A steady sound that hides the others
White noise is a random sound that contains every frequency the ear can hear, at the same intensity. It sounds like a soft hiss: a TV between channels, a fan, an air vent. Its main use is masking. In a silent room, a door, a car or a cough stands out and can wake you up. With a steady background sound, the same noise is a smaller jump from what you already hear, so it is less likely to catch your attention.
Every sound on this page is made live by your browser, not played from a file: nothing to download, a loop that joins without a seam, and it works offline once the page is loaded. The bars show the shape of the sound: flat for white noise, sloping for pink, steep for brown, a hump in the middle for green. They move while it plays and follow the fade in and out.
White, pink and brown noise
| Noise | How it sounds | Energy by octave | Often used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| White noise | Bright hiss, like a TV between channels or an air vent | Rises with each octave (equal energy per hertz) | Masking voices and sharp sounds, focus, babies |
| Pink noise | Softer, like steady rain or wind in the trees | Equal energy in every octave (−3 dB per octave per hertz) | Sleep, long listening, a more natural sound |
| Brown noise | Deep rumble, like a waterfall or a plane cabin | Falls with each octave (−6 dB per octave per hertz) | Deep relaxation, traffic and low hum, focus |
These three colors differ only in how their energy is spread across low and high frequencies. White noise has the most treble, so it masks voices and sharp sounds best. Pink noise is softer and is the one most often used in sleep studies. Brown noise is a deep rumble that many people use to focus. Try all three: switching is smooth, and the page keeps your choice for next time.
The Noise family has four more colors. Grey noise is white noise corrected for the ear’s sensitivity, so it sounds equally loud at every pitch. Green noise keeps only the middle of the spectrum, around 500 Hz. Blue noise rises by 3 dB per octave and sounds brighter, and violet noise rises by 6 dB per octave and is very sharp, close to a hiss.
Nature, home and baby sounds
Beyond the noise colors, three more families in the bar at the bottom hold sounds made the same way, from scratch, in your browser. Each sound has its own banner color.
| Sound | What you hear | Often picked for |
|---|---|---|
| Rain | A soft whoosh and thousands of drops, left and right | Falling asleep, reading |
| Thunderstorm | Heavier rain, a close and a distant thunder clap | Deep, dramatic background |
| Ocean waves | Waves that rise, break and pull back | Relaxing, slow breathing |
| River | A steady current and small bubbles | Studying, long sessions |
| Wind | Gusts that rise and fall | A soft, moving background |
| Fireplace | A low roar, crackles and a few pops | Cozy evenings |
| Vacuum cleaner | A wide whoosh and a motor whine | Calming a fussy baby |
| Hair dryer | A brighter airflow and a motor hum | Babies, focus |
| Washing machine | A drum rumble that turns every 1.5 s | A deep, rocking rhythm |
| Fan | A soft airflow and a light blade flutter | All night sleep |
| Shushing | A soft “shhh” every 1.2 s | Crying babies |
| Heartbeat | 70 beats per minute, “lub” then “dub” | Newborns, relaxation |
| Womb sounds | A muffled rumble pulsing with a heartbeat | Newborns |
Switching from one sound to another is a short crossfade, with no gap. The page remembers the last sound you picked in each family.
The sleep timer and the fade out
Turn the wheel to choose when the sound stops: 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 45 minutes, 1 to 8 hours, or no limit. The line above the bars shows the time it will stop, and the counter shows what is left. The end is never abrupt: the volume goes down slowly over the last tenth of the time, two minutes at most, so a sudden silence does not wake you. Change the timer while it plays and it restarts from now.
| Timer | Fade out | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 15 to 30 min | 1.5 to 2 min | Falling asleep, a nap |
| 45 min to 1 h | 2 min | A child’s bedtime, a reading session |
| 2 to 4 h | 2 min | A long work session, a flight |
| 8 h or no limit | 2 min, or none | The whole night |
For a short nap with a wake up sound, pair it with the online timer. To find the best time to go to bed, use the sleep calculator.
White noise for babies
Many parents use white noise to help a baby settle, because a steady sound is close to what a baby hears before birth. The Baby family adds shushing, a heartbeat and womb sounds: see white noise for babies. Volume matters. In a study published in Pediatrics in 2014, researchers measured 14 infant sleep machines at full volume: all of them went above 50 decibels, the level recommended for hospital nurseries, when placed 30 cm from a baby’s head, and three of them went above 85 decibels, a common workplace limit for an 8 hour day. The authors advise keeping the device as far from the crib as possible, the volume low, and the playing time short.
- Place the phone or speaker across the room, never in the crib or on the mattress.
- Keep the volume low: about the level of a quiet shower, softer than a normal conversation.
- Use the timer to stop the sound once the baby is asleep.
Focus and studying
In an open office, a café or a shared flat, voices are the hardest sound to ignore, because the brain tries to follow them. A low white or pink noise in headphones blurs them. Keep it just loud enough to stop understanding the words, and take breaks: the Pomodoro timer works well with it.
Good habits
- Lower is better. If you have to raise your voice to talk over it, it is too loud.
- Keep the speaker away from your head, especially with earbuds or at night.
- Go full screen with the F key or the button at the top: when you stop touching the screen, the display dims so it does not light up the room.
- On a phone, plug it in for a long night: the page keeps the screen awake while it plays. Your settings are saved on this device.