The bottom line
- Two large reviews say the evidence that steady noise improves sleep is early and low quality.
- No sleep lab has tested brown noise itself. Not one study.
- The best-supported idea is simple: steady sound makes sudden noises stand out less.
- The famous “pink noise and deep sleep” studies used timed bursts of sound, not steady noise from a speaker.
- Some studies found downsides too. We list them below.
What we promise: a steady sound that never loops, never clicks and has no ads. What we don't promise: any health result. Brown Noise is not a medical device and doesn't treat anything. Try it and judge for yourself.
How to read this page
Each study below has a plain summary, how big it was, and a link to the source. We mark how much weight it can carry: Review means a study of many studies, Small means under about 30 people, and Against means it found no benefit or a downside. We wrote these summaries ourselves. Please read the source before quoting a number.
Noise and falling asleep
Noise as a sleep aid: a review of 38 studies Review
Scientists reviewed 38 studies on noise and sleep and rated the evidence very low quality. Results ranged from helping sleep to disturbing it. Their verdict: the research is still early.
Source: Riedy, Smith, Rocha, Basner. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2021
Sound and sleep: a review of 34 studies Review
19 of 34 studies, with 1,103 adults in all, reported better sleep. Pink noise studies reported positive results more often than white noise studies (9 of 11, against 6 of 18). The reviewers found no strong evidence overall.
Source: Capezuti, Pain, Alamag, et al. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2022
Steady sound and time to fall asleep Small
In a Harvard-affiliated sleep lab, 18 healthy adults were sent to bed 90 minutes early. With steady background sound, they fell asleep faster: about 13 minutes instead of 19. Small, and in healthy people.
Source: Messineo, Taranto-Montemurro, Sands, et al. Frontiers in Neurology, 2017
White noise in noisy New York City homes Small
Researchers studied steady sound for 10 people sleeping in noisy neighborhoods, using wrist trackers and sleep diaries. Time awake at night and time to fall asleep went down. The study was partly funded by the machine's maker.
Pink noise and falling asleep, 1993 Small
Sleep researchers in Japan were testing steady pink noise as early as 1993. In a handful of people, time to fall asleep was shorter by roughly 9 to 10 minutes.
Pink noise and brain waves during sleep Small
Steady pink noise was studied for its effect on brain waves during sleep. Often quoted in the press, but very small.
Source: Zhou, Liu, Li, et al. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2012
Pink noise, earplugs and aircraft noise Against
25 adults spent 7 nights each in a sleep lab. Steady pink noise at 50 decibels cut dream (REM) sleep by about 19 minutes, and people rated their sleep worse. For blocking aircraft noise, foam earplugs worked better than pink noise. We keep up with the research, including this study. That's why the app has a sleep timer, a fade-out, and a volume you control.
Source: Smith, Basner, et al. (University of Pennsylvania). Sleep, 2026
Covering noise
This is where steady sound makes the most sense, and it's what Brown Noise is built for.
Why sudden noises wake you Small
Sudden noises wake you up because of the jump from quiet to loud. In a sleep lab, recorded hospital noise roughly tripled brief wake-ups, and adding steady white noise brought them back near normal. Tiny (4 to 5 people), but it explains why masking works.
Source: Stanchina, Abu-Hijleh, Chaudhry, et al. Sleep Medicine, 2005
Night-time noise and health guidelines
The World Health Organization recognizes night-time traffic noise as a threat to sleep, and recommends keeping it below 45 decibels at night.
Source: World Health Organization, Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region, 2018
Covering speech in open-plan offices
In office studies with 54 people, filtered pink noise covered up nearby conversation and people liked it. Music did not work as well.
Source: Haapakangas, Kankkunen, Hongisto, et al. Acta Acustica, 2011
White noise on a hospital heart unit Small
Hospitals have tested white noise to cover up busy ward sounds at night. This study of 60 patients was not randomized.
Source: Farokhnezhad Afshar, Bahramnezhad, Asgari, Shiri. Journal of Caring Sciences, 2016
Sound machines for hospital patients: a review Review
A 2025 review looked at seven hospital trials of sound machines, mostly white noise, with 496 patients. Results leaned positive and the machines were well tolerated, but the trials were too different to combine.
Source: Khandelwal, Anyim, Shu, et al. Sleep Medicine: X, 2025
The “deep sleep” headlines
You may have read that pink noise boosts deep sleep and memory. Those studies did something very different from playing a steady sound all night. A computer read the sleeper's brain waves through sensors and played short bursts of sound at exact moments. Brown Noise does not do this, and no phone app playing steady noise can. We never claim these effects.
Timed sound clicks during deep sleep Small
Sleep scientists in Germany played clicks timed to deep-sleep brain waves in 11 adults. The waves grew and next-day word recall improved. Badly timed clicks did nothing.
Timed pink-noise bursts in older adults Small
13 adults aged 60 to 84 heard timed bursts of pink noise on one night and silence on another. Deep-sleep waves rose during the bursts. The authors said bigger studies are needed.
Headbands that time the sound
Sleep-tech companies have built headbands that play pink-noise sounds during deep sleep. In 28 adults, the effect showed up in the younger half only. Company-run.
Source: Garcia-Molina, Tsoneva, Jasko, et al. (Philips). Journal of Neural Engineering, 2018
Brain waves up, memory not Against
Two double-blind experiments raised deep-sleep brain waves with timed sound, but memory did not improve, including in a direct repeat of the earlier word test.
The memory effect is shrinking Against
Two reviews of the timed-sound studies found the memory benefit small and unclear, and shrinking each year as more studies came in. In some studies, people could hear the sounds, which weakens the results. The 2021 review is here.
Source: Wunderlin, Züst, Hertenstein, et al. Sleep, 2021; and Harlow et al. Frontiers in Sleep, 2023
Focus and studying
Background noise affects people differently
In 90 children aged 8 to 10, moderate white noise helped some on harder tasks and hurt others. Researchers in Sweden have studied background noise and concentration since 2007. Try it and see what works for you.
Source: Helps, Bamford, Sonuga-Barke, Söderlund. PLoS One, 2014
A review of noise and focus Review
A 2024 review of 13 studies looked at white and pink noise and focus in young people. It found a small benefit for some and a small cost for others, and urged caution. It found no brown noise studies at all.
Soft noise versus loud noise at work
Young adults did office-style tasks in different noise levels. Soft background noise worked better for focus than loud noise, and loud noise left people more tense. The gains were small. That's why Brown Noise lets you set it low.
Source: Awada, Becerik-Gerber, Lucas, Roll. Scientific Reports, 2022
Learning new words with white noise
In a study of 80 young adults, those learning new words with white noise in the background recalled more of them than those learning in silence.
Source: Angwin, Wilson, Arnott, et al. Scientific Reports, 2017
White noise during learning, in brain scans Small
White noise has been studied in brain scans during learning. Picture memory was slightly better afterwards.
Source: Rausch, Bauch, Bunzeck. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2014
Brown, pink or white: any difference?
In 31 adults, brown, pink and white noise had the same effect on alertness, measured by pupil size. Not yet peer reviewed. So pick the one you like. The slider on our web player lets you blend them.
Source: Erfanian et al. (University College London). bioRxiv preprint, 2025
Babies
White noise and newborns Small
In a 1990 study of 40 newborns, more settled within 5 minutes with white noise than without. It measured only falling asleep. Researchers recommend low volume and keeping the phone away from the crib.
Source: Spencer, Moran, Lee, Talbert. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1990
Infant sleep machines can get too loud Against
Researchers tested 14 infant sleep machines at full volume. At 30 centimeters, all were louder than the 50-decibel limit for hospital nurseries, and three topped 85 decibels. They recommend sound machines stay far from the crib, at low volume, for a limited time.
Steady noise and children: a review Review
Machines and apps can get very loud at full volume. Much of the research was in animals. Researchers recommend keeping sleep sounds at a low volume, especially for kids, and limiting how long they play.
Our tips for parents are on the noise for babies page.
How common is sleeping with noise?
- Nearly half of Americans sleep with a fan running, and 18% use a noise machine or app (AASM survey, 2023).
- About 1 in 4 people who use a sleep aid use a white noise app or machine (CivicScience, 2023).
- Brown noise went viral in 2022, with tens of millions of TikTok views (Know Your Meme).
What hasn't been studied yet
- Brown noise and sleep. No study at all.
- Noise for shift workers sleeping during the day.
- Noise for people whose partner snores.
- Long-term use, over months or years, in adults or children.
Sleep researchers writing in The Conversation made the same point in 2022: brown noise itself has never been studied for sleep.
What we will and won't say
We'll say what's true about the product: Brown Noise makes steady sound live on your phone, it never loops or clicks, it covers noise, and many people use it to fall asleep or focus. We won't say it treats or cures anything, that it improves deep sleep or memory, that one color is proven better, or that it's “clinically proven.” If you see us slip, tell us at hello@goldstandardweb.com and we'll fix it.
Last checked October 2026. Summaries are ours, in plain words. Always read the source before quoting a number.