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Suomi
No noise colour is proven best for sleep. Choose by what keeps you awake: brown noise for low sounds such as traffic and snoring, pink or white noise for voices and other higher sounds, and pink noise if you simply want a soft background. Whichever you choose, keep it quiet.
Choose by what keeps you awake
Background sound works by making other sounds stand out less, and it does that best where it has energy in the same range as the noise you want to hide:
| What keeps you awake | Where its energy is | Try first | Free in Hush |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traffic, snoring, music through a wall | Low | Brown noise or a fan | Deep brown |
| Voices, a television, birds at dawn | Middle and high | Pink or white noise | Velvet noise, White static |
| A room that feels too silent | Nothing to cover | Pink noise or rain | Velvet noise, Soft rain |
| Ringing in the ears | Depends on the person | Whatever feels comfortable; see brown noise for tinnitus | All six |
The colours, darkest to brightest
Brown noise is the deepest, with most of its energy low: between 2 and 12 kHz, Deep brown falls 3.4 dB per octave. Pink noise is balanced, with equal power in every octave: Velvet noise stays about level. White noise is the brightest of the three: White static rises 1.6 dB per octave.
Green and grey noise are looser names. Green usually means a softened noise centred on the middle; grey means noise shaped to how people hear. The noise colours guide covers them all, and green noise for sleep looks at the most searched of them.
Band by band, in numbers
| Band | Deep brown | White static | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 kHz | −14.5 dB | −7.8 dB | +6.7 dB |
| 2.5 kHz | −15.7 dB | −7.2 dB | +8.5 dB |
| 3 kHz | −16.7 dB | −6.6 dB | +10.1 dB |
| 4 kHz | −18.1 dB | −5.7 dB | +12.4 dB |
| 5 kHz | −19.2 dB | −4.8 dB | +14.4 dB |
| 6 kHz | −20.0 dB | −4.2 dB | +15.8 dB |
| 8 kHz | −21.2 dB | −3.5 dB | +17.7 dB |
| 10 kHz | −22.4 dB | −3.8 dB | +18.6 dB |
| 12 kHz | −23.5 dB | −4.6 dB | +18.9 dB |
What research says
Most sleep studies have used white or pink noise, and a 2021 systematic review rated the evidence that steady noise improves sleep as very low certainty. The well-known pink noise results come from lab studies with short bursts timed to brain waves, not continuous sound; pink noise for sleep goes into them.
None of this rules noise out. It means comfort, not colour, is the guide, and that a sound which lets you stop noticing the room is doing its job.
White noise or pink noise?
This is the most common choice people weigh. White noise is brighter and has more energy where speech sits, so it covers voices a little more at the same volume. Pink noise is softer and easier to listen to for hours. If voices are the problem, try white; otherwise, start with pink.
A three-night test
Compare two colours properly instead of switching every few minutes:
- Pick the colour that matches what keeps you awake.
- Play it quietly for three nights, the speaker across the room.
- Then play the next colour, brighter or darker, for three nights.
- Keep the one you noticed less. Noticing less is the point.
Volume matters more than colour
A sound played too loudly is worse than the wrong colour. Keep it comfortable, just enough to soften the room: you should still hear someone speaking normally. Put a speaker across the room, and avoid sleeping in headphones at a high volume. The volume guide has more.
