# Where can I find a white noise machine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351 "2005-04-14T21:00:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/1 "2005-04-14T21:00:46Z")
That’s about it. I was using an old black and white TV set between stations that worked very well for over a decade to block out outside noises. I just never turned it off because it started to take too long to warm up. Well, it finally went kaput and now I wake up whenever I hear a noise. I’m addicted to the damn static. I’ve called Circuit City, Fry’s, Best Buy, etc. No joy. I know I’ve seen white noise machines advertised somewhere, but can’t remember where. Anyone bought one lately or know where they can be purchased? Won’t you help a poor old static addict sleep? I wish to once more hear the background sound of the universe. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/2 "2005-04-14T21:16:51Z")
If you don’t want to buy one online ([Froogle listing](http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=white+noise+machine&btnG=Search+Froogle)), you might try a specialty pharmacy, the kind that stock a variety of medical devices. ---
**Author:** ![gommsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@gommsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gommsn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/3 "2005-04-14T21:45:42Z")
I hear ya! Go to any second hand store, thrift shop, pawn broker, purchase the cheapest 10-12 in. TV they have and there you are. Some places might even give you one just to get rid of it. If this is the noise you’re addicted to, this will work nicely. Good Luck ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/4 "2005-04-14T21:55:30Z")
Couldb’t you get the same effect from a detuned radio? Or perhaps someone who talks in math? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/5 "2005-04-14T22:47:34Z")
A big box fan works nicely as a white noise machine. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/6 "2005-04-14T22:54:23Z")
I got one at Radio Shack that doesn’t do straight white noise – you get a choice of “rain,” “stream,” “distant train,” “wind,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/7 "2005-04-14T23:04:37Z")
Thanks to **papermache prince,** **gommsn,** and **flight.** Froogle never occurred to me. I’ve never used it. I ordered a cheap noise machine from them. I’ll see how it works. Hitting the thrift and pawn shops is also a good idea. I once tried to use an old AM-FM for white noise, but it was too erratic. I would get CB radio traffic or airplane communication every once in a while, which was sometimes interesting, but hardly conducive to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/8 "2005-04-14T23:19:12Z")
I got one from Walmart that has approx. 8 different settings - I find the white noise setting kind of ‘tinny’ sounding - so I use the one that sounds like rain. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/9 "2005-04-14T23:36:33Z")
**DDG** : A box fan also works nicely as a source of wind, which I don’t want in my postage stamp bedroom. My last one went South some time ago, and I don’t need another one. Thanks, though. **twickster** : I wanted nothing but white noise, although the rain and stream sounds intriguing. May I ask what you paid at Radio Shack? ---
**Author:** ![Helix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19adc/32.png) [@Helix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helix)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/10 "2005-04-15T00:08:14Z")
As Stainz mentioned, Walmart has them or at least they did. Homedics brand. Also try Sharper Image ([www.sharperimage.com](http://www.sharperimage.com)). They have several models. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/11 "2005-04-15T14:02:14Z")
> [@ageless6](#): > > I wanted nothing but white noise, although the rain and stream sounds intriguing. May I ask what you paid at Radio Shack? I don’t remember – this was several years ago. It wasn’t expensive – $25 or less, I’d guess. I’d been looking for straight white noise and couldn’t find one, so defaulted to this – it’s loops of repeated sounds, very soothing. Worth checking out. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/12 "2005-04-16T00:30:54Z")
I try to stay out of the grasp of the Walmart ogre. Thanks **twickster** , and thanks to everyone who responded. I have all the info I need, thanks to the helpful do-gooder Dopers who infest this great site. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/13 "2005-04-19T22:10:04Z")
I have another question about white noise: A friend was telling me that since it weights all frequencies equally, it creates some harmonics at the high end that could potentially be dangerous to one’s hearing. Is this true? FWIW, I had an equalizer that uses pink noise (which I understand to mean that it lowers the amplitude of higher frequencies so you don’t get the aforementioned harmonics) and I burned a CD of the sound to help drown out my former upstairs neighbors. Worked quite well, but it drove my roommate nuts. I think I have a short .mp3 that I could email if you’d like to do the work of looping and ripping it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/14 "2005-04-19T22:58:25Z")
I use a small ceramic-type space heater which has a fan-only setting. If it’s not pointed directly at you, you’ll never notice the air currents. I just couldn’t get used to the idea of rain forest noises, surf etc. in my bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![tofergregg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tofergregg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofergregg)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/15 "2005-04-19T23:02:14Z")
Well, I’ve actually read that “Pink Noise” is better at blocking out other sounds. If you have a macintosh computer, here is a great pink (and white) noise generator: [http://versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14136](http://versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14136) Hook it up to your headphones or speakers, and you’re all set. -Tofer ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/16 "2005-04-20T06:10:01Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I don’t remember – this was several years ago. It wasn’t expensive – $25 or less, I’d guess. I’d been looking for straight white noise and couldn’t find one, so defaulted to this – it’s loops of repeated sounds, very soothing. Worth checking out. You win, **twickster.** My SO and I searched all the near-by thrift shops looking for an old tv, but none were to be had. But the last one was right next door to a Radio Shack, so I asked what they had. They didn’t have a straight white noise machine, but they had one with assorted sounds for $32.50. Amazingly, the price had gone up since you bought one there. Can you believe it? It had Brook and Rain and Wind (which was closest to white noise,) and other things like Railroad-clickety clack-which might be nice if you rode the rails in your younger days and were nostalgic about that otherwise really annoying sound. And Jungle sounds if you’re fond of hearing some shrieking bird on a loop all night. And so on. In the store I liked Wind, Brook, and Rain. When I got home and tried to sleep, I found that Brook and Rain tended to keep me awake because I couldn’t stop thinking about the rhythm of the loop. If they were random as the real sounds of rain and a brook are it would have been fine. So I basically paid $32.50 for the Wind sound. But that works, and I can sleep as long as the power doesn’t go out and the sound stops, which always makes me sit straight up in shock. I almost forgot. This machine has an aroma therapy component! How cool is that? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. I wasn’t about to buy any therapy oil to put in it, so I attempted to put a couple of drops of Old Spice cologne in it, forgetting that the cologne doesn’t come out in small drops, so I drenched the pad that you put the scent on, plus the surrounding area. I had the most Old Spicey bedroom in the history of human-kind. It was awesome until I found myself gasping for air. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion **twickster.** ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/17 "2005-04-20T11:38:31Z")
You’ve probably purchased something already, but another good (and fairly economical) option is to get something for babies. There are a bundle of items for them that simulate white noise, water, heartbeats, etc. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-find-a-white-noise-machine/299351/18 "2005-04-20T13:18:50Z")
Damn, who’da thunk an aromatherapy component would add 33% to the cost of one of these babies? I find the repetition of the loops soothing – no nasty surprises about where the sound is going – but I kind of like the RR thing, so what do I know? Plus, I don’t use it for sleep – I use it in my cubicle when I need to override the ambient chatter while doing something complicated where music is too distracting. Most of the time I just wear a walkman.