Some of this may be a side effect of the fact that many apps built on WebRTC audio seem to opt for ultracheap audio codecs like G.722[1]. While I haven't been able to completely validate that this is the case, I have noticed that some platforms (like Clubhouse at least through early spring 2021) have truly atrocious audio quality, to the point that everyone sounds like they were talking on a landline phone (which is what codecs like G.722 were designed for).
When you cut the bitrate on an audio signal, it can hurt the signal-to-noise ratio, causing small differences in speech (like a normally subtle accent) to become a larger impediment to being understood.
I'll admit, I'm deep in speculation territory here, but this seems plausible. I will note for the record that this doesn't necessarily apply to larger and more established apps like Zoom and Google Meet. They're definitely compressing the heck out of your audio, but they at least have the decency to use more modern codecs like MP3.
When you cut the bitrate on an audio signal, it can hurt the signal-to-noise ratio, causing small differences in speech (like a normally subtle accent) to become a larger impediment to being understood.
I'll admit, I'm deep in speculation territory here, but this seems plausible. I will note for the record that this doesn't necessarily apply to larger and more established apps like Zoom and Google Meet. They're definitely compressing the heck out of your audio, but they at least have the decency to use more modern codecs like MP3.
[1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Media/Formats/A...