Violet noise
The mirror of brown: rises 6 dB per octave into a thin, piercing hiss.
Layers — mix as many as you like
Tap a second sound to layer it — rain under brown noise, for instance.
Your browser does not support the Web Audio API, so the player cannot run here. Any current version of Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Edge will work.
What is violet noise?
Violet noise is brown noise reflected. Where brown loses 6 decibels per octave, violet gains 6, putting almost all of its energy at the top of the spectrum. It is the brightest of the standard colours and few people would choose it to fall asleep to. It has a genuine niche in tinnitus therapy, where high-frequency content is sometimes used deliberately, and in audio engineering as the result of differentiating white noise.
Purple noise is another name for the same thing — identical spectrum, different label.
This page is a violet noise generator: the sound is computed in your browser rather than streamed from a file, so it starts instantly and never reaches a loop point. More on how that works.
Good for
- Comparison — hearing where the colour scale ends
- Specific high-frequency masking under professional guidance
- Audio work, where it appears as differentiated white noise
The details
- Spectrum
- Rises 6 dB per octave — the mirror of brown
- Also called
- Purple noise
- Sounds like
- A thin, piercing hiss, almost all treble
- Produced by
- Differentiating white noise
Questions
Is violet noise used for anything practical?
Its main documented use is in tinnitus management, where high-frequency sound is sometimes used as part of a therapy programme. That is something to do with an audiologist rather than on your own, because the right approach depends on the pitch and character of the tinnitus. Outside that, it mostly appears in audio engineering.
Should I sleep to violet noise?
Almost certainly not. All of its energy sits where the ear is most sensitive and least tolerant over long periods. If you want a bright sound, white or blue noise are the gentler options; if you want to actually sleep, brown or pink.
Why is it called violet?
Violet light sits at the high-frequency end of the visible spectrum, so violet noise took the name for the high-frequency end of the audio one. It follows the same logic that gave red noise its name at the opposite end.
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 →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 →