way and I was able to hear notes a lot clearer and even before I had hearing aids, I had perfect pitch so I just kind of feel like literally further enhanced everything that I had in music. It just depends on the kind of hearing loss you have but yes, you can definitely still have Music in your life when you have hearing aids it just take a bit of adjusting to it, but you can do it.
Re: Do you mean Sam from Microsoft or Samantha vocalizer
I meant Sam from Microsoft. Vocalizer Samantha slurs her words somewhat as well, but not as much. Soem of the new Nural AI engines microsoft has created seem somewhat better, Microsoft Aria seems quite promicing though I haven't played around with it much. They're only availabile on narrator though.
I’m not the biggest Microsoft Sam fan either
I’m not the biggest fan of Microsoft Sam either. He definitely has a lot of really muffled speech. But I’m also somebody that doesn’t like a really really natural sounding voices either. Those are trying to sound too human for me. I’d rather have my Voice is really obviously coming out of a machine. Everybody has their preferences. I’ve heard samples of those more natural Microsoft voices and I didn’t like them.