A signal with equal power at every frequency across the audible range. The name is borrowed from white light, which contains every visible wavelength — the analogy is about the flat spectrum, not the sound.

What is the difference between white, pink and brown noise?

How quickly energy falls off as frequency rises. White is flat; pink drops about three decibels per octave and sounds balanced; brown drops about six and sounds deep. Try all three on the same intrusion — the right one depends on what you are covering, not on which is best in general.

Can white noise damage your hearing?

Not at ordinary listening levels. As with any sound, sustained high volume over long periods is the thing to avoid — keep it around conversation level or below, particularly overnight and particularly in headphones.

White Noise

Press to play white noise

Generated in your browser — nothing is downloaded, then looped from memory.

White noise carries equal power at every frequency, which makes it the brightest and most even of the noise colours. It is the reference case: when people say "noise machine" without qualifying it, this is usually what they mean.

What it is good for

Masking speech, which sits where white noise is strongest
Open-plan offices and shared study spaces
Covering a wide, unpredictable mix of intrusions
Tinnitus relief, where it is a long-standing first thing to try

Where it falls down

Bright and hissy. Because hearing is more sensitive in the upper-middle range, white noise can become tiring over hours — pink noise is usually the better long-session choice.

Sound is not the whole problem

Background audio sets the conditions for concentration and cannot do anything about whether you stayed on the task — it plays the same whether you are working or twenty minutes into something else. If the honest description of your problem is that you put something on and lost the hour anyway, the missing piece is not a better sound. It is something that notices.

Common questions

What is white noise?: A signal with equal power at every frequency across the audible range. The name is borrowed from white light, which contains every visible wavelength — the analogy is about the flat spectrum, not the sound.
What is the difference between white, pink and brown noise?: How quickly energy falls off as frequency rises. White is flat; pink drops about three decibels per octave and sounds balanced; brown drops about six and sounds deep. Try all three on the same intrusion — the right one depends on what you are covering, not on which is best in general.
Can white noise damage your hearing?: Not at ordinary listening levels. As with any sound, sustained high volume over long periods is the thing to avoid — keep it around conversation level or below, particularly overnight and particularly in headphones.

Other sounds

Focus and sleep sounds
Rain, noise colours, fire and room tone — each playable here, free.
Rain Sounds
Steady rain on leaves, looping in your browser. No account, no ads, and it keeps playing with the network off once it has loaded.
Heavy Rain Sounds
Dense night rain in a forest, looping in your browser. Louder and lower than light rain, for when there is more to cover up.
Brown Noise
A brown noise generator that runs in your browser — the deep, low-heavy noise colour, generated on your machine rather than downloaded.
Pink Noise
A pink noise generator that runs in your browser — the balanced noise colour, generated on your machine rather than downloaded.
Meditation Hall Room Tone
The sound of a large, empty, quiet room. Almost nothing, which for some people is exactly right.