Black noise
Black noise usually means silence, or near-silence with the occasional faint random sound. Our version is a barely audible murmur below 160 Hz, for people who want the room to feel a little less empty.
- Spectrum
- Near-silent: very low-level noise rolled off above 160 Hz
- Good for
- People who sleep best in near-silence
- Softening the "ringing" feeling of a totally silent room
- Pairing with earplugs
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What is black noise?
There is no standard definition. It is used in three ways: total silence; a spectrum with power zero almost everywhere apart from rare spikes; and, loosely, the anti-noise that noise-cancelling headphones produce to cancel sound.
Silence can be the best sleep sound if your room is already quiet. Noise helps when the room is not quiet, by covering disturbances.
How our black noise works
We generate brown noise and remove almost everything above 160 Hz, then play it about 15 dB quieter than the other colours. Through phone speakers you may hear nothing at all; through headphones it is a faint pressure, like a distant ventilation system.
Questions
Is black noise just silence?
Mostly, yes. The term is informal and usually means silence or near-silence.
Why can't I hear anything?
That is expected on small speakers, which cannot reproduce deep bass. Try headphones, or raise the volume carefully.
Is black noise good for sleep?
If your room is quiet, silence is great for sleep. If it is not, a masking sound such as brown noise usually works better.