Noise Machine
WHAT IS IT FOR?
Use Noise Machine with a pair of earphones to mask distracting and annoying sounds and become at peace with the world. Loud conversations at a coffee shop where you are trying to read, crying babies on planes, background music that doesn't agree with your taste and a many other noises get into your brain and have to be processed. All of these sounds have certain patterns and aren't truly random in the mathematical sense. When you are tired or irritable or are getting too distracted, you can let your brain rest by masking these sounds with noise that doesn't have a noticeable pattern. This works remarkably well even at moderate volumes, and you will be able to concentrate or relax much more easily in noisy environments. Even tinnitus can be masked this way. Noise Machine can also be used with a speaker to help put babies (and adults) to sleep. If you intend to stay awake, it's best to use it with headphones or earphones. That way, at least if you picked the right type of noise and the earphones are comfortable, you will quickly stop noticing it; with speakers, every time you move your head, your perception will change, and you will be reminded of the noise, which defeats the purpose. There are also some technical uses, such as testing speaker polarity.
NOISE COLOR
The terms "white" and "pink" noise refer to random signals with different spectral distributions. In white noise, the noise energy density is constant throughout the frequency spectrum (at least in the range of interest). This is similar to white light, hence the term "white noise". In pink noise, the lower-frequency components are stronger, and the noise energy density is the same in every octave (or decade, or any logarithm of frequency). This is also known as 1/f noise. Similarly, in pink-colored light, the lower-frequency, longer-wavelength, redder components are stronger.
A more general case is 1/f^α. The value of α=0 corresponds to white noise, or flat frequency spectrum, as described above; α=1 corresponds to pink noise, or -3dB/octave frequency dependence, also as described above (in different words); α=2 to "red" or "brown" noise (which refers to Brownian motion rather than the color brown), or -6dB/octave frequency dependence. In this app, the alpha value may be adjusted from 0 to 2 in small increments.
LOOPING
Optionally, the sound may be played in a loop, which reduces the already modest CPU and battery usage by only generating the noise clip that's long enough to fill a loop (at the expense of using more RAM to store it, which normally is not a problem). The playback is gapless. If the loop is too short, the pattern becomes noticeable, which creates a distraction, but even the shortest loop setting (1 minute) should be long enough. The longest setting is determined by the amount of memory available to the app (typically 5 minutes). If you think you can still hear a pattern, or need continuous random signal generation for some other purpose, or want the app to use as little RAM as possible, you can turn the loop off.
USE OF THIRD-PARTY WORK
- A modified version of the pink noise generator class, originally written by Sampo Niskanen, distributed under the BSD license
- Modified Android robot image and images from http://www.iconarchive.com/, used according to the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0
PERMISSIONS
READ_PHONE_STATE -
- used to pause the noise sound during phone calls.
Category : Music & Audio
Reviews (21)
This app saved me from the brazenly inconsiderate nature of my sister's mother-in-law. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to go back to my sleep she interrupted/interrupts daily. I tried a meditative app first, but I had to blast it in my ears to block out the tv's obnoxious noise. Fortunately I remembered I'd downloaded this God-send of an app. THANK YOU to the creators.
Been trying to find a noise cancelling app or something that will at least kill the unwanted sounds so that I may sleep and relax. Been at this all night. Installed and un-installed more than I'd care to admit. This is the best, easiest and better sounding white noise generator so far. Probably because there is actually bass with the tone... (take note other apps. A hiss isn't white noise without bass for depth) ☆☆☆☆☆ from me. Thank you
Five stars if lock screen pause/stop controls could be added. I've used noise generators for years to block out ambient noise at work when I need to focus and I've always preferred red noise over white. App works great and love having always available on my phone.
This app is perfect for drowning out office chatter, music, traffic, flushing toilets, whatever. It's free and easy to use, and doesn't require registration or irritating in-app purchases. I use the lower frequency setting, which sounds a little like the interior of a cruising passenger jet.
I'm highly sensitive to certain noises& vibrations that run in the background. The buzz of a string trimmer, certain pitch voices, the high "eeeeeeee" of a hot PS3. The longer it continues, the more uncomfortable... like nails across a chalkboard. Thank you Synopsia for providing me with an "off" switch application, the option to continue on as I was before like everyone else. I know there are others but NoiseMachine makes it an easy and effective task.
I'm so pleased to have this app that simply gives me pink noise.. I am looking forward to watching tv or having a conversation in comfort . Love the timer and the lack of audible loop( as another reviewer pointed out).It's fast,simple, and does the one thing it's meant to really well. Who knows-- maybe I'll be able to read again-- Maybe even write more than a postcard's length. I'll let you know how it goes. Meantime, many thanks.
Best pink / white noise type generator I found! Works great to mix with binaural beats on the same device. Loop function is key, I tried another noise app that kept glitching in real-time while trying to use my phone. Love the simplicity here. From a UI perspective I would move the volume settings to the main window.
Fizzy HF is not relaxing! Even iOS & web's otherwise fantastic SimplyNoise has three modes: white, pink, and brown. Synopsia's Noise Machine allows a optimally dialed-in interpolation between pink and brown. Enjoy, productivity and relaxation freaks!
Does one thing well. Consumes just 0.5% CPU while running (compared to the app White Noise, which appears to use >60%). It took me a while to realize I could dismiss the lock screen buttons by pressing stop. A way to make this more obvious might be to condense the play and pause buttons into a single button that toggled state, and change the stop button's icon from a square to an 'x'.
This app is awesome for blocking out little noises if you're a light sleeper like me. The only problem I have is you have to open the notification drawer to fully stop the app rather than just pausing it. A stop button in the app itself would make this a 5-star review.
I've tried most of the more popular noise blocker apps. This is the one I've settled with. Easy to adjust, no annoying frills, no bugs, and I love the option in the notification view to pause play AND stop/exit the app. I also wouldn't mind if there was lockscreen controls.
Exactly what I needed. Allows me to change the tone which was important since other apps sound very tinny which I found to be distracting rather than relaxing. No frills and no silly UI that's unnecessary for what an app like this is supposed to be. Perfect, thanks, you probably saved me $20 from having to buy another noise machine.
I tested past night and it works well. Is the best noise machine app. I put 4 stars just for one reason: more sounds. It would be great add more sounds like a normal sound machine. For some people the sound could be usefull but annoying at the same time. It is a great app anyway.
Note the response below. The developer has been responding multiple times to negative reviews with an acidic tone. The reviews were directed at functionality issues that the dev responded to in a very belligerent fashion, only to edit their response repeatedly so as to portray the reviewer in a poor light. But ask yourself... do you want to install an app that is developed by a person who calls their clients trolls? Although it does not merit a direct response, I am doing so in the best interest of the community. Honestly, the app has integration problems, and does not trim its volume properly, nor does it work well with lock screens on more modern devices running kit kat. (Speaking from experience.) Taking the high road isn't hard here. My problems are with the app, not the dev, though it should be noted that this dev is acting in a way that should make users question the integrity of the dev and app. All the safeguards and infrastructure in the world cannot make up for trust. Look at the reviews of all other noise generation apps; some are negative, yet none have received a caustic response from the dev. Caveat Emptor!
A very well designed noise generator. Intuitive, simple interface. One issue I have is that there is NO way to close the app. Please add an 'X'it. And a feature I'd like to see is volume level oscillation and speed of that oscillation control. It creates a "waves on the beach" kind of sound. Very peaceful... :)
Sort of like sleeping next to a waterfall on an airplane. I wore earplugs for 30 years! With this app I fall asleep and stay asleep all night. It blocks noise from the neighborhood and lake I live on. I sometimes forget to turn it off because I don't really notice it. Love it so much I donated to the developer because I could not live without it. I never want to wear earplugs again. App is easy to use. Doesn't eat battery. Runs all night. Can't detect loop. Simple design. Love it!
Satisfactory sound quality. My needs are very specific, as I use brown/pink noise to sleep every night, as I can't tolerate certain sounds. It's a decent enough quality sound (which if properly integrated with Android's sound system then I could use the equaliser that comes with CyanogenMod). For me it needs a sleep timer that can have any duration, and a sleep timer where you can specify a time. (In my case, that would coincide with my morning alarm.)
Great consistent noise, but it doesn't want to open from either the shortcut or the app screen! It'll go on for half a second then disappear, I haven't been able to open the actual app since first installation though I have gotten it to turn on just by touching the app over and over until it stays. Super annoying, if I can't find a way around it I guess I'm back in the market for another app.
Works quite well! I really like how the spectrum response is continuously variable. I hear no loop point at all....great! I also like how it will continue to play when running other apps like a browser. The only things that I would like to see changed/added would be a better timer setting function (rolling hour/minutes?) and to have the sound fade out when the timer ends. Thanks Dev!
This is a great simple app, but I think the interface could be a little clearer. I'm not sure why you would need to set a time for the loop - if it's continuous, it will all sound the same, right? - or even why a loop control is necessary; why not just automatically have the noise play until stop is pressed or the timer runs out? I thought at first that the time I was setting after I checked "loop" was the total run time. Then I saw the timer and expected to be able to enter a run time, but you can only use preset durations. Really just need a customizable timer with a "forever/till I turn it off" checkbox.
This app fulfilled my quest for a no nonsense noise generator. It has a nice slider to change color of noise. However, I do have a problem - it stops after some time for no apparent reason. Even without any notification or call disturbance. I request developer to look into the issue and also add a brief tutorial about using this app.