![]() There's also pink noise, which is white noise, but with the higher frequencies somewhat muted. ![]() With no variation entering your ears, your brain interprets the sound like a steady hiss.īut white isn't the only "color" of sound. It's made up of all the frequencies audible to the human ear playing at once, and at the same intensity. If you're old enough, you probably remember the sound of static after a television station went off the air for the night. ![]() Of course, really loud or irregular noise, such as your baby's crying, will still break through, but in general, you'll sleep far more soundly with white noise playing in the background than without. White noise machines, with their soft, steady, repeating loops of sound, help mask sudden or unusual noise, thus lulling your brain into relaxation, and eventually, sweet sleep. Instead, they work with your brain's natural tendency to mostly notice new or variable sounds while tuning out steady, repetitious noise. These handy devices aren't intended to play so loudly that they overwhelm outside disruptions. And that's exactly why sound machines, also called white noise machines or sound therapy machines, were invented. Noise - it's hard to escape, especially at those times you'd most like a little peace and quiet. Instead, your baby or young child wakes up at every sound, which means that they, in turn, wake you up with their unhappiness. Or, maybe it's not you having trouble sleeping. Something as simple as a nightly "winding down" routine can help you to sleep.The dog next door is barking, someone nearby is beeping their horn, your significant other is snoring like a chainsaw, and you're staring at the ceiling in frustration rather than sleeping soundly. In fact, it's much more likely that diet, exercise and staring at screens are contributing to poor sleep quality. Simply turning on one of these will not knock you out, and ambient noise may not be the thing that's keeping you up at night. One final word of advice: Although white-noise machines can indeed help you to sleep, they are not magic bullets. If you want to get a white-noise machine for the express purpose of helping a baby sleep, I recommend consulting with a pediatrician first. As such, I can't guarantee that these machines are safe for babies - and neither can their manufacturers. I looked for a follow-up study to determine whether white-noise machines have addressed this flaw within the last five years, but was unable to find anything. A 2014 study from the American Academy of Pediatrics found that most white-noise machines exceeded recommended decibel levels for infants, and that the noise can "affect hearing, speech and language development." However, based on my research, I am not convinced that white-noise machines are universally safe for babies. As such, you might be expecting a recommendation for an infant-centric device on this page. Many people buy white-noise machines to help lull babies to sleep. Your sound library is potentially as big as the Internet itself, and you can customize plenty of timers and alarms to go along with it. That means you can buy a white-noise recording, or play one on YouTube - or even ask Google Assistant to find one for you. Using a smart speaker allows you to leverage your existing smartphone apps to broadcast anything you want. You may not own a Google Home Mini Smart Speaker, but you probably do have the thing that powers it: a smartphone. ![]() ![]() There's an argument to be made that the best device for any given application is the one you already own. These sounds may indeed help you to sleep, but they are not technically white noise. Certain models even mimic the sounds of a roaring ocean or a crackling fire. As such, many "white noise" machines listed here generate a gentler "pink noise" instead. White noise generates sound on a variety of frequencies - some of which are actually unpleasant to the human ear. While the term white noise colloquially refers to any low, looping noise that helps people focus on a task at hand (like sleeping), that's not the scientific definition of the term. Not all white-noise machines generate real white noise. The five we chose have the best reputations overall, and represent a variety of price points and use-cases. After narrowing down our initial selection, we read customer reviews on Amazon, Reddit and manufacturer websites to see how our choices held up under real-world conditions. To select the best white-noise machines, Tom's Guide researched reviews from a number of tech and sleep sites, including The Wirecutter, Wired, Sleep Advisor and Verywell Health. ![]()
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