What is the app that plays your voice back delay?
Voice delay apps are smartphone apps that record a user’s voice and play it back to them after a short delay. This creates an echo effect that makes it very difficult for the user to speak smoothly, hence the name “speech jammer.” The delayed playback interrupts the user’s normal speech pattern and causes stuttering or slurring. While frustrating, it can be amusing to try these apps with friends. The length of the delay can often be adjusted in the app settings. The primary use of voice delay apps is for entertainment, but they can also be useful for speech therapy and training.
According to Speech Jammer on the App Store, the app “echos your voice back using an adjustable delay, making it very difficult (or impossible) to talk.” Other popular voice delay apps like Speech Jammer° work the same way utilizing “Delayed Auditory Feedback (DAF)” to disrupt speech patterns.
Popular Voice Delay Apps
Some of the most popular and highly-rated voice delay apps include:
VoiceJam – This app provides real-time playback with adjustable delay times up to 1 second. It works by playing your voice back to you with a delay, which disrupts normal speech patterns. The app has over 4,000 reviews with a 4.6 rating.
VocalPitchMonitor – Designed for singers, public speakers, and voice over artists, this app displays your pitch in real-time with no delay. It helps train your voice to stay in tune and on pitch. The app has a 4.8 rating.
Voice Changer Plus – With over 100 voice and sound effects, this app lets you alter your voice in real-time or apply effects like echo, reverb, and pitch shift. It can be used for prank calls and music recordings. The app has over 6 million downloads.
These apps provide adjustable voice delay effects, real-time pitch tracking, and voice modulation effects. They are popular both for professional voice training as well as for entertainment purposes.
How Voice Delay Apps Work
These apps make use of a short audio delay to create a speech jamming effect. They work by using the device’s microphone to record the user’s voice and then playing it back through the speakers or headphones after a delay, typically between 0.04 and 0.2 seconds (Stutterbox, n.d.). This slight delay is short enough to sound like an echo, but long enough to disrupt the auditory feedback loop that is critical for normal speech (Stutterbox, n.d.).
When we speak, our brains are accustomed to hearing our voices instantly. This real-time auditory feedback allows us to regulate the pitch, cadence, and volume of our speech as we talk. But when a delay is introduced, the feedback becomes out of sync, making it very difficult to speak smoothly. The voice delay creates a jarring sensation, causing most people to stutter, stumble over words, or be unable to talk at all while the app is active (Mirror, 2015).
The technology behind these apps is not overly complex. The core functionality requires recording audio from the microphone, temporarily storing it in a buffer, and then playing it back after the desired delay length. But properly calibrating and fine-tuning the delay time is key to creating an effective speech jammer. Most apps allow users to adjust the delay length to find the sweet spot that disrupts speech for their voice (Apple App Store, 2023).
Types of Voice Delay Effects
There are several different types of voice delay effects that are commonly used in voice delay apps:
Echo: An echo effect creates repetitions of the input sound, simulating the reflection of sound waves off surfaces like walls. The delay time, number of repeats, and decay rate of the echoes can be adjusted to create different echo styles, from a short slapback echo to a long trailing echo. Popular for vocals in many music genres (source).
Reverb: Reverb adds space and ambience to vocal tracks by simulating the complex reverberations in a real acoustic space. Reverb plugins have controls for room size, decay time, EQ, and more. Reverb smooths and blends vocals in a mix (source).
Pitch shifting: Pitch shifting effects change the pitch of the vocals up or down for creative effects. Vocal pitch shifters can produce subtle harmonies or radical shifts like the “chipmunk” effect. Formant shifting keeps vocals sounding natural when pitching up or down (source).
Other common delay effects include choruses which thicken vocals, slapback delays for a retro vibe, and vocal transformers that radically alter voice quality.
Use Cases for Voice Delay Apps
Voice delay apps have a variety of useful applications, including:
Recording music covers. Musicians can use the delay effect to create vocal harmonies or experiment with layering their own vocals when recording cover songs (Speech Jammer on the App Store).
Practicing public speaking. The delayed playback makes it challenging to speak smoothly, so speakers can practice concentrating on their delivery. This helps improve skills for presentations or speeches without an audience (Speech Jammer Ultimate – Apps on Google Play).
Language learning. Hearing a delayed version of their speech helps language learners identify pronunciation or fluency issues. Apps provide a solo study aid for improvement (Speech Jammer° on the App Store).
Benefits of Voice Delay Apps
Voice delay apps can provide several benefits, especially for building confidence and improving speaking skills. The slight delay created by the app can help users overcome speech disfluencies like stuttering or stammering. As one person noted, “Being more fluent made me feel more confident in myself and my ability to communicate, which made me feel more positive about my speech overall.” (https://stamma.org/your-voice/using-fluency-app-helped-my-confidence)
The apps allow people to practice speaking and listening in a new way, focusing on pacing, enunciation, and vocal quality. The playback effect forces users to slow down and be more mindful of how they sound. This can build long-term speaking skills. Additionally, some find the voice delay entertaining and enjoy experimenting with different effects. The apps provide a fun way to explore vocal creativity.
In summary, key benefits of voice delay apps include building confidence, enhancing speaking abilities through practice, and simply providing entertainment value.
Downsides of Voice Delay Apps
While voice delay apps can be fun and creative, they do come with some downsides. One of the main issues is that adding a delay effect can make your voice sound robotic and unnatural. The delay disrupts the normal cadence and flow of speech, which can be jarring for listeners.
As this user on an Apple forum notes, VoiceOver screen reader technology can have significant latency, causing an “echo chamber” effect that hinders natural conversation flow:
“I notice quite a lot of latency with VoiceOver even when nothing is running and I’m using internal speaker or headset.” (Source)
Similarly, delays between recording and playback on singing apps like Smule Sing can make it hard to stay on the right tempo and sound cohesive with the backing track, as pointed out on a Smule forum:
“I am facing voice delay problem in smule sing app. While … So that’s the reason why there are more problems on Android for apps like Smule.” (Source)
Unless the delay effect is subtle, it can be disruptive and make speech and singing less natural. Users need to be careful not to overdo the effects if they want to maintain good flow.
Tips for Using Voice Delay Apps
When using voice delay apps, it’s important to follow best practices for recording to achieve the most natural sound. Here are some tips:
Choose a quiet environment without background noise to record in. Ambient sounds will be amplified and repeated back through the delay effect, so aim for a silent room [1].
Position the microphone close to your mouth when speaking or singing. A distance of about 4-6 inches between your mouth and the mic will prevent the delay from sounding artificial or distorted [1].
Speak slowly and clearly when recording. Fast talking can result in a confusing echo, so pace yourself. Over-enunciate words slightly to make them more defined [1].
Adjust delay time and feedback volume carefully. Longer delays over 500ms can be difficult to manage. Start with a 100-200ms delay and low feedback volume for a subtle doubling effect [2].
Listen back and practice before recording final takes. It takes time to get used to the echo effect in your headphones. Rehearse material to find your flow [3].
Record short phrases or sentences at a time if struggling. Leave natural pauses between statements to avoid overlapping echoes.
Future Possibilities
Voice delay technology has the potential for significant advancements in the coming years. As artificial intelligence continues to progress, we may see voice delay apps that can generate realistic delays and echoes as if a person were actually speaking in a large hall or stadium. According to a report by ATIS, future voice architectures could integrate AR, VR, and XR to enable new approaches for ultra-low latency voice communication critical for these immersive applications (Future of Voice Architecture).
Additionally, voice delay apps may expand their capabilities beyond simple playback, adding features like pitch correction, vocal effects, and text-to-speech. This could allow users to experiment with modifying their voice in creative ways. As explained in an article by Klizo, advancements in AI will empower voice technology to become an integral part of how we interact with technology (Sonic Waves of Tomorrow: AI in Voice Tech in 2024). Integration with other platforms like social media could also allow users to share delayed voice clips.
Overall, voice delay apps have significant potential to evolve from simple playback utilities into powerful creative tools leveraging AI and expanded connectivity. The future possibilities are wide open as technology continues to develop rapidly.
Conclusion
The most popular app for playing your voice back with a delay is Voice Jam. It offers real-time effects that let you remix your voice for singing, rapping, beatboxing, or just having fun.
Voice delay apps use audio buffering technology to capture your voice and play it back to you after a customized delay. Effects like echo, reverb, pitch shift, and looping create unique auditory experiences.
While entertaining, these apps can be abused. Use voice delays creatively, but avoid offensive lyrics or excessive disruption of others. Master your real singing voice first before relying on effects.
In the future, expect more advanced voice modification in real-time conversations. For now, enjoy the harmless fun of hearing your voice performed back to you with an added twist.
