White noise machine recommendations

April 8, 2013 2:01 PM

I'm looking for a white noise machine (not an app) whose sound more closely resembles forced central air and not a fan. Any ideas?

Obviously, my SO and I can't leave the air going all night and fans don't do it for me. Price is not an issue. I just want to sleep.

posted by nubianinthedesert to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Is there not a way to just turn on the fan of the HVAC? Most thermostats have a constant-on setting for the fan. Not trying to talk underneath you, just want to be sure you've considered it!
posted by ftm at 2:04 PM on April 8, 2013

Have you looked at the Sleepmate? (search sleepmate on Amazon). This is what we use, and it's fabulous - more white noise than anything else we've tried. I'm not sure if it's more like forced air than a fan, but if you want, I can record the noise it makes on high and low and send it to you.
posted by needlegrrl at 2:07 PM on April 8, 2013 [3 favorites]

I was looking for a good white noise machine, too. I wound up buying this $15 mini mp3 player with a built in speaker and a $5 1gb micro-sd card. I used Audacity to generate a couple of hours of white noise (or brown or pink...it's really easy to tweak the noise for whatever feels best) I am so ridiculously happy with it. Totally worth the $20 I spent.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 2:09 PM on April 8, 2013

Best answer: I have a Blue Air (air purifier) that removes allergens, dust etc... and it is the BEST white noise machine I have ever owed as a bonus.

Consumer Reports blessed.

Refurbs can be had for under $200
posted by bobdow at 2:11 PM on April 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You want the dohm. I use mine almost everynight.
posted by jalitt at 2:13 PM on April 8, 2013 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: It looks like it's the dohm (perhaps the same as the Sleepmate since a search for that term on Amazon brings up the dohm) FTW. Thanks, all! Placing my order right after my last meeting.
posted by nubianinthedesert at 2:45 PM on April 8, 2013

I think you'll be happy. I got a Dohm for the office, after reading all the positive comments in this recent Ask Me thread, and it's great!
posted by mumkin at 4:43 PM on April 8, 2013

The EcoTones is awesome. Their website has a demo of all the sounds available. I couldn't be happier.
posted by barnone at 8:42 PM on April 8, 2013

I know the OP isn't interested in a program. But some may be interested in the information here:

This is a video instruction on how to create pink, white, and brown sounds with the free program Audacity.

I created a 15 minute clip of brown noise and exported it to 128k mp3. The file size is 14mb.

The brown noise is everything I hoped it would be, and more.
posted by Birchpear at 12:25 AM on April 9, 2013