Still, the Dohm has had many thousands of satisfied owners over the years, and it boasts an overall 4.5-star (out of five) rating across more than 9,000 reviews on Amazon. We also noticed a slight whining undertone when running the Dohm DS on its high setting. We found that the Dohm DS performed slightly poorer in our sound-masking tests than the white noise machines that generated noise electronically. In contrast, the LectroFan and other electronic white noise machines produce sound that is more like a soft static or “shhh.” Relying on a fan to make noise, the Dohm DS (the two-speed version) produces a slightly more pleasant sound than the LectroFan, something akin to what you hear when you hold a shell over your ear, or to the sound of wind rushing through a field. The Marpac Dohm, which the company touts as the original white noise machine, has had a devoted following for more than 50 years. The Marpac Dohm DS features a fan encased in a smooth, domelike plastic housing with cutouts that you open and close to adjust the noise level. We do wish it had a built-in battery, which would be helpful for travel or if you don’t have an outlet nearby. It conveniently uses a USB cord and wall-power adapter, which you could swap for your USB wall charger to save more space when you’re packing. The LectroFan takes up little room on a nightstand, and can fit into your luggage for travel.
With its minimalist, three-button interface, we found changing noise settings and volume on the LectroFan easier than on the other white noise machines. To be clear, we didn’t notice a huge variation in the sound-blocking performance among the machines, and they were typically within a few decibels of one another for the minimum volume required to mask the offending noise. By comparison, some of the other machines we tried had a narrower volume range that we found more difficult to adjust. The LectroFan’s 10 white noise settings, ranging from “dark noise” (low frequency) to “white noise” (high frequency), sounded like variations of low rumbles, rushing wind, or static-neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and definitely random and meaningless.Ī machine that allows for fine volume control, like the LectroFan, can be at its lowest possible setting yet still block noise. The LectroFan is also one of the easiest models to use, with a simple three-button interface to toggle among 10 random, nonrepeating white noise offerings and 30 volume settings in one of the widest volume ranges we found. It’s the second-smallest machine we tested, too, so you can pack it for travel in addition to using it at home. Our testing showed that the LectroFan’s random, nonrepeating white noise settings allowed it to mask intruding noises as well as or better than the other machines in the group. We think the LectroFan by ASTI is the white noise machine you’ll want on your nightstand. The LectroFan’s noise-masking abilities, simple interface, and small size make it the best machine we tested. Starting at the lowest volume setting, we slowly increased the loudness for the machine until we could no longer perceive the intruding noise, noting the decibel level required to block the sound. With the recordings playing in an adjacent room behind a closed door, we sat 18 inches behind the sound machine. Next we set up recordings of common nighttime nuisances: barking dogs, fighting cats, and snoring. Using a sound-level meter, we measured the decibel range of each machine, from quietest to loudest. After comparing reviews of white noise machines, we narrowed our list down to six machines to test. We eliminated machines that were too large to fit on a bedside table, or had bright displays that could compromise the darkness of the bedroom.
For that reason, we stuck to machines whose primary sound offering was random white noise, dismissing machines that offer recordings of birdsong, rainfall, crashing waves, or other natural sounds.
The best type of white noise machines for sleep create noise that is random and meaningless and will block disturbing noises without itself creating noticeable sounds that could wake you. We tested six white noise machines (from left to right): the Marpac Dohm DS, Homedics Deep Sleep II, ASTI LectroFan, Sleep Easy Sound Conditioner, Marpac Hushh, and Marpac Rohm. Such invariant white noise is better at blocking sounds and is less likely to itself disturb your sleep. If you already use a sleep machine with prerecorded sounds such as waves or rain, consider one of our picks, which produce random, constant white noise.
Medical studies have shown that white noise machines can help people stay asleep in noisy environments. If your bedroom isn’t as quiet as it could be, and you think the noise is affecting your sleep, you may want to try a white noise machine.
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