Ear Plug Superstore - Official Blog

Sonet White Noise: From the Office to the... Bedroom?

From the boardroom to the bedroom: the Sonet QT was designed for corporations and medical professionals to achieve sound masking and speech privacy in a business environment, but with a little out-of-the-box thinking, that same technology can be used at home to improve sleep and concentration. This bit of wisdom actually comes from one of our customers:

Started at work moved to bedroom.

I had originally purchased this device in 2004 to mask external sounds in my work environment but shortly found that it works great in the bedroom helping me stay asleep and get to sleep faster. I placed the emitters on each side of my bed. Unlike some devices, like a fan or others that simulate sounds mechanically the Sonet QT, with the ability to easily adjust the volume sounds like a high quality AC unit. For the most part it is a vary reliable device, it was running non-stop (16+ Years) up until December 30, 2021 when my home burned in the Colorado Marshal fire. I tried purchasing a cheaper unit for my new location but quickly found the Sonet QT worked the best for me and quickly purchased a another one. Purchasing a unit for my son, he found it easier to focus and study, being less distracted by surrounding apartment noises.

When it comes to white noise, it's hard to find a better option than the Sonet QT from Cambridge Sound Management. This system of speakers and controllers is meant to be installed in your ceiling or walls to provide a blanket of white noise sound masking for an office or other workplace environment. Medical professionals, office staff, and students all rely on systems like the Sonet QT for speech privacy, confidentiality, and concentration in professional settings. The Sonet QT is accessible and affordable enough to bring this class of professional white noise to personal office and small business settings.

But this customer took it a step even further:

To the bedroom.

Using a pro white noise setup in your own home sounds daunting, but as this reviewer writes, it's possible to use the Sonet QT as a high-end desktop white noise solution in your own home. Nothing says you HAVE to mount the speakers in the ceiling or on the walls; instead you could simply set them up on opposite sides of the room - or on both sides of the bed. The result is a full, thick curtain of white noise protecting you from disturbing nighttime sounds that would otherwise ruin your sleep. Do the same thing in your office or around your desk for a work-and-study-bubble of quiet, so you can concentrate - without hearing every little thing your neighbors are doing.

Ultimately, noise blocking and sound masking are all about inventive problem-solving. Using more noise (specifically white noise) to block out disturbing or irritating background sounds may seem like fighting fire with fire - but it works. Big businesses use Sonet QT white noise systems to improve work and focus, but there's no reason you can't get innovative and use the same technology to solve your own personal problems. When you find a noise solution that works? You go with it.

So here's to the problem-solvers and innovators out there.

And until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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How to Block Bass Vibrations for Sleeping

 

Q. Hello, I'm trying to find an earplug or solution to blocking bass vibrations while sleeping. I've tried white noise machines and different earplugs. Earplugs I've tried block noise just fine but not vibrations. Is there an earplug for this? Can you recommend one of your products?

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A. I feel your pain. Unfortunately, there is nothing beyond earplugs and white noise machines that can address the kind of low vibrations you are suffering through. But we may be able to combine these to get you a better result.

The best thing I know to suggest is to try experimenting with different kinds of white noise by getting an app for your smart phone and playing through a speaker (or getting a dedicated white noise machine) so that you can turn the volume up. A sound with heavy bass may do more to help mask the unwanted vibrations - or a white noise sound mix with other background noise (such as rain, surf, crickets, etc.) might also help to cover the less pleasant bass with more soothing sounds. The goal is to find a sound that makes it much harder (or ideally impossible) to hear the bass that's bothering you. The sound will likely need to be turned up pretty loud to accomplish this; that's where the ear plugs come in.

Once you get the correct kind of white noise sound for you, at a volume sufficient to mask the irritating bass noise (or as much of it as you can), then you can add ear plugs to reduce the overall volume you hear to a tolerable level. The external white noise will mask as much sound as possible, while the earplugs also help block out the bass. You won't be vibration free, but you may be able to sleep a lot better.

Unfortunately, this combination is the closest I can come to a solution for you. With bone conduction in play - the ability for sound to travel via the bones in your skull - there just isn't much you can do to simply block low-pitched bass vibrations with a single product. But note that many white noise apps are available for free, so it's not an expensive strategy to try out.

One thing I would definitely suggest, though, is to consider getting one of our foam ear plug trial packs so that you can find a plug that gives you the best performance. An ear plug that fits you perfectly will vastly outperform one with a so-so fit (and will be more comfortable to sleep in, too). Just finding the ideal foam ear plug for your ears might be enough to make a big difference.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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How to Sleep with the Neighbor's Dog Barking

Q.

 
Hello, I live in a 1958 constructed apartment building. There is no real sound barrier with the apartment above. I can actually hear a "fart." The problem is that she has dogs - and one bark and I'm awake.

Has there not been something devised that is an actual ear muff device that can be worn while sleeping without all the bulk? Noise reduction that is higher than those foam ear plugs which one can only purchase at 33 decibels. Why can't there be higher foam decibel ear foam protection or something to put over the ears.

I am not interested in ear buds unless they block noise. White noise in my ear - I don't believe I could adapt to that. I need Q-U-I-E-T!

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A.First off, let's look at why earplug noise blocking tops out at 33 decibels. The primary pathway for noise to enter your ear, where it is detected, is via the airway in the ear canal. NRR 33 means that the airway has been completely blocked to all sound. With NRR 33 hearing protection, sound waves can no longer travel through your ear canal to reach your ear drum. The sound blocking is total.

So why, then, can you sometimes still hear with NRR 33 ear plugs in your ears? Well, the ear canal isn't the only path sound waves can take to reach your inner ear. With your ears fully blocked, you can still hear because sound travels to your inner ear via the secondary pathway, the bones in your head. This is called bone conduction, and it's why you cannot get much better than NRR 33 protection from noise.

Now, you can still add muffs over ear plugs and get to about 35-36 NRR total, but unfortunately, that is impractical for your purposes here. No one has yet invented a feasible ear muff for sleeping, to our knowledge. And in this case, unfortunately, even wearing an earmuff over your ear plugs probably will not help you. Wearing ear muffs over ear plugs is called the dual protection method, and it is highly advised for extreme high-noise situations, such as firing at an indoor gun range. However, in your case, the neighbor's dog likely is not barking loud enough to overcome your ear plugs' noise blocking and make dual protection advised. When it comes to dealing with your noisy neighbors, bone conduction is the most likely culprit for why you can still hear the dog barking with your ears blocked, and you unfortunately can't get around that with a higher NRR.

What you want is Q-U-I-E-T - I get it. That's the dream, right? But unfortunately, with the bones in your skull working against your ability to get a good night's sleep, a reasonable simulation of silence will be the best we can do. That is to say, the best solution will most likely turn out to be a combination of ear plugs and a masking sound such as white noise. Disliking the white noise sound is not at all uncommon; the trick is simply to get adjusted to the sound, so your brain will completely ignore it. And this happens automatically with time.

Here is what I would suggest. Find a way to generate a masking sound. You can download a white noise app for free and play it through your phone via a Bluetooth speaker to get better quality sound, or buy a white noise machines, or even tune an AM radio off-station so it generates static - this is all white noise. Whichever sound you choose, turn up the masking sound volume until it masks/covers the noises that are bothering you, like that barking dog. Then add ear plugs to reduce the total volume of all sounds you can hear. The masking sound will be much less present. Along with the masking sound, the plugs will also reduce the annoying sound, with the rest of it masked so you hear little of it - or none of it at all.

The upshot? The combination of a masking noise and ear plugs lets you stop hearing noises that hearing protection alone cannot block out.

What I have found is that a modest level of masking sound raises the threshold of my hearing so that small noises in the night do not wake me nearly as easily. I promise you will quickly get used to the masking sound. Playing it loudly and pairing it with ear plugs is your best bet to block out the barking - but even a little masking noise at night will help greatly. And your brain will start filtering it out in no time.

Here you will find several quality white noise machines. And try our assortment packs to find your most comfortable and effective ear plugs.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Help with Ear Plug Ear Pain?

Q.I have been using foam ear plugs for about 10 years and never had a problem until a few months ago. One of my ears started to hurt when I woke up in the morning, it can sometimes be excruciating.

I feel like the smart thing to do would be to take some time off from ear plugs, but I honestly cannot sleep without them. I have tried silicone plugs but they hurt just as bad. Do you think custom ear plugs would solve my problem? I am a side sleeper so I feel like anything protruding from my ear exacerbates the problem.

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A.First of all, I would suggest that you do give your ears a rest! There's another good solution you can try.

If the ear plugs you need have been hurting your ears, put down the plugs and use a masking noise instead. White noise can drown out disturbing nighttime noises under a soft blanket of what amounts to the sound of rushing air, a sound your brain ignores so you can sleep. You'll get a very similar benefit as ear plugs in terms of keeping noise from bothering you, but from a different direction. Not everyone will find that white noise is the right solution, but if ear plugs are hurting, you'll have to find another solution - at least for a while, until they get a rest and aren't so tender. Personally, I find the masking sound works well enough that I do not need ear plugs to sleep soundly.

It's easy (and free) to try. You can just download a white noise app and play your choice of sounds through your smart phone. It works better if you have a Bluetooth speaker, which will give you better fidelity sound. If you can't get the full range of audible sound covered, the noise masking is less likely to work, so good speakers really help. If you find that white noise helps (or you'd like your phone free for other purposes), you can get a variety of dedicated little white noise machines to help, of which we offer a few different models. You can get one that simply plays pure white noise, one that has hundreds of programmable sounds, and many models in between.

When and if you do decide to go back to ear plugs, before you spend the money for full custom ear plugs, I would suggest you try a DIY custom ear plug. They are not quite as good as lab made custom plugs, but they are inexpensive enough that you can experiment with size and shape by making a full ear plug, then shaving some off to make it more comfortable to lie on. More importantly, they'll let you test out whether or not professional custom ear plugs might be the right long-term solution for you. If so, the quality, comfort, and durability (they can last for years!) will serve you well.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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How to Sleep with Barking Dogs?

Q.Hello, I live in a 1958 constructed apartment building. There is no real sound barrier with the apartment above. I can actually hear a "fart." The problem is that she has dogs and one bark and I'm awake.

Has there not been something devised that is an actual ear muff device that can be worn while sleeping without all the bulk. Noise reduction that is higher than those foam ear plugs which one can only purchase at 33 decibels. Why can't there be higher foam decibel ear foam protection or something to put over the ears.

I am not interested in ear buds unless they block noise. White noise in my ear I don't believe I could adapt to that. I need Q-U-I-E-T!

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A.NRR 33 is a sort of natural limit to how much noise you can block with hearing protection. The primary pathway for noise to enter your ear, where it is detected, is via the airway in the ear canal. NRR 33 means that the airway has been completely blocked to sound. If you can then still hear, it's because sound travels to the inner ear via the secondary pathway, the bones in your head. So, that is why you cannot get much better than NRR 33.

You can add muffs over ear plugs and get to about 35-36 NRR, but that is impractical for sleeping.

The best solution will most likely turn out to be a combination of ear plugs and a masking sound such as white noise. If in-ear white noise isn't an option, than here is what I would suggest. Find a way to generate a masking sound in your bedroom. You can download a white noise app and play it through your phone via a Bluetooth speaker to get better quality sound, or buy a white noise machine, or even tune an AM radio off-station so it generates static (which is white noise.) All of these play sound into your environment, not directly into your ears - so they should hopefully be easier to adapt to. Turn up the masking sound volume until it masks the noises that are bothering you, then add ear plugs to reduce the volume you can hear, and along with the masking sound, the plugs will also reduce the annoying sound, with the rest of it masked so you hear little, or none of it. (The ear plugs should also help with making the white noise less obtrusive!)

What I have found is that a modest level of masking sound raises the threshold of my hearing so that small noises in the night do not wake me nearly as easily. I promise you will quickly get used to the masking sound and even a little of it will help greatly. Your brain will interpret it as exactly the Q-U-I-E-T you need.

Here you will find several quality white noise machines. And you can try our assortment packs to find your most comfortable and effective ear plugs.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Ear Plugs to Block Low-Frequency Bass?

Q.Our neighbour plays his radio loudly in the garden. The bass is incredibly low and we can't escape inside or out. Are there any earplugs that help? It would be nice to deaden it whilst still being able to talk to each other and hear normal sounds.

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A. When it comes to coping with low-frequency bass, the bones in your head are betraying you, and ear plugs probably won't help much - but tricking your brain may provide some relief.

First, why won't ear plugs work well here? Well, as it turns out, those especially irritating low-frequency bass sounds can be nearly impossible to block to any appreciable degree. The reason behind this might surprise you. While good ear plugs - when used correctly - can completely seal noise out of the ear canal, low-frequency sounds like a heavy bassline can actually travel through a secondary pathway to reach your inner ear: your bones.

Called "bone conduction," this is the process by which soundwaves travel to your inner ear via the bones in your skull, instead of entering the usual way (traveling through the air in your ear canal). The fact that you can actually hear sound through the bones in your head is pretty fascinating, and even a little cool... but it gets a lot less charming when you're missing sleep thanks to neighbors playing abnormally loud music while you're trying to have a normal conversation.

So unfortunately, great as they are - and we're big fans! - ear plugs probably aren't the answer to the question of how to deal with low-frequency bass. (Thanks for nothin', skull.) Now, you could still certainly try a high Noise Reduction Rating foam earplug to see if it gives you any benefit - they are inexpensive, so an experiment to give it a shot wouldn't cost much. Still, it's likely that you will end up blocking out voices and normal sounds well before you block out any of the bass.

That said, my recommendation to you would be to try using a background sound designed for noise masking. Playing white noise could help mask some of that bass. White noise is comprised of all frequencies audible to the human ear - that's the proper definition of white noise, it's not just "random TV static!" - including both very high and very low frequencies. And instead of trying (and failing) to remove the unwanted low-frequency noise, you can add white noise to your environment trick your own brain into not hearing the bass. Or at least not hearing so much of it.

Here's how it works. When you listen to white noise, you'll be perfectly aware of that trademark hissing/fan sound... at first. But that awareness fades surprisingly quickly, until you don't really notice any sound at all unless you try to focus on it. This is because while the sound itself is still noise, and you're definitely still hearing it, it contains no actual information. Your brain is always looking for meaningful information - familiar faces, objects out of place, valuable nuggets like words and voices - and in order to tune in on that prime content, your mind has to simultaneously try to distinguish the important pieces of data from all the unimportant background noise. It's the same thing your brain does automatically when you have a one-on-one conversation in a crowded restaurant. So because white noise is blank and free of any useful information at all, your brain rapidly just tunes it out: without even trying, you forget the white noise is there.

Noise masking, then, involves adding a low-information white noise sound to your environment to literally trick your brain. The key is that when you partially cover an irritating, unwanted sound with white noise, when your brain filters out all that low-information sound, some of the high-information sound gets filtered out with it. It's a little like hiding the elephant in a perfectly white room under a perfectly white tarp. It's still there, you can reach out and feel it any time, but it's a whole lot easier to ignore. So when blocking out the noise just isn't an option, noise masking is usually the next best thing to actually turning down the volume.

Fortunately, trying white noise masking is an even easier experiment than trying foam earplugs: you can probably try white noise for completely free! If you have a smart phone handy, you can download a whole range of free white noise apps and try it out. Playing it through a good speaker or at least some earphones will give you the best test. Pick a sound to try (some offer mashups that combine white noise with soothing sounds like rain, or crickets, or... even distant train whistles and foghorns, depending on your tastes), and if you think you might like it, give it a few minutes to play. Let your brain have a moment to adjust. You may find that the white noise is helpful in masking some of that unstoppable low-frequency bass.

If white noise seems like a good solution for your situation, you can move up to a white noise machine when you're ready for more relief. High-quality white noise machines are designed to produce rich, room-filling sound, so not only will having a good white noise machine free up your phone, it will also greatly enhance the quality of your noise masking solution. A high-end white noise machine with all the bells and whistles will give you a full, customizable suite of white noise sounds, ambience, and superb audio quality, but even the tried-and-true Marpac Dohm single-speed white noise machine - which is essentially just a fan in a box! - could be enough to create a much more comfortable atmosphere for pleasant group conversations.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Tinnitus Masking for a Totally Deaf Person?

Q.Good morning: I'm a 58 year old woman who has had problems with my hearing since I was a child.

I've been totally deaf for three years. But, I have always had tinnitus. I've had multiple MRIs to make sure I do not have a tumor, and multiple surgeries to close the hole in my right ear.

Finally, success with closing the hole in the right ear, but it has left me with additional and unbearable tinnitus (especially at night). Also, I'm having difficulty with headaches when the ambient noise is loud. I don't hear the noise in the environment, but for some reason it bothers me. I've seen ten different specialist and the best they can offer is tinnitus retraining with coping skills (not interested).

I was wondering if your product could help mask all the above. I also inherited a new noise after my last surgery of a waterfall and a noise I can only explain as an airplane engine/flying.

I'm desperate for something because it makes concentrating and sleep difficult. I'm not interested in ENT because they only want to discuss a cochlear (I had one implanted in my left and it failed so I had it explanted the next year after begging the ENT to take it out).

I would be grateful if this product worked.

Kind regards.

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A. Thank you for reaching out to us. Your condition seems quite unfair from a karmic perspective; having lost your hearing, it would seem you should at least have been left with peace and quiet! I also suffer from tinnitus, though mine is a milder sort than yours.

To start with, what we know about tinnitus is that the brain, when left without sufficient audio data inputs from the ear to process, just goes ahead and manufactures sounds on its own - and when the hearing sensors in the ear are damaged, the inputs to the brain can get reduced, or go completely absent. I suppose that most likely explains your tinnitus. In most instances tinnitus masking is the most effective solution, because by pumping a non-irritating sound into the ear, the brain has some input to work with, so it stops (or at least reduces) the sounds it otherwise manufactures.

Since you are totally deaf, I have no idea whether tinnitus masking will work.

Yours is the first case of its kind I have heard about, so anything I tell you will be complete conjecture on my part. Please understand that I can only offer ideas as a hearing protection specialist; this is in no way intended to serve as medical advice. However, since you asked, and you're in need, I will share my thoughts with you in the hope that they may help in some way.

Going back to the idea of tinnitus masking, I understand you are being affected by noise, even though you cannot hear it. The first question would be whether you're reacting to the quantity (volume) of the ambient sound, or the quality (type) of it.

It could be that your reaction to the noise is not so much to the loudness as it is to the nature of the sound. You should be able to experiment with this idea by subjecting yourself to different kinds of sounds and noting the effects on your tinnitus and on your headaches. Hearing folks generally find that the less information the masking sound they use carries, the less it interferes with normal activities such as sleeping, and concentration activities such as reading. White noise, such as the rush of air from a fan, is some of the lowest-information noise out there. That said, you might try exposing yourself to different kinds of sounds and see what hurts and what helps. (There are a bunch of free white noise and tinnitus masking apps on smart phones you can use for these purposes, ideally in combination with a good comfortable pair of headphones that block out some external noise, if you have such things available.)

Whether it turns out to be the volume, the nature of the sound, or some combination that is hurting you, you may be able to avoid some of the discomfort by using ear plugs (or an over-the-ear solution such as ear muffs, since plugs may not work for you). I know, people may think you are crazy to use hearing protection when you're already deaf, but... whatever vestiges of damaged sound processing you may still have, garbled to your brain and imperceptible to you as they may be, could be the culprit in your discomfort. It's probably a long shot, but if this is the case, blocking the noise might provide quite a lot of relief. A very simple pair of ear muffs will be cheap and simple to use as a test, so it will not cost much to try the experiment.

Whether the ear muffs work or not, tinnitus masking could work. You'll be able to figure out whether that helps by trying some apps, as I have discussed above. The only way to find out if tinnitus masking does work for you is to give it a try. If you find that you can play soothing sounds that mask your tinnitus while you go throughout your day, but you need a portable solution, then we may have a wearable tinnitus masker you could try. But for now, my suggestion is to figure out if masking can help or not, using the tools you can pick up for free.

One more comment I will make regarding TRT (tinnitus retraining therapy): if you do find that you can get relief by simply playing soothing sounds that mask your tinnitus, TRT may very much be worth your time, and something you can work on yourself. That is to say, if the tinnitus masking sounds do help you, you might be able to use them for the tinnitus relief you need now, with the goal of then eventually weening yourself off of that need later. That is essentially all TRT is: using masking sounds to control tinnitus immediately, and then over time, very slowly reducing the volume of the masking sound you use. What this does is to desensitize your brain to the absence of inputs so that it will stop making tinnitus noises when the inputs are very low.

If tinnitus masking does work for you, it could be life-changing. But I cannot tell you at all what the odds of this working for you would be. I can only tell you it should be inexpensive and straight-forward to test out with some experimentation, a simple hearing protector, and/or some tinnitus masking apps.

I hope this helps.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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NewSound In-Ear White Noise Machine Review: 2019

From Our Customers - NewSound TI-100 In-Ear White Noise Machine Review:

 

I have terrible Hyperacusis that made everyday noises unbearable. I couldn't even stand the sound of my own voice, and normal conversation literally made my ears ache.

I had tried a few different products before this one, but they didn't help treat the problem, just cut down on noise. Of course, overprotecting can actually make Hyperacusis worse, so I tried a few pairs of acoustic filters for a while. After doing some research and with the recommendation of my Audiologist, I bought a pair of these.

The first couple of days weren't that great. I had to get used to these. But after the first week, I noticed I was able to tolerate normal speech, I was able to carry on a conversation without pain, and I can finally concentrate again.

These are even comfortable enough to sleep in, despite NOT being custom moulded to my ears.

Like some of the other reviewers have said, the volume control is a bit of an unwieldy axe at first.

These literally look like CIC hearing aids when they're in your ears, so if that bothers you, you might want to take that into consideration before you buy.

Other than that, if you're looking for a solid in- ear White Noise Generator with full volume control, these are probably the best option out there.

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For people with tinnitus, hyperacusis, misophonia, and other noise sensitivity issues, in-ear white noise generators can present a solution that no regular earplugs, ear buds, or headphones can offer. Learn more about NewSound and take back control of your own personal audio experience. Adding constant background white noise can provide relief from snoring, too. If you suffer from any of these noise sensitivity problems and would like more information about NewSound, or advice on what other solutions we might have to help you cope with the problematic noise in your daily life, please don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected] for more help.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Help for Hyperacusis?

Q. I apparently have hyperacusis, and it's getting worse. My mother was sensitive to certain vibration noises, and so was my autistic brother.

I've been wracking my brain thinking there must be a way to ALTER the noise if I can't stop it. For noises that have variation the noise cancelling technology may be as good as it gets, but I have a steady, all day nightmare of one long, mind-numbing loud tone coming from the air conditioner across the street. Yes, I've tried all the obvious things, nothing blocks the vibration. I can't go outside, and I can hear it in my house if I don't turn on competing noises.

It seems to me that if the pressure waves could be caused to lose their cohesiveness, if something they encountered on their way to my ear broke their form, bounced them off in multiple directions, changed their length, etc., that it might reduce the discomfort. I actually put a couple of crystal glass multifaceted beads in my ears and it did help with higher-pitched sounds.

My other idea was to identify where on a note scale the tone might fit, (it sounds alot like what you get when you blow across the top of a large beer bottle), and introduce two new tones that would, when combined with the first, create a harmonic, that would be a more pleasing sound. I may try cutting a piece of brass into a teeny tiny tuning fork.

You're probably not the right person to tell this to, but maybe you know some folks who enjoy experimentation.

Surely we have the braniacks and the technology, but they're all being channelled in support of the music industry, and people who need to hear MORE ambient sounds. Since hyperacusis is dealing with an actual, externally originating vibration event, and sticking my fingers deep enough in my ears goes a long way toward making it more tolerable, I'll bet SOMEBODY can come up with a device that would make a difference.

Thanks for listening!

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A. We hear a lot from people with hyperacusis, unfortunately. I believe you hit on the best solution when you said, "...and I can hear it in my house if I don't turn on competing noises."

The key to a happy life for most hyperacusis sufferers is to find a masking sound that prevents them from hearing the painful noises. I know it may sound counter-intuitive that solving a problem with noise sensitivity can be solved by adding more noise, but from what I know, that may well be your best option. Below I will include a primer on how to use masking sounds. It is aimed at snoring relief, and you may not need nearly as much sound to solve your problem, but the principles are the same.

First, though, I want to suggest that you consider using musician ear plugs for daily wear. These reduce the volume of everything you hear, but in such a way that you can still hear everything clearly. You may have to experiment with different attenuation levels to find which works best but I am confident that these products can help you. In general, as they get more expensive, the accuracy improves, they get less obvious to wear, and you get more low attenuation options.

Now to white noise:

White noise machines can give you the closest thing to complete isolation of any consumer device. Here are four ways to use these machines that you might try, in increasing levels of effectiveness in creating a noise isolation field:

First, a table top white noise machine will fill the bedroom with a masking sound that will do two things. First the masking noise, usually called white noise, will keep your threshold of hearing elevated so that you do not hear so acutely. You may have noticed that the quieter you make it by using plugs, the better your hearing seems to get? This is a natural phenomenon and any masking sound will help prevent it. Second, the masking sound will compete with the irritating noises, and as long as the masking sound is louder in your ears, you will be unable to hear the irritating noise. This may not be sufficient to address your noise problems if they are severe, but it is a good place to start. Just be sure you get a white noise machine that has a headphone jack so you can use it in the systems described below if necessary.

Second, add a set of pillow speakers that plug into your white noise machine. This will let you increase the volume right where you are sleeping, to greatly improve the intensity of the masking sound. Note, that white noise types of masking sounds carry no information so your mind can easily tune them out after just a few minutes, allowing you to sleep more soundly than you would in a quiet environment.

Third, if the pillow speakers do not do adequately mask the noise that is bothering you, you might try a NewSound White Noise Ear Bud. This is a combination of an ear plug and an in-ear white noise machine.

Finally, you can try our Office Isolator System. One caution on this one. There is no volume limiter on the Office Isolator so you can potentially do harm to your hearing if you turn it up too loudly, so you need to be cautious and use just the amount of white noise you need to do the job.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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What are In-Ear White Noise Generators?

White noise machines - those little desktop gadgets that play pure white noise, or some mix of white noise and other soothing sounds like rain - have become a lot more popular over the past few years. Whether they're planted in a doctor's office to enhance patient privacy or parked on your bedside table for a little nighttime noise-relief, white noise machines can improve our lives in meaningful ways. But carrying a sound generating machine around is impractical; even in the always-plugged-in era, who has time to stop to charge their white noise machine?

In-ear white noise generators were the clear solution. The same size and shape of your normal set of earbud-style earphones, you can almost think of these tiny sound machines like a set of white noise ear plugs. Just put them in your ears and turn them on to get rid of noise. As quickly as that, the noisy world fades away, and you're in your own personal, private bubble of silence.

The Power of Personal Noise

If you sleep with a snoring partner or live with tinnitus (that is, the persistent hissing or ringing in one or both ears), you may already have a good idea how powerful this in-ear white noise can be. Because these little electronic earpieces play a masking noise directly into your eardrums, they wash out all other sound until all your brain "hears" is that sweet, blissful nothing. Too, many of them use memory foam eartips to keep almost all the external noise out of your ear canals anyway, stacking up noise masking on top of the noise blocking (while also incidentally cushioning the plugs comfortably in place in your ears, too).

If you're trying to study, or concentrate on work at a busy office, or sleep near a busy street, a little white noise can be seriously paradigm-shifting. And not only are the in-ear generators easily portable, but you also never have to worry about bothering your co-workers (or roommate, or significant other). You can get a break whenever you need it, no apologies or explanations required.

In-Ear Generators vs White Noise Apps

Of course, you don't have to go with a specialized device to enjoy the perks of white noise delivered straight into your ear canals. With a set of earbud-style headphones and a white noise app - several of which are free and can produce respectable sound quality - you can get a similar effect. But in-ear white noise machines do have a couple of pros that regular headphones can't match: they're wireless, so they can't get tangled up; the white noise they output is full and seamless, with no ads or gaps; and they don't require you to keep a media streaming device with you at all times. If you need a personal white noise bubble for sleeping, especially if you need it every night, in-ear white noise is a better solution; the same applies if you're using the sound to help cope with tinnitus. If you're dealing with a little occasional irritating noise, an app is probably enough for you. But if noise is wrecking your sleep, sanity, or relationships... it may be time to step up to dedicated in-ear white noise.

In-Ear White Noise vs Noise Cancelling Earbuds

One last word to the wise: be careful not to get in-ear white noise generators mixed up with noise cancelling earbuds. Instead of masking external noise with a constant stream of uniform sound, noise cancelling earbuds play an ever-changing audio signal that is the inverse of the sound waves around you, which cancels out the vibrations so that very little sound at all remains to enter your ears. By contrast, white noise increases the amount of sound reaching your ears, but eliminates any useful information your brain can absorb from the sound, causing your brain to begin to ignore it completely. They're two nearly opposite approaches to trying to achieve the same goal: a little peace and quiet.

Both of these types of devices can help you get better control over your auditory environment, but because they're so different, sometimes one is much better-suited to a particular situation than the other. For instance, noise cancelling earbuds and in-ear white noise are about equally effective for sleeping with snoring... but when it comes to dealing with tinnitus, the constant sound signal from in-ear white noise can be extremely helpful, while the quiet created by noise-cancelling earbuds could actually make the ringing in your ears worse! Be sure to get the in-ear device that works correctly for your specific needs.

Want to hear more?

If you're interested in learning more, I recommend taking a look at our In-Ear White Noise Generators, where we are proud to offer two carefully-selected, highly specialized in-ear noise machines: one tailored specifically for sleeping with snoring or other disturbing noise, and one designed to perform especially well for tinnitus masking.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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