Berlin-based app Xounds has launched in beta, offering a new take on erotic audio by focusing on unscripted, user-generated recordings that use built-in voice-based consent checks.
Co-founded by Cornelia Steinbock, a political scientist and systemic coach, and designer-developer Gabor Farkasch, xounds invites users to share personal erotic recordings – including spoken narratives and ambient sex sounds – without the polish or scripts typical of apps like Dipsea or Femtasy.
“[Other] platforms give certain guidelines and certain real things, authentic things have to be cut out. Xounds is exactly the opposite of this,” Steinbock told SEXTECHGUIDE. “We really want the authentic, real, raw sexuality, talks about intimacy, stories of erotica, actual sex sounds. It’s all welcome.”
The app debuted its beta version at a Berlin launch event held during SxTech EU . It’s now live for iOS devices across Europe, with an Android build in the verification phase and a global rollout planned.
Built-in consent verification
Before uploading audio, each participant must have a registered account and record a randomized consent phrase in the app. Xounds’ API then uses AI to verify that the phrase was spoken as prompted and to capture voice markers. Once the audio is submitted, the AI cross-checks these markers with the voices in the recording. The Xounds team then manually reviews the results before approving the upload.
According to Steinbock, the goal is to make user-generated audio erotica feasible without compromising safety. “No one else we know of allows user-generated content in this safe way,” she says.
For the first release, the AI behind this process was built using existing models “that have been around” with plans to rebuild them from scratch using opt-in data, rather than relying on unvetted scraped datasets.
“We really want to retrain our models to be more ethical and also be more accurate. Right now, what’s out there is mistaking a lot of female-sounding voices for kids. It’s just because the AI isn’t trained properly.”
— Cornelia Steinbock, co-founder Xounds
Anonymity and audio watermarking
Anonymity remains a key concern for the platform, especially as voice-recognition technology advances. While the beta doesn’t yet offer anonymizing voice filters, Steinbock mentioned that it’s in development.
“We’re working on integrating the better filters […] to really use your voice and just kind of tone up or down certain levels of it,” she said on stage during the May 3 event. “Basically you can still record your own audio, but […] you can make it even more anonymous.” It’s unclear how these filters will work together with the consent checks at this stage.
Steinbock also previewed plans for audio watermarking – imperceptible markers embedded in recordings that could help prove ownership or track unauthorized use. “You can’t hear it when you just listen to it, but when you want to reproduce it, it kind of annoys people,” she explained in the same response. “You can also kind of track that it was actually copied […] and in that way, it’s a violation of your rights.”
Pricing model and creator monetization
Pricing Structure
- Free to use
-
Freemium model
- Free tier with ads before and after clips
- Premium tier: €6.99/month or €69/year (ad-free)
- Upload 3+ audios monthly for premium access
Creators who upload three or more audios per month unlock access to the premium tier, but the app doesn’t currently offer financial payouts. “We want to set the tone that authenticity is what we want,” Steinbock says. “When money comes in, we start thinking differently.”
However, monetization tools are on the roadmap. Plans include letting creators set prices for their content, similar to platforms like Patreon.
Content uploaded to the app also remains fully owned by the creator. “They keep the copyright, so it’s their property,” Steinbock explains. “At a later stage, we will ask them to opt in, so that we can use certain data for advertisement and stuff, but they have to opt in actively.”
Moderation, age verification, haptics and more
All content is reviewed by the Xounds team before going live, and users can also flag and report content they find concerning from within the app.
Moderation
Team review of all content before publishing plus user-driven content reporting
Age Verification
Developing voice-based age estimation technology for additional safety
Future Plans
Planned haptic device integration for synced tactile experiences
For the future, the Xounds team says it’s experimenting with voice-based age estimation as an additional layer of protection against underage users. They’re also looking into future integrations with haptic devices to sync erotic audio with tactile experiences. “We didn’t create a plan for it yet, but we definitely want to do it,” says Steinbock.
While Steinbock acknowledged that the beta app is still “really raw at the moment,” she encourages everyone to try it and report bugs. “Download it, try it out,” she urges. “We want to build an even better experience with all the feedback.”
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