Latest news with #whitenoise
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Gizmodo
Soundcore Sleep A30: ANC Earbuds for Sleep That Can Save Your Marriage
I absolutely, positively, cannot sleep without ambient noise. I'm not sure when that neurotic prerequisite for sleep took root, but it's here now, and I regard it as a fact of life. As you might imagine, that quirk is fine when I'm at home since I have plenty of noise machines at my disposal—an air conditioner, a smart speaker, and tons of earbuds—to fill the haunting silence that prevents me from sleep like unresolved vengeance prevents a ghost from passing on. But when I'm not at home, things get tricky. Usually, if I'm at my parents' house or traveling, I'll whip out my phone and play my main guy Erik Eriksson's 'White Noise 3 Hour Long' on Spotify. It's truly the most important composition ever made for extremely personal reasons (it's just 3 hours of white noise that plays on repeat). This technique works in a pinch, but it also kind of sucks. My phone speakers aren't good, and it kills my battery big time. It also may subject others to what they may regard as 'annoying-ass noise.' It's not ideal, but sleeping with regular earbuds also sucks big time—in fact, it hurts. Regular wireless earbuds aren't meant to be slept with, since their shape causes them to press into your ears, which then causes a phenomenon known as 'ouch.' For those reasons, there's a new category of earbuds, and Soundcore decided to throw its hat into that ring. Soundcore Sleep A30 Surprisingly good at blocking out unwanted noise. Pros Cons The $229 Soundcore Sleep A30 are the successor to the A20 wireless earbuds, and they're designed specifically for sleep. When I say 'specifically' here, I mean very specifically. Everything from the buds' features to the shape is meant to help you block out noise or soothe you to sleep. Speaking of the shape, it'll probably be the first thing you notice. Instead of regular earbuds that have stems and bulbs, the Sleep A30 are flat. This is critical for ensuring that the buds don't bother the f**k out of your ears while you're lying down. As a side sleeper, that design is especially important since my head—even with a cushy pillow—ends up putting lots of pressure on one ear. Because of that, the first thing I wanted to test was how they felt in my ears. The verdict? Pretty good, but note the 'pretty' part. While the Sleep A30 are far and away the only earbuds I would ever venture to wear in my ears all night long, they still get a little uncomfortable with longer periods of use. There's an unavoidable discomfort with sticking something in your ear that even Soundcore's emphasis on design can't fully mitigate. Don't get me wrong, that slight discomfort is by no means a dealbreaker, but it is something to keep in mind if you're very sensitive to that sort of thing. It's even less of a dealbreaker, however, when you factor in how well these earbuds actually work. The first thing you need to know feature-wise about the Sleep A30 is that they're the first pair of active noise cancellation (ANC) earbuds for sleep, which puts the emphasis on being able to block out disruptive sounds. How exactly you block those sounds depends on what you choose via Soundcore's corresponding app. If you're looking for something soothing, there's a selection of 'AI Brainwave Audio,' which are binaural beats that are supposed to trick your brain into a calm state with the right frequencies. Audio selections in this category include Starry Sky, Ocean, and Forest, which are all long, droning synth sounds played over an ambient nature backdrop. The second category of audio is 'Snore Masking,' which is obviously designed to block out any snorers nearby. These sounds drop the synths and double down on the nature sound effects like 'Whistling Winds' or 'Himalayan Downpour.' There's one called 'Urban Breeze' that I enjoy since it feels like a soundscape that could be happening right outside my window. If none of those are what you're looking for, though, you can use the 'White Noise' tab to create your own tracks by combining sounds like light rain and campfire. Or, I don't know, get real weird and go with boiling soup over the sound of a keyboard typing. There are no rules in the create-your-own section, and I love that. But enough about the sounds, let's talk about whether they can actually protect you from the horrors of snoring. To test that, I ran the Sleep A30 through some noise tests while lying down. To start, I turned on my AC at full blast, laid my head down on the pillow, and selected one of the snore-masking audio tracks. Not going to lie, the Sleep A30 shut out my AC noise (which, by the way, is just a couple of feet from my bed) entirely. But AC noise isn't really my priority; in fact, I kind of like the natural (or unnatural, I guess) white noise it lends. Snoring is the real enemy here, and I'm sure many people interested in buying these buds would agree. To test that, I pulled up a looped YouTube video of a man snoring LOUDLY and played it at full volume on a MacBook Pro next to me. On this test, the Sleep A30 also performed well, though they didn't drown out the snoring entirely. Everyone is different, but for me, I think the noise cancelling was more than adequate if you're trying to get to sleep, though I guess that depends on what kind of snoring you're dealing with. Overall, I would say that I was surprised with the level of noise cancellation the Sleep A30 brings to the table, and while I don't encounter snoring a lot in my life, I would definitely want these buds by my side if I did. If you're wondering about battery life, there are some caveats here to note. While the Sleep A30 buds are rated for 9 hours of playback with ANC on, that actually doesn't apply to audio you're streaming via Bluetooth. While streaming via Bluetooth, that figure drops down to 6.5 hours of audio playback. To get the full 9 hours (a normal night's rest for most people), you need to stream audio locally. That means you'll have to download one of the audio tracks you want to listen to by pressing the down arrow button in the app, which downloads the sound to the actual earbuds. With the audio in your buds, you should be able to sleep all night without any battery disasters. Downloading airplane noises took about 45 seconds for me, which wasn't that bad. It's a quirk of the buds, obviously, but also kind of a smart and relatively painless workaround to a battery life problem that all earbuds with ANC face. Ultimately, the Sleep A30 buds are designed to do just one thing, and that's block out noise and help you sleep. On that front, I think Soundcore is succeeding. They're not perfect, but for what's basically a nonexistent category of sleep-focused earbuds, they feel genuinely effective and thoughtful. It definitely doesn't hurt to have a companion app that's full of various sounds and features, and augments the hardware in all the ways companion software should. If you're often in bed with a snorer, and you need a little relief, I think it's worth springing for the Sleep A30. They might just save you a few restless nights, or shit, maybe your marriage. A Kickstarter was successfully funded, and orders are currently closed for the Sleep A30, but Gizmodo will update this review when more information on future stock is available.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Fans can improve sleep quality and reduce noise pollution
Using a fan can significantly improve sleep quality by providing white noise to mask environmental disturbances and by helping to cool the body. A survey indicated that 27 percent of excellent sleepers regularly use a fan, suggesting its effectiveness in promoting good rest. Fans help mitigate the negative effects of noise pollution, which can lead to sleep disruption, insomnia, and various chronic health conditions. Beyond temperature regulation and noise reduction, fans also assist in circulating air, helping to clear carbon dioxide from a room. However, potential drawbacks include circulating dust and drying out eyes or skin, and health authorities advise against using fans in temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) as they can increase body temperature.
CNET
14-07-2025
- CNET
Your iPhone Has a White Noise Function. Here's How to Turn It On
Listening to natural sounds can lower stress, relieve perceived pain and foster a more positive disposition, according to research from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Other studies suggest that white noise could help parents get their babies to sleep, adults learn words and improve learning in environments full of distractions. And if you're looking to buy a white noise machine for yourself or your child, your iPhone can function as one, saving you money on a new device. Read more: White Noise Versus Brown Noise: Which One Is Best for Sleep? When Apple released iOS 15 in 2021, the operating system brought a hidden feature to your iPhone called Background Sounds. It allows you to turn your iPhone into a white noise machine, and you can play these sounds by themselves or under any podcast, music or video streaming app. When Apple first introduced the feature, there were six ambient sounds to play on a loop: rain, stream, ocean, bright, balanced and dark noise, which are different pitches of white noise. When Apple released iOS 18 last September, it added two sounds to the feature: night and fire. And developer beta versions of the upcoming iOS 26 feature even more background sounds, like rain on roof and babble -- which sounds like a busy cafe. So instead of buying a white noise machine, save yourself some money and just use your iPhone. Read more: Everything You Need to Know About iOS 18 Here's how to enable Background Sounds on your iPhone. How to set up Background Sounds on your iPhone 1. Tap Settings. 2. Tap Accessibility. 3. Tap Audio & Visual. 4. Tap Background Sounds. 5. Tap the toggle next to Background Sounds near the top of the menu to enable the feature. In this menu you can also tap Sound to listen to the different noise options. If you're using the feature for the first time, the sounds have to download, so it might take a second. There are also two other toggles in this menu: Use When Media Is Playing and Stop Sounds When Locked. Tapping the toggle next to Use When Media Is Playing allows Background Sounds to keep playing while you watch a video or listen to music. And tapping the toggle next to Stop Sounds When Locked ensures Background Sounds will turn off when your device locks. If you don't have this enabled, the sounds will continue to play when your device locks. How to access Background Sounds from Control Center Instead of searching through Settings each time you want to turn Background Sounds on, here's how you can set up a toggle in the Control Center to turn the feature on to use on your iPhone. I like rain but fire and night are also pleasant. Apple/CNET 1. Open Control Center. 2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top left of your screen. 3. Tap Add a Control near the bottom of your screen. 4. Tap Hearing control (ear icon) to add to Control Center. Once the Hearing control icon is in Control Center, tap it to see three options: Speaker, Background Sounds and Live Listen. Then tap the musical notes next to Background Sounds to turn the feature on. You can also tap on the words Background Sounds to open a menu to choose a different background sound as well as adjust the volume. Use Accessibility Shortcuts for Background Sounds You can also set up an accessibility shortcut to turn Background Sounds on or off from your home screen or within an app. Here's how to set it up. 1. Tap Settings. 2. Tap Accessibility. 3. Tap Accessibility Shortcut. 4. Tap Background Sounds. Now when you press the side button on your iPhone three times, Background Sounds will turn on. You can tap the button three times again to turn it back off. For more on iOS 18, here's what you need to know about iOS 18.5 and iOS 18.4, as well as our iOS 18 cheat sheet. You can also check out what you should know about iOS 26 and how the upcoming OS lets us kill the alarm's 9-minute snooze.
National Post
06-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
The best white noise machines for a sound sleep
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Article content Although commonly associated with babies and children, white noise can be beneficial for kids and adults alike. Studies have shown that white noise can help improve sleep quality by masking disruptive sounds, promoting relaxation, quieting the mind and ultimately building better sleep routines by signaling to the brain and body that it is time to wind down. Article content Apart from sleep, white noise can also prove to be helpful for focus and relaxation in various settings by creating a steady background sound. This can include when working or studying, meditating or even working out. However, it is key to ensure not to overdo it because overexposure to the noise can lead to hearing loss. So, it is best to place the machines at a distance and have the volume at a safe level, which is typically between 50 and 70 decibels. Article content Article content That being said, the effects and benefits will vary from person to person. It all comes down to trial and error. So, if you are struggling with any of the above, testing out a white noise machine may be worth the trial – we've rounded up some of the best ones to make sure you give it a fighting chance. Article content Article content Article content Featuring white, brown and pink noise as well as two ocean sounds, the LectroFan EVO has 22 non-looping sound options. It also has fan sounds with no rattling noise. With adjustable volume control, a compact size, an audio connector and timer, this sound machine can be used anywhere and everywhere and by anyone whether it is for sleep, relaxation or rest. Article content Invented in 1962, this classic sound machine has been loved for years and by many. It is a best-seller that features fan-based natural white noise. There are two speed options and adjustable volume – simple and effective. Article content While not exclusively a sound machine, the Amazon Echo Dot can easily be used as one along with its many other functions. In fact, this newest model has an improved audio experience compared to previous ones. Playing white noise can be done in a number of ways including through an app such as Amazon Prime Music or Spotify, or alternatively by asking Alexa to play white noise.
