Some of the Uses of SoundMasker:

Although the benefits of noise masking in the office are obvious, it is also very useful at home. Used in a bedroom, it can mask the noise of other household activities such as tv's or visiting company or outside noises such as neighborhood dogs and traffic noise. Students can also derive significant benefits from noise masking by blocking out external noise and thereby improving concentration. At night-time, white noise can help improve quality of sleep as the noise acts as a buffer, resulting in the brain being stimulated to a lesser extent by external sounds, resulting in a deeper, more restful sleep. Don't just take our word for it though, for more information on creative and healing uses of white noise, just run a quick search through Google.

Many people who have previously bought hardware maskers have now switched to using Sound Masker due to it's ease of use and total customizability. Sound Masker is now in use in many facilities such as universities, courtrooms, hospitals, waiting rooms as well as countless homes and offices around the world.

Unlike most hardware white noise masking machines / generators, each sound in Sound Masker can be adjusted until the optimal settings are found for your particular situation.

Because each person is affected differently by white noise, people in the past have been forced to buy numerous hardware devices and masking CDs before a suitable match was found, even then the user was unable to make any kind of changes to the sound. Soundmasker eliminates all the effort, cost and frustration involved previously and allows you to experiment and find whatever works best for YOU. We have also provided several presets which we have found to be effective in various situations and these can be adjusted to suit.

How And Why Does Sound Masking Work?

White noise consists of random noise with equal power levels across the entire audio spectrum. Because white noise contains all frequencies, it can effectively mask sounds without drawing undue attention to itself by raising the overall sound level in the room. The effect is exactly the same as using a fan to mask the sounds of a party next door. The quieting effect this strategy provides is due to the way our brain focuses on sound sources.

The brain notices isolated sharp or dramatic sound level changes better than when there are competing sound sources around, particularly when these sources are relatively unchanging. For example, noises in a room are much less noticeable when there is a steady drone of a fan than when the room is otherwise quiet. The noise from the fan tends to mask out voices and ringing telephones. Although the fan itself makes noise, it is steady and constant, and so after a short time it becomes almost unnoticeable.

Like a "tunable fan," electronically generated white noise can be added to the background of a room environment and adjusted to mask over most sounds that would otherwise be distracting.
Notice that white noise added to a room does not make it quiet. Rather, it raises the background noise level so that to be heard, obtrusive sounds must start from a higher background sound level instead of a quiet room.

In communication terms, sound masking white noise is used to degrade or decrease the signal to noise ratio of the room, making it more difficult to pick out any particular sound source. And because white noise is a steady, unwavering sound, the mind has nothing to analyze, and the result is a more relaxed atmosphere.

Many natural sources of random noise such as brooks, waterfalls, ocean surf or rain can also be used to mask sounds ( See also our nature sound generator software Atmosphere Deluxe ).

When masking sounds with noise sources it is important that the sound source be tailored to match the room acoustics and sound source noise being masked. Soundmasker makes this possible by providing several random noise sources with individual level and base frequency adjustments. The best masking strategy will be found by tuning of these noise sources.

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