What pink noise is
Pink noise is a steady “shhh” with the same amount of energy in every octave. In plain words: it's balanced. It has more low sound than white noise and less than brown noise. People say it sounds like steady rain, wind in the trees or a waterfall heard from a distance.
If white noise feels too hissy and brown noise feels too muffled, pink is often the one that feels “just right.”
What the research says
Pink noise has been studied in sleep labs more than any other noise color. The results are interesting, but they're early, and not all of them are good news.
- More positive results than white noise. In a 2022 review of 34 sleep studies, pink noise studies reported positive results more often than white noise studies: 9 of 11, against 6 of 18 (Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2022). The same review found the evidence overall was not strong.
- It's been studied for a long time. Sleep researchers in Japan were testing steady pink noise as early as 1993, in a very small study (Industrial Health, 1993).
- The “deep sleep” headlines are about something else. You may have read that pink noise boosts deep sleep and memory. Those lab studies played short bursts of sound timed by sensors reading the sleeper's brain waves (Northwestern University, 2017). That is not what a speaker playing steady noise does. Later reviews also found the memory effect shrinking as more studies came in (Frontiers in Sleep, 2023). A phone app can't do what those labs did, and we don't claim it can.
- A recent study found a downside. In 2026, University of Pennsylvania researchers had 25 adults sleep in a lab with steady pink noise at 50 decibels. Their dream (REM) sleep was about 19 minutes shorter, and they rated their sleep worse. For blocking aircraft noise, foam earplugs worked better than pink noise (Sleep, 2026).
What we take from all this: softer is better, and you don't need it louder or longer than it helps. That's why Brown Noise has a sleep timer, a slow fade-out, and a volume you control. See every study on our research page.
How to use pink noise at night
- Start low. Set it just loud enough that the sounds around you fade into the background. If you'd have to raise your voice to talk over it, turn it down.
- Use the timer if you only need help falling asleep. A 30- or 60-minute timer with a gentle fade means it's gone once you're asleep.
- Play it all night only if noise wakes you. If traffic, neighbors or a partner wake you at 2 a.m., steady sound all night may suit you better. Keep it soft.
- Keep the phone away from your ear. Across the room or on the nightstand, not under the pillow.
- Try a blend. If pink feels a bit bright, slide toward brown. If it feels muffled, slide toward white.
Pink or brown?
Pink sounds lighter and airier. Brown sounds deeper and rounder. Pink covers voices and the TV a little better, because more of its energy sits where speech is. Brown covers low rumbles, like traffic or a neighbor's bass. No study shows one is better for everyone, so it comes down to taste. On our free web player you can slide between them and hear the difference in seconds. Our guide to brown vs pink vs white noise goes deeper.
Common questions
Is pink noise the same as rain sounds?
Not quite. Rain recordings have drops and patters that change. Pink noise is perfectly steady, which is why it covers sudden sounds well.
Does a pink noise app loop?
Most do: they play a recording on repeat. Brown Noise makes pink noise live on your phone, so it never loops, never clicks and never repeats.
How loud should pink noise be?
Quieter than most people expect. The goal is to blur the sounds around you, not drown them out.