Hi OpenAI team and community,
I want to share some honest feedback about the new “expressive” or “advanced” voice mode. I really dislike it and feel that the experience is significantly worse than before—actually to the point where I no longer feel I have a reason to use voice chat at all. The dynamic worked well, there was a conversation al flow and I was satisfied with that. I used the Cove voice before and I’ve now tried all the advanced voices, but none of them enhanced the experience, the advanced mode simply doesn’t work for me.
I fear that the legacy mode will be permanently removed, and if that happens, I won’t have any reason to use the voice features, not for chat or even for reading aloud. If this overly expressive tone were to affect text replies too, I genuinely don’t think I’d want to use the app at all.
The new advanced voice mode has lost the core qualities that made voice chat worth using in the first place:
• It lacks depth and personality
• It doesn’t feel grounded, real, or likable
• It’s overly positive, sounds plastic, fake, or submissive
• It doesn’t match tone or energy when asked to
• It lacks the feeling of intelligence and nuance
• It’s hard to want to engage with—it doesn’t feel like someone I want to listen to
• Responses feel vague, bland, too general, or completely miss the point
• It’s far too censored
With the legacy mode, it felt like talking to someone who enriched the conversation. We could challenge each other, be bold, use rough language, or even joke around casually. Now that dynamic is gone.
All in all, I was satisfied with the old mode. I enjoyed chatting and listening. You could make all the changes you want to the new system—but personally, all I need is the old mode back as an option. It had everything the new one lacks.
Thanks for listening,
—Alex