How White Noise Machines Work
White noise machines also known as sleep machines are becoming increasing popular. There are Iphone apps for white noise, products targeting kids, and people telling you that this could be the thing you have always needed just didn’t know it yet. So, what is white noise and is it really as good as people say it is?
To make it simple I will explain white noise as a combination of all possible frequencies of noise. That is a bunch, so it stands to reason that all white noise is not created equally, which is true. Some sound generators have the capacity to create sound on more frequencies than others. Some generate a denser sound, which of course will be better. It may help to think of white noise as being many different tones all playing at the same time, or thousands of conversations all taking place at once. As the number of tones increases it becomes more difficult to differentiate any one tone. The term white noise is derived from the more familiar white light which is simply a full spectrum of light.
Whereas white light is usually described as blinding white noise can be nearly imperceptible because the brain can easily tune the sound out. Because white noise contains so many different tones it is can be used to absorb or tone out other sounds. When your brain tunes out the sound of white noise it will tune out any other background noise of equal of lesser volume. This is why sleep machines are becoming increasingly popular for business travelers, new parents, or anyone suffering from sleeping disorders. People who grow used to sleeping with fans on are in essence using a crude form of white noise.
As people get older and more used to the sounds of white noise it can become increasingly difficult to sleep without it. Some people may be leery of growing dependent on a machine for sleep and these people must weight the pros and cons of getting a good nights sleep. If you don’t have a hard time sleeping you probably don’t need a white noise machine.