Green noise vs brown noise
One is precisely defined, the other is not — which matters more than it sounds. Switch between them below and keep whichever you stop noticing first — that is the one that is working.
Layers — mix as many as you like
Tap a second sound to layer it — rain under brown noise, for instance.
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Side by side
| Green noise | Brown noise | |
|---|---|---|
| Spectrum | No standard definition; mid-range around 500 Hz | Falls 6 dB per octave |
| Sounds like | Open countryside at a distance | A distant waterfall, a plane cabin |
| Consistency | Varies between sites and apps | Identical everywhere |
| Masks best | Mid-range sound, including some speech | Low-frequency rumble |
| Choose it if | Brown feels too muffled | You want the deepest option |
The short version
The important difference is not how they sound but how firmly they are defined. Brown noise has a precise specification, so brown noise is the same everywhere. Green noise has no agreed standard — it is conventionally described as mid-range weighted, around 500 Hz, but implementations differ. If you try green noise somewhere else and it sounds unlike this one, neither is wrong; there is simply no standard to be wrong about.
Questions
Is green noise better than brown noise for sleep?
No study has compared them directly, so anyone who names a winner is guessing. What can be said is how they differ: green sits in the mid-range and sounds more open, brown sits low and sounds more enveloping. Try each for a few nights.
Why does green noise sound different on other sites?
Because it has no formal definition. White, pink and brown are fixed by their spectral slopes and are therefore identical wherever you find them. Green is defined by convention, so each site chooses its own centre frequency and bandwidth.
Which one masks traffic better?
Brown noise, comfortably. Traffic is dominated by low-frequency rumble and brown noise puts nearly all its energy there. Green noise sits in the middle of the spectrum and leaves more of that rumble audible.
Every colour of noise
White noise
Equal power at every frequency — the bright hiss that masks almost anything.
Play white noise →Brown noise
Deep and low, like a distant waterfall. The most popular colour for sleeping.
Play brown noise →Green noise
Mid-range noise, often described as the background sound of open countryside.
Play green noise →Pink noise
The middle ground: softer than white, brighter than brown. Close to steady rain.
Play pink noise →Blue noise
The mirror of pink: energy rises with pitch, giving a bright, airy hiss.
Play blue noise →Grey noise
Shaped so every frequency sounds equally loud, rather than measuring equally loud.
Play grey noise →Violet noise
The mirror of brown: rises 6 dB per octave into a thin, piercing hiss.
Play violet noise →Black noise
Effectively silence, with almost all energy below what you can hear.
Play black noise →Beyond the colours
Not noise colours in the strict sense, but built from them — and useful for the same reason.
Rain
Steady rainfall with the patter on top — the most requested sleep sound there is.
Play rain →Fan
A box fan running in the corner, without the draught or the electricity bill.
Play fan →Ocean
Slow waves arriving and drawing back, roughly ten to a minute.
Play ocean →Thunderstorm
Rain with distant thunder rolling through at irregular intervals.
Play thunderstorm →