Do You Use Artificial Ambient Noise To Fall Asleep?

[DarthWoo]

And if so, what do you use?

I've started using the "good night" routine on my Google Home Mini, although I prefer the ocean noise setting to whatever its default was (maybe rain?). It actually seems to work pretty well, as I never seem to recall the noise stopping prior to actually falling asleep. It's probably just a placebo effect, but even if I only get as much actual sleep (per what my Fitbit says) as on a night I forget to use the routine, I feel a little better in the morning.

 

[maxxpower]

Yeah we just have a box fan running.

 

[Clefargle]

I use podcasts

 

[nihilence]

We use one in the kids room. It helps them, and masks our activities.

 

[Enduin]

I use history documentaries. Just white noise or melodies or what not don't work for me.

 

[Kthulhu]

I use the sounds of rain on a Google Home whenever my GF isn't home.

 

[Prophet Five]

I use rain playlists on Spotify

 

[Tanooki]

I tried falling asleep listening to ASMR once, but I kept waking up in the middle night and getting scared by the random whispering and scratching noises. (I don't use anything now)

 

[BDS]

I have a fan running but I plan to get some kind of noise generator because it gets too cold in winter to run a fan.

 

[Deleted member 9479]

We have an air purifier that does fuck all to the air that we run just for the white noise. On vacation we use a white noise app.

 

[Br3wnor]

Yeah, use my fan all year round. In the winter I just face it at the wall but have to have that noise going to fall asleep. I've found the white noise through my Alexa doesn't cut it like a good old fashioned does. I have serious trouble falling asleep in silence.

 

[lmcfigs]

I do! This is basically all my Alexa is. It just plays rain sounds and tells me the weather.

 

[DarthWoo]

I tried falling asleep listening to ASMR once, but I kept waking up in the middle night and getting scared by the random whispering and scratching noises. (I don't use anything now)

Click to shrink...

I tried to use the thunderstorm sounds on Google Home for a while, but despite real thunderstorms putting me right out, there was just something unnerving about the one they had.

 

[IDreamOfHime]

My fan. It's -2 outside and I still have my fan on or I won't sleep.

 

[Strike]

Just the TV.

 

[moblin]

OK Google

play thunderstorm sounds

 

[Jiraiya]

The sweet sound of a fan is enough. Visual noise is a no go.

 

[HououinKyouma]

Oh yes, I live in an apartment complex and am noise sensitive so that's a bad combo. I bought a white noise generator that works perfectly.

 

[devSin]

Fan.

I have a fan running but I plan to get some kind of noise generator because it gets too cold in winter to run a fan.

Click to shrink...

Get more blankets (or aim the fan somewhere else).

Circulation doesn't actually make it much colder (it can just feel like it when it's blowing).

 

[Dezzy]

I have a fan and a white noise machine. Couldn't sleep without them.

 

[Nostremitus]

Does a fan count?

I have tinnitus so a fan helps drown it out.

 

[CrazyAndy]

Never used anything but I also don't have trouble falling asleep.

 

[KingFrost92]

Yes. In the summer I always have a fan going right by my bed, and in the winter I have fan noise playing through the night on my Google Home, which 99% of what I use that thing for.

 

[Nestled_Grizzly]

Yes my humidifier

 

[DarthWoo]

I feel like some South Koreans would have a heart attack if they saw this thread.

 

[BoxManLocke]

On weeks, I sleep during the day. Ever since having a kid I need the sound of rain to go back to sleep quickly as the little one will sometimes make quite a bit of ruckus.

Can't just use any rain sound though, gotta have that one specific Youtube video running in the background on my phone.

Downside is I find it very hard to go to sleep without it now, whereas I had zero issues when I didn't use anything.

 

[Slaythe]

Used to.

Typically now it's just ASMR videos.

Video essays at times.

If I REALLY need to sleep I listen to sleep hypnosis videos.

 

[Wetwork]

I use Podcasts. Usually Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

 

[sam777]

Podcasts

 

[jml]

Artificial noise has never really worked for me. It might seem weird but a lot of times I'll watch 80s pro wrestling to fall asleep. Old wrestling shows like that have low production values that for whatever reason give me a really comfy feeling when I watch them late at night.

 

[kcp12304]

 

[statham]

I use a fan, and Alexa's Rainforest everynight, sometimes thunderstorms or beaches if It's a rough night.

 

[DarthWoo]

Click to shrink...

If I could get an actual good version of the Enterprise-D's warp core, I think I'd want to try that. Unfortunately every Youtube version seems to either be too subdued or have extraneous and noticeable noise mixed in.

 

[pj-]

i use a white noise machine to mask the noise of my wife getting ready in the morning. she gets up an hour earlier than me and it allows me to stay asleep

 

[NeverWas]

I usually throw on some tv show i've seen a hundred times. Before streaming turned into what it is now, I would need dead silence to fall asleep.

 

[Clydefrog]

Vornado fan on the dresser on medium speed and aimed at the ceiling.

 

[Deleted member 25600]

We have our Google Home hub play white noise for our 6 month old daughter in our room. Since starting that I've found it's also surprisingly effective at masking external noise.

 

[StrayDog]

I use a fan
I need to get a cheap mp3 audio system to replace it.

 

[Nerdkiller]

I use this on my phone.

https://mynoise.net/

 

[Deleted member 13645]

I tried to use the thunderstorm sounds on Google Home for a while, but despite real thunderstorms putting me right out, there was just something unnerving about the one they had.

Click to shrink...

I've had the same reaction. It doesn't do it for me as well as real rain/thunderstorms do. I think it sounds too close and it doesn't have that sound like it's outside. The patter of it against the window, the slightly muffled sound of it from being outside vs me being inside. It sounds like rain, but it doesn't sound like what hearing rain sounds like -- if that makes sense?

 

[Aranjah]

I used to, from when I was a small child until the first time I had to move into a dorm and live with a roommate. My parents' house is in a heavily-wooded area and so we had (and still have) a bit of a pest problem. I needed the noise to drown out the sounds of random things in the night.
For a year or so (maybe, I'm guessing) it was a noise machine, but mainly I just had a clock radio that I left on overnight.
Sometimes I wonder if and how ~15 years of having the radio playing while I'm asleep affected me. lol

Since living in other places that don't have creepy sounds going off constantly, I no longer use artificial noise. For the 18 months I lived in downtown Orlando I also just had natural noise. Curse you, train.

 

[ThreePi]

I feel like I should. I have what I assume is tinnitus, normally during the day I dont notice. At night, when everything is quiet it seems noticably loud and sounds even louder if I focus on the noise. Its this incredibly steady, high pitched noise.

 

[Vilix]

Sometimes I'll stream old Coast To Coast AM with Art Bell shows on my phone. I like to get a little freaked out as I fall asleep. 😬

 

[Deleted member 14663]

I have a specific humming in my right ear because of an incident, it's basically tinnitus. In order for me to sleep at night, I need to have the following video/sound play none stop at a low volume:

https://youtu.be/wzjWIxXBs_s

It's the best white noise for me.

 

[ISOM]

Sometimes I use rain/thunder effects with music in the background or windy. It depends on what I'm in the mood for.

 

[GungHo]

No. My whir machine is mechanical. I can hear shit repeat on non-mechanical devices unless it's one of those 10 hour tracks. Also, the ones that sound like rain make me want to pee.

 

[Ubik]

I'll either listen to some ambient/drone/minimalism music or Giant Bomb podcasts

Lately I've been really into Valotihkuu

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0OylZQzS2T7iRxTUzvdnhL

 

[fakefaker]

Yeah, I have a white noise machine that helps with my tinnitus. Great for quiet situations and when I'm going to sleep.

 

[Griselbrand]

A Soft Murmur

App. You can take a mix of sounds and adjust the level on them individually. I set a timer and then fall asleep. I found it really helps me fall asleep but I wake up again right after it fades out. I should just let it play all night.

 

[Lucky Forward]

I have a Marpac Sound Screen I got from Amazon. It's basically a little fan in a housing that has vents in the top and sides that you can adjust to get different sounds of rushing air.