A voice changer is exactly what the name states; it changes the sound of your voice. In addition, many voice changers can go further than just changing the sound of your voice, many voice changers can change the gender of a voice (for instance, from female to male) and enhance the voice in many different ways.

Types of Voice Changers

There are three main types of voice changers, stand alone electronic devices that you speak into, devices that integrate with telephones and software based voice changes that can easily manipulate a voice with the use of a computer.

Stand Alone Voice Changing Devices

One of the most popular types of voice changing devices are separate units, about the size of a deck of cards or those that are integrated into a microphone that one directly talks into to change the sound of their voice. Depending on the device, your voice can be changed in specific ways. Many stand alone voice changing devices can make your voice sound lower or speed it up sounding high pitched. Certain devices can even include sound effects to warp your voice so that it sounds like it is on helium or slow it down so that it sounds like a dying robot. Some novelty voice changers can even make your voice sound like a Superhero (such as The Hulk) or a movie villain (Darth Vader).

Phone Integrated Voice Changing Devices

Voice changers can also be integrated or easily hooked up to change your voice when speaking on a telephone. When this technology first became popular over a decade ago, it was advertised as a safety device. For instance, a young woman living alone can use the device to scare away an unwanted caller. Many voice changers were built into the phones, so that one can speak through the headset and control the voice from the main unit. Today, many of these devices include a separate microphone and the device itself hooks into the headset jack of either a cell phone or a landline phone.

Software Based Voice Changers

Some of the most popular voice changing technologies are those created with computer software. Using your microphone input and speaker output, you can record your voice or use an audio file of a voice and manipulate it with computer software. There are many different ways to manipulate the voice, sort of like an audio version of Adobe Photoshop. For instance, you can change the voice’s speed, change the gender, add background noises, add music and even use the sample that you record to create an answering machine message.

Voice Changers for Fun and Safety

Voice changing technology is primarily used for fun, but it can also be helpful for home security or to hide your identity when an unknown person calls your phone. Most voice changing devices are fairly cheap and can cost as low as $20. Voice changing software and integrated devices can cost a few dollars more, but usually most are less than $100.