Tuesday, November 12, 2013

White Noise Generator for Your Notebook

My wife needs a white noise generator to sleep well in hotel rooms.  It struck me as we were checking bags on the last trip that one way to reduce the amount of stuff that we have to bring with us (perhaps enough to fit everything into carry-on bags) would be to download a white noise MP3 to play on the notebook PC, which we always have with us.  Sure enough: go here, and download the basic white noise MP3.  (The others are for babies: they include heartbeat noise as well.)
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7 comments:

  1. StormCchaserNovember 12, 2013 at 9:50 PM

    You probably want "pink noise." White noise sounds harsh.

    We use (and buy on eBay) old radio shack pink noise generators, but, as you suggest, it's another thing to carry along. Newer "sleep machines" tend to use repetitive recorded tracks, but the reptition drives me nuts - even when they are repeating pink noise.

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  2. MauserNovember 13, 2013 at 4:27 AM

    Doing it with MP3 Files is a waste, and you can often hear a gap as it repeats.

    Find a program called "White Rain", which produces four types of colored noise, a few optimized for blanking other noises, and has an equalizer, and best of all for your purposes, a shutoff timer.

    http://www.etfacoustic.com/WhiteRain/WhiteRain.html

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  3. SebastianNovember 13, 2013 at 8:33 AM

    I often need white noise myself this time of year, because I get used to the din of fans and AC during the summer. I've never found any of the electronic white noise pleasing. There's a certain quality to it that keeps me up rather than lulling me to sleep.

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  4. Clayton CramerNovember 13, 2013 at 9:26 AM

    I am actually pretty pleased with the MP3 that I found. The White Rain program has a zillion options, and takes up far less space. I suspect that my wife will prefer the MP3 -- it sounds like waves crashing along a shore, while White Rain is a bit too obviously electronic. Admittedly, I have not had had time to play with all the options. Right now, it produces white noise that might solve the problem of the classic Philip K. Dick novel: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

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  5. Kirk ParkerNovember 13, 2013 at 11:13 PM

    StormCchaser,

    Did you give a listen to the sample? It *is* pretty much pink noise; i.e. it's just misnamed.

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  6. MauserNovember 14, 2013 at 2:37 AM

    The "Red Noise" option makes me think of a Waterfall.

    There are actually some interesting mathematical explanations for the color definitions of noise.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_of_noise

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  7. smnNovember 15, 2013 at 7:04 PM

    I use ear plugs which lets me hear my breathing and sojetimes my heartbeat. I mostly hear my tinnitus. Ear plugs silence my spouse's snoring and my blind dog's bumps in the night.

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