The market is saturated with products to help you sleep better, including sound machines. But do they actually improve your slumber?

Yes, More Noise Can Actually Help You Hear Less and Sleep Better

Masking noise is perhaps the most common reason people turn to sound machines, particularly if they’re dealing with loud pets, partners, or background noises in their environment. Sound is one of the biggest disruptors of sleep, says Michael Breus, PhD, a clinical psychologist in Manhattan Beach, California, who specializes in sleep disorders and author of The Power of When, a book about how our body clocks affect sleep, productivity, and health.

In a setting that is too quiet, those disruptive noises become more noticeable to some individuals, Dr. Breus explains. “The more quiet it is, the more acute your hearing becomes,” he says. “If it’s too quiet, you hear everything and assign value to it, which usually ends up in getting upset about that noise and not being able to sleep.”

A classic example of this effect is when someone who’s used to sleeping in a city environment (with more ambient noise) has difficulty sleeping when they travel to a more rural location (with less ambient noise). Snores from a partner seemingly get amplified.

A sound machine doesn’t eliminate those disruptive noises, but it can help make them less noticeable to you. “That sound machine can distract you from those noises,” says David C. Brodner, MD, founder and principal physician at the Center for Sinus, Allergy, and Sleep Wellness in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Other individuals who might benefit from using sound machines include older adults, those who might be experiencing insomnia, or those who feel they need to sleep with the TV on, says Robert Satriale, MD, a pulmonologist who specializes in sleep medicine at Temple Lung Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In a study published in June 2016 in the Journal of Caring Sciences, individuals reported sleeping better while using a white-noise machine in a hospital setting (complete with various background noises you might expect to hear overnight in a hospital) compared with hospital patients who didn’t use one.

These machines also work well for people with tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, which is why they are the first treatment option Dr. Brodner offers patients with this condition. “During the day when there’s other noise and stimuli around them, they don’t notice the ringing,” he says. “Yet because there’s no background noise at night, the ringing bothers them, and those machines can help drown it out so they can sleep.”

Some Research Suggests Sound Machines Do Help With Sleep

Dr. Satriale explains that sound machines are a form of auditory masking. That means, he says: “Perception of sound is reduced by another sound.”

Researchers are still teasing out answers to exactly why and how sound machines help you sleep, but some studies have shown positive results. In a previous study published in May 2013 in the journal Neuron for example, pink noise helped improve deep sleep versus no noise (more on the differences between the colors of noises below). And a study published in March 2017 in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that pink noise helped older adults get deeper sleep (and improve memory).

Still, there’s more research needed to conclude whether sound machines are indeed effective and safe for insomnia. “Not everyone agrees that noise machines are beneficial, and unfortunately, the quantity and quality of clinical studies are lacking,” says Satriale.

Breus also notes that there’s not necessarily overwhelming evidence behind the effectiveness of sound machines for sleep. But the success rates that can be found in current studies (along with personal anecdotes) may be reason enough to try them out if various noises are keeping you up. “Sound machines can be useful if you’re trying to mask a sound that’s keeping you up, like your dog or a bed partner who snores,” Breus says.

And, if you’re looking to relax before bedtime, a review published in 2019 in Sleep Medicine noted that relaxing music could possibly help on this end while also masking loud noises that might otherwise keep you awake.

What to Know About Buying a Sound Machine

If you do decide to try a sound machine to help with sleep, you’ll quickly find that you have a lot of options when it comes to actually picking one out. But a few tips can steer you in the right direction.

Decide on the Color Noise You Want

First, know that there are three different types of noises available from sound machines: White, pink, and brown. If you’re old enough to remember when TV channels used to sign off early in the morning and leave nothing but white snow on screens, that’s essentially what white noise is. It’s also the static sound you hear when you turn a radio to an unused frequency.

Pink noise is a mix of high and low frequencies that are supposed to sound more natural than white noise, making it more soothing than white noise itself (think, for instance, a steady wind or rain). Breus suggests choosing a sound machine with pink noise over the other colors.

Brown noise generally has fewer higher frequencies than white or pink noise, and tends to sound rougher, Breus says. It sounds like a strong wind.

Whether one is better than the other when it comes to tuning out other noises and helping you sleep is still up for debate, as no study has put them head to head. But there may be a good reason to choose pink. “New developments about using pink noise to enhance slow wave sleep or deep sleep, which is associated with feelings of restfulness and memory consolidation, are certainly worth considering since deep sleep is considered the most important part of the sleep cycle,” says Lawrence Chan, DO, clinical assistant professor of sleep medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. The March 2017 study followed 13 individuals ages 60 to 84 over two nights of sleep and found that after a night of sleeping with ambient pink noise, the participants did better on the memory tests and got more deep sleep.

Additionally, a review published in 2022 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that, while more research is needed to support long-term efficacy in facilitating sleep, both white and pink noise may safely support healthy sleep in adults without any side effects. (The review also didn’t specify whether any of the adult participants in the included studies had insomnia.)

Overall, “it is best to try a sound for one to two weeks before deciding if it is best for you,” says Satriale.

Check for an Automatic Shut-Off Option

Many sound machines give you the option to run the noise all night or set it for a certain time period. You’ll have to decide what works best for you, but consider these two points, “It’s normal to take 15 to 30 minutes to fall asleep, so make sure it’s running at least 30 minutes,” Brodner says. And if you’re waking up in the middle of the night, you might be better off setting it to play all night.

Consider Special Features

Check the customer reviews and what other people are saying about the product before you buy it. Also pay attention to special features. Some sound machines have a meditation function that you might want to use, Breus says. Some have dozens of sound options, some have just a few, and others may have just one. You might find some of those features useful, but it’s really about personal preference, Breus says.

Make Sure the Machine Isn’t Too Loud

“Damage to hearing can occur when it is too loud, and it is recommended that these sounds stay no louder than 60 decibels (or the level of a clothes dryer),” Satriale notes. Additionally, he says that the sound should be even lower for infants — and never place a sound machine in a baby’s crib.

With additional reporting by Kristeen Cherney.

Can a Sound Machine Actually Help Me Sleep Better?