Homedics SoundSleep White Noise Sound Machine, Silver, Small Travel Sound Machine with 6 Relaxing Nature Sounds, Portable Sound Therapy for Home, Office, Nursery, Auto-Off Timer, by Homedics

My mom has had bad insomnia for several years, more noticeably in the past year as she recovered from knee surgery that left her in a lot of pain even after her knee had "healed". She tried everything for sleep: melatonin, Ambien, a 1/2 glass of wine, herbal remedies, diets, low/no sugar, the list goes on and on. She already was eating healthy and exercising as much as could be expected, but she could not sleep. I got her DVDs and CDs from the library and she hated them all. Then I thought of this on 1/13/13, and now she sleeps!!!!!! She doesn't have that blissful perfect sleep that she wants, but now she dozes off and wakes up more rested - without medication for sleep! We've had this for 5 days and the change is definitely noticeable! The sounds are as listed: ocean, summer night, rain, thunder, white noise and brook. "Ocean" is perfect, the dogs think the beach is in the bedroom and you think a surfer will walk in at any moment! "Summer Night" has cricket noises and sounds like riding Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland (without the music) "Rain" is by far the most relaxing. The "Thunder" one is odd as you would think thunder is a scary noise for some, but hey if it works for you use it! "White Noise" sounds just like a fan, a kind of noisy fan, but a fan. "Brook" sounds bubbly and is my least favorite... it sounds like a brook but also like a faucet running. My mom listens to this very loud for some reason - I can hear it 2 rooms away - but she can sleep with it like that. I come in and turn it down when I go by her room and she doesn't wake up. The sound is unobtrusive even when it is loud, and when I do hear it I am usually reading or something and it is pretty comforting. The audio does not sound tinny at all and is very realistic. I was surprised at the sound quality especially when she had it turned up so loud, but it was very good. I bought this model because it specifically did not have the heartbeat sound - maybe good for kids who have not read Edgar Allan Poe, but not for us! Note: This one can play ALL NIGHT LONG!! I was afraid the timer feature was the only way to use it as with some other brands/models, but you just turn this on and let it run as long as you want. Thanks to the other reviewer who mentioned that feature. The unit is very lightweight and I can see how it can be very portable for trips. Not sure how long the batteries would last, so will probably use it with the adapter whenever we can. It is so lightweight, I do think that if you dropped it, it would probably break or crack, so be careful with it. Definitely worth the money!

This is my go to sound machine and overall I recommend. We have several in our home. I regularly use for both of my children and also have one in my own room. If I could make two changes to the product, it would be as follows: 1) there’s a bright green light that turns on when the power is on. This can be disruptive to a sleep environment, (which in our case is usually one with the blackout curtains). I resolved this with electrical tape over the green light which works fine, but it would be nice if the light wasn’t there at all. And, 2) for some reason it automatically resets the sound to thunderstorm when the power goes out or flashes. This is not the sound I typically have as a default. We use the white noise setting. This can be disruptive to sleep, especially for babies or toddlers, when they wake up with different background sounds. I would prefer if it would go back to the last sound when restarting. It’s small enough and light enough for travel and does have a battery option, although I’ve never used it. Overall, recommend.

The first time I bought this was back in 2018 for my daughter as she was learning to transition from co-sleeping to sleeping by herself. We recently moved across the US to a new coastline & this got left behind. The old one did have some minor issues (metallic sound started to come through on her favorite sound & the volume would sometimes glitch out but remedied itself if you tapped the volume button lightly). We had to buy a new one obviously since she has slept with this on for almost her entire life. I love the variety of sounds, it can be battery operated or used in an outlet and can handle being dropped frequently. Its a great price & the last one we had probably would have lasted us for many years had we not forgotten it. Thank goodness I could find another one from Amazon. *I shall add photos & updates later if the new machine ends up having problems*

Summary: Does the job but I wish some product actually implemented all these features. Off late, I have tried a bunch of different sleep products since shifting into a new apartment which is in a noisier neighborhood than before. Man, I wish I knew I was so sensitive to noise. I have installed black out curtains, sleep mask, philips wake up light alarm and a bunch of other things to regain my sleep. This product is pretty good but it could be a lot better with simple suggestions. I hope the company reads the review and decides to implement them in the next iteration of the product. Here are my ideas for a killer product that would get 5 star reviews: 1. Basics: Sound quality and level is good for some of the sound tracks. Your personal favorite will depend but there's enough variety that you will enjoy at least one or two. I do feel that some of the sounds don't have the quality for which you would listen to them every night. After listening to them for a few nights, I noticed that they would produce some additional echo or muffled reverberation sounds in the room which are noticable. Also, if you are trying to drown out ambient noise, there are only a few sound tracks that have a constant beat. A lot of the others are very silent for many seconds and you could notice external traffic or outside noise in those portions. 2. The lights: I wish they had an option to turn off the light on the LED panels. My room is otherwise pitch dark and I had to cover up the lights with book/tape to avoid them becoming a distraction especially since it's on whole night. 3. Alarm option: Now, I know this product is not supposed to solve the problem but I wish they had an option to configure an alarm with the same sounds in the morning. I like to leave the product on overnight so that it drowns out the noise but in the morning, it's hard to wake up with the sound playing in background. 4. Speaker quality : On a scale of 1 to 5, I would say the speakers are 3, not excellent but not uncomfortable. We could use better speakers here especially when tuned to the 6 sounds that it's trying to play. 5. Wake up light & alarm: I wish I could combine my wake up alarm light with this product and have just one thing to configure each night. 6. Ambient sound sensitivity: I have another app that records noise levels in my environment overnight. It's a pretty simple idea to do so with a basic microphone. It would be cool if there was a functionality that would start background noise if and when there was noise in the environment. Usually, most people know that their place is quiet but there's the early morning truck which just wakes you up and you struggle to fall back asleep. It would be cool if in those cases, the product increased it's white noise to drown out the increased noise in the environment. 7. Basic sleep tracking: Again, I presently use another device to track my sleep at night. It would be nice to have a combined device that did the same. 8. Timer settings: That's actually a pretty cool feature that I really like. Again, I wish that they had a way to auto-start or extend/shorten the duration of the ambient noise if someone hasn't yet fallen asleep. There are a few nights when it's a lot noisier than usual or you don't fall asleep in 30 minutes. Not a great idea to then try and fumble to the product & switch it on again in the night. 9. I think most people who use such products are temporarily going through a phase of insomnia, this product adds one small dimension to the efforts. I have had good success with mobile apps like pziz, sleep as android, sleep cycle etc that provide same basic functionalities and lot more. I wonder sometimes why I need this device, if I can use those apps for generating and keeping the ambient white noise & sounds esp when your smartphone probably has better speakers. The only reason I prefer this is because for many people, turning on the phone at night, will absorb them into another world. 10. In summary, it's much better than a pure white noise producing machine but less capable than a smartphone. Worth the money but I hope that some product improves and implements the suggestions that would help out many more people.

I’m a therapist and work from home. This sound machine has been a game changer for me. I have a baby that can get a little fussy at times, this has helped her fall asleep and also keep my work environment professional. Very easy to use- I love that it can be battery operated OR plug in. Very versatile and simple to use. Aesthetically it’s not the prettiest but it’s really loud and powerful!

I needed a white noise machine, I was using my fan as white noise lol I started getting cold during winter so I decided to look for a white noise machine. This one caught my attention and I am glad it did. It is good and it can get pretty loud. I love the different types of sounds and volume options. In addition, I love that you can use it with the cord or with batteries so you can take it anywhere. Buy it!

Excellent sounds and durability!

We've been using this sound machine almost nonstop since it arrives because we have a newborn -- need I say more?! I really want to give this machine five stars, but after only three weeks, it is experiencing "glitches" where it stops playing the sound for a split second or even up to 10 seconds. That sounds like no big deal until you realize that even a nanosecond halting will turn a calm, sleeping infant into the incredible hulk. If the t-rex's vision is based on movement, a newborn's sleep pattern is based on seamless sound (plus a little bit of pixie dust, but it was missing from my stuff mart pick-up order). It's a precarious state of equilibrium that is about as elusive as a cure for cancer, so when you finally have a moment of peace but a glitching sound machine causes them to stir or fully awake -- there can be no five star review. The pros: low profile, several sound options including rain (our little t-rex's favorite sound other than her own vocal cords at max volume), ability to run on batteries or plugged into the wall, low cost point. The con: WHY IS IT GLITCHING?! It has happened twice in the time it took to begin this review. Surely the makers haven't programmed it to take sadistic pleasure in toying with a sleep-deprived parent's hope for an uninterrupted hour to "sleep when the baby sleeps"?! Nay, I cannot believe in such a conspiracy; so perhaps my unit is a lemon? I may give it a good ol' slap on the hood to see if it ceases from its electrical seizures, or I'll put it in a box, put that box in another box, mail it to myself, and when it arrives, I'll smash it with a hammer. Then again, if it has night vision, it has seen my ferocious glares and mayhap that has scared it back into functioning properly. I'll report back if it has rehabilitated itself, but if this review remains unedited, well, that should be answer enough. So, buy it if the price is worth three weeks of flawless use. Or maybe try a different one. We have a more bougie machine for my 2yo, a gift from a friend, and perhaps I shouldn't have been a scrooge and just paid for a more expensive machine and learned the true meaning of Christmas and enjoyed a silent night.