White noise
Equal power at every frequency — the bright hiss that masks almost anything.
Layers — mix as many as you like
Tap a second sound to layer it — rain under brown noise, for instance.
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What is white noise?
White noise is the reference point all the other colours are named against. It carries equal power at every frequency, which makes its spectrum flat and its sound bright and hissy. Because human hearing is most sensitive in the upper-middle range, that flat spectrum is heard as treble-heavy, which is why many people find white noise sharp and reach for pink or brown noise instead.
This page is a white 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
- Masking irregular noise: voices, doors, traffic that comes and goes
- Shared bedrooms, thin walls, hotel rooms
- Anyone who wants the broadest masking rather than the gentlest sound
The details
- Spectrum
- Flat — equal power at every frequency
- Slope
- 0 dB per octave
- Sounds like
- Untuned radio static, a strong hiss
- Named after
- White light, which contains every visible wavelength
Questions
Is white noise safe to use every night?
For adults there is no established harm in nightly use at a moderate volume. The common guidance is to stay below roughly 50 decibels — about the level of a quiet conversation — and to place the source across the room rather than beside your head. That advice matters more for infants, whose cots are sometimes placed very close to a machine.
Does white noise actually help you sleep?
The honest answer is that the evidence is mixed. Reviews of the research find that continuous noise can help people fall asleep faster in noisy environments, but the studies are small and inconsistent in quality, and a few suggest it may fragment sleep in some people. What is far less disputed is the masking effect: a steady background reduces the contrast between silence and a sudden sound, and it is that contrast that wakes you.
Why does white noise sound so harsh?
Because equal power per frequency is not equal loudness to your ear. Human hearing peaks in sensitivity around 2 to 5 kHz, so the flat upper half of the spectrum is perceived as much louder than the lower half. Pink and brown noise correct for that by rolling off the highs, which is why they sound softer at the same measured level.
Every colour of 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 →