Brown Noise

Guide

Your partner snores. You don't have to hear it.

Steady brown noise can cover a lot of snoring, so it stops grabbing your attention. Here's how to set it up so it works, without turning it up too loud.

Why snoring keeps you awake

Snoring is hard to ignore because it's uneven. It has a rhythm with gaps: loud, quiet, loud, a snort, silence, then loud again. Every change grabs your attention. Just as you start to drift off, the next one pulls you back.

A steady sound fills the gaps. It doesn't need to be louder than the snoring. It just needs to make the jump from quiet to loud smaller, so each snore stands out less (Sleep Medicine, 2005).

Why brown noise works well for snoring

Snoring is mostly a low, rumbling sound. Brown noise puts most of its energy in the same low range, so it covers snoring well at a lower volume than white noise. White noise puts its energy in the high notes, which don't cover a rumble as well, and many people find it harsh.

“White noise was a bit too harsh and would wake me”

The husband of a snorer, in a YouTube comment on a brown noise video. About brown noise in general, not about our app.

How to set it up

  1. Put the phone on your side. On your nightstand, closer to you than the snoring is. That way the noise reaches you before the snore does, and it can stay softer.
  2. Start low and turn it up slowly. Stop as soon as the snoring sinks into the background. Don't try to drown it out completely. That usually means too loud.
  3. Start with brown. If the snoring has a raspy, whistling edge, slide a little toward pink to cover the higher part too.
  4. Let it play all night. Snoring doesn't stop when you fall asleep, so a short timer can leave you awake at 2 a.m. Use no timer, or the 8-hour timer.
  5. Fall asleep first if you can. Going to bed a little earlier than the snorer helps many people.
  6. If your partner minds the sound, try soft sleep headphones or a sleep headband, and keep the volume low.
  7. Earplugs plus noise. Some people use both. Earplugs take the edge off; noise fills what's left.

Honest note: no published study has tested a noise machine for partners of snorers. This is what many people say works, plus how sound covers other sound. See the research page.

A word about the snorer. Loud snoring most nights can be worth mentioning to a doctor, especially if your partner seems to stop breathing or gasps in their sleep. Brown Noise covers the sound for you. It doesn't do anything about the snoring itself.

Common questions

Will brown noise bother my partner?

Many couples both sleep with it. If your partner doesn't like it, use headphones made for sleep.

How loud should it be?

Softer than the snoring, not louder. The goal is to blur it, not to win.

Brown noise or earplugs?

They do different jobs. Earplugs turn everything down, including your alarm. Brown noise fills the quiet so each snore stands out less. Some people find earplugs uncomfortable all night, and others can't sleep without them. Try each, or both at once, and keep what works.

Will the app stop in the middle of the night?

No. Brown Noise keeps playing with the screen locked, has no time limit and no ads. It makes the sound live, so there's no loop or click to wake you either.