Short answer: when you talk, sound reaches your inner ear through the air and through vibrations conducted by tissues and bones in your head. Bone conduction emphasizes lower-frequency components, so your live self-voice often sounds fuller or deeper. A microphone mostly captures the air-conducted sound that other people hear.
Your head is part of the listening system
Your vocal folds create sound, and your throat, mouth and nasal cavities shape it. Some of that sound travels outward through the air to your ears. Some travels internally through the skull and tissues to the cochlea.
During playback, the internal vibration route is missing. The result is not necessarily “higher” in every measurable sense, but it often feels thinner and more unfamiliar because your brain has spent years learning the combined version as “my voice.”
Quick follow-ups
FAQ
Is the recorded voice what everyone else hears?
It is closer because other listeners mainly receive the air-conducted sound, although microphones, rooms and speakers can also color the recording.
Why does my own voice sound deeper to me?
Bone-conducted vibrations tend to add relatively more low-frequency energy to the sound you perceive while speaking.
Check the evidence
Sources
- Why does my voice sound different when recorded? — Scientific American
- Taking Care of Your Voice — NIDCD
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