Marpac SleepMate 980A Electro-Mechanical Sound Conditioner
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List Price: Our Price: $54.00 You Save: $5.95 (10%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of Marpac SleepMate 980A Electro-Mechanical Sound Conditioner
Customer Review: No miracle worker, but a useful tool
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing to note is that this manufacturer sells the identical product under two names, SleepMate and SoundScreen. The only difference is the name--having "SleepMate" on the label was deemed a bit awkward for office use. They're both exactly the same otherwise.
I bought this based on wildly favorable reviews online. I found no one who rated it anything less than "incredible." I am extremely sensitive to noise. If a bit of the neighbor's stereo noise bleeds into my home, I'm completely unable to tune it out. I can't read, and sometimes can't even watch TV comfortably. Unfortunately, I live in an area of dense apartments--where the weather is such that the windows have to stay open--and my husband snores. I sleep with earplugs, but the noise can still keep me awake.
In the past I have tried other noise machines that didn't work for me--things like "rainfall" cds or electronic noise machines with similar nature sounds. The problem was that they play a loop of sound, and you can hear a pattern as the loop replays. Once there's a pattern, there's something to pay attention to, and your mind does not tune it out well. This machine generates pure "white noise," which I hoped would be more helpful.
The product is the size and shape of a fat smoke detector. Two things surprised me when I first received it. First, it was quieter than I thought it would be--even the loudest setting seems quieter than a window air conditioner. Even still, my husband complained he wouldn't be able to sleep with "all that noise." (He got used to it within a day or two). It sounds something like a fan--a rush of air. Although you can adjust the volume and tone somewhat, the highest volume is also the highest pitch. Personally I wish it had a deeper tone.
The second surprise is the instructions say to place it *away* from you, so the sound can "fill the room." The ideal positioning pictured has it on a high dresser across from the foot of the bed. Unfortunately, my only option was to place it on the bedside table. I don't know if this really affected my results.
After using it for a while, I would say that it makes it a bit easier to tune out noises, but by no means covers them up. So, once I'm asleep (I still use earplugs), I can stay asleep. If I can manage to get my attention focused on a book the neighborhood noises probably won't break my concentration. But once I hear the noise I still can't tune it out. In fact, a couple times I have actually turned off the machine so that I could identify some sound--not knowing "what is that?" was actually bugging me more than when I could hear it clearly. But like I said, I'm a freak about noise.
This would be ideal for covering traffic sounds--it's just the right sort of noise and pitch. But if your problem is a neighbor's stereo, that mind-numbing bass is not going to sound much different with this than without. It really doesn't "cover up" sounds, but if you have a reasonable ability to tune things out (unlike myself) and just need a little help, you will probably be very happy with this. And it's definitely helpful for *staying* asleep, even for me.
It doesn't solve all my problems, but based on the reasonable price I'm satisfied with the value I got for my money.
Customer Review: Best. Sleep. Ever.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always been a light sleeper, and am easily woken up by relatively quiet sounds like the air conditioner turning on/off or floor boards creaking etc - to say nothing about outside noise from passing cars or neighbors mowing their lawn at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning... I tried drowning out the background noises with a "Nature Sounds" CD, but couldn't find any that I liked. So eventually I started sleeping with the ceiling fan on high - which definitely muted the background noise, but also makes the bedroom feel colder and really dried my eyes and skin out.
Then I started babysitting for a family with a new infant, and they introduced me to the Marpac SleepMate in their nursery. If you haven't heard a white noise machine before, I'm not quite sure how to describe the sound... Maybe imagine a quiet vacuum cleaner? Or maybe a cross between a "hiss" and "whoosh"? Anyway, it has a very soothing womb-like sound that helps their son fall asleep and prevents him from hearing his parents move around the house after he's in bed.
Needless to say, I fell in love! I went home and immediately bought a SleepMate for myself. The unit is small and neutral color, and definitely doesn't look out of place in an "adult" bedroom. You can adjust the tone/texture of the sound by twisting various parts of the unit, and I was easily able to find a setting that my boyfriend and I both liked. The SleepMate was worth every penny because it has drastically improved my overall quality of life. I actually feel rested when I wake up every morning, because I am usually able to sleep through the entire night uninterrupted. I don't notice background house noises any more or get woken up my roommate's TV - and it even covers up pet noise! (My cat had developed a nasty habit of lurking right outside my bedroom door and meowing insistently at around 4:30 a.m. - but he's given up, having realized that his yowling no longer produces the desired effect because I can now sleep soundly through all of his complaining.)
I have to admit, I've become so addicted to the white noise that I even bring my SleepMate with me when I travel. In fact, I've raved so much about this product that my parents and sister all bought SleepMates, and my boyfriend got me a 2nd unit for our guest bedroom this Christmas. One quick tip - I've noticed that on certain hard surfaces, the SleepMate produces a secondary low-pitched reverberation - but this disappears if you simply place a soft cushion underneath the unit.
** NOTE - I bought my 1st MarPac SleepMate in November 2008, and it's still going strong. I recently moved from a relatively quiet subdivision to an apartment in the city that has a LOT more traffic noise - I had to turn my SleepMate to the louder (II) setting, but it still manages to drown out mostly everything. Every now and then a particularly high-pitched ambulance siren or a really loud, thumping bass gets through, but overall the SleepMate is still letting me sleep soundly!
Customer Review: Does a good job blocking out apartment and street sounds
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this mostly for my partner who prefers to sleep with a sound machine but I found it helps me some restless nights as well.
What it is: it's a fan, basically, with high and low setting and two variable slots/holes to adjust the sound generated. This small adjustment does actually change the sound quite a bit from more of a wind to more of a subdued hum, picture listening to the wind through a toilet paper roll then closing up the end of the tube to change the sound. This is not a tape loop machine like some other devices that play waterfalls or rain sounds. It's all generated by pretty simple mechanics.
Like my father I have a long history with insomnia. I'm thinking about picking one of these up for him for a gift as I never would have thought such a simple device could really help me fall asleep and would not have gotten one on my own volition but now that I have it I find it does indeed help me some nights. Though honestly I would prefer not to listen to it every night, especially if I have the entertainment of crickets and such to listen to.
We have a baby boy on the way and I'm hoping this will help him sleep through the night too. The mechanical nature of it seems a better choice for him than the aforementioned tape loop type machines. Although I am curious to see how he rates this compared to, say, non-repetitive musical white noise I plan to generate from synthesizers (hey a dad has to play with his own toys too!) Perhaps I'll append his review here when appropriate.
I didn't think I'd appreciate having this thing whir on all night long but it really has helped me and I'm not even the reason I bought it, so I'm rather sold.
This unit is well padded underneath to help keep whatever surface you set it on from rattling or resonating. You still may have to move it around a bit on a dresser/bureau if the resonance is too much. I find I have to set it over a cross bar (middle) to keep the bureau from resonating but that's not the fault of the machine it seems they designed it well to avoid this and I'm just nitpicky.
As far as blocking out background noise it seems to do real well at that. I recently came into the bedroom with my radio blasting NPR in the bathroom across the hall and I could barely hear the radio once I entered the room. It also has helped drown out the clomping from the horses that moved in upstairs and the rhythmic late night um ... construction ... that's going on next door.
And when the baby comes maybe I'll get one for all my neighbors too.
Customer Review: Bought for Indoor noise, more so than Outdoor noise
Summary: 4 Stars
For the past three years I have lived with one of the loudest humans on planet earth. I work nights so I tend to sleep in until about noon. However the person I live with gets up between the hours of 4-7am. Sometimes when I'm getting home from work she's getting up to face the day. My bedroom has a huge kitchen on one wall, a hallway and my roommates bedroom on the other wall and the outdoors with a compost bin (that attracts loud crows) and a radiator on the other wall. My roommate makes elaborate meals for dinners two days in advance at 6am, using the food processor and unloading the dishwasher. She brushes her teeth with her electric toothbrush, uses her waterpik, all with the door open. She refuses to shut her bedroom door and snores all night long. She also walks up and down the halls talking on the phone at the top of her lungs, and turns on the TV in her bedroom and the one in the kitchen so they echo.
Unfortunately I can't afford to move at the moment regardless of how annoying and rude she is. I've been using this machine for about 5-nights. She didn't wake me up at all the first 4-days, however she did this morning. She was using the food processor at 7am. However I turned on my rain track and the two together blocked her out and I was able to fall back to sleep. Normally I'm not able to fall back to sleep until she finally leaves. She usually makes noise for about 2-3hours before she finally does leave. The crows at the compost haven't woken me up since getting this machine. There's also a humidifier right under my vent downstairs that clunks all night and I can't even hear it with the sound conditioner on.
The machine has foam underneath to prevent vibration. I got the dual speed 980, however I have not used the louder speed yet. You can move the vents on the top and sides to make the sound louder, I have mine on the loudest vents but the lowest setting. It's about 5" wide by 3 1/4" high for those who wanted to know. It's also best to place it across the room from your bed instead of next to the bed, so the sound can travel and fill the room. I've been a lot less cranky during the day because I've been getting more sleep. The sound to me is quite soothing and allows me to relax, I'm a bit of a restless light sleeper. Sleep is so important, so if you aren't getting it because of noise or even because you can't relax I'd recommend this. It's certainly worth a try. My 2 1/2 year old nephew has one as well, he sleep with it every night.
Customer Review: Disappointed
Summary: 3 Stars
I researched these white noise makers and even saw them several times in doctors offices. I thought I would be buying something really loud and powerful after reading the reviews. I bought two of them to replace air filters I was currently using. First comment: When they arrived I didn't even believe I ordered the correct item because they fit inside my hand, VERY SMALL! I plugged it in and I was like, "this is it?" It made some noise, but it wasn't the blinding white noise I had heard coming from a friend's house a long time ago. I was very disappointed [at first]. I spent close to $100 for these guys and so I decided to give them a try before sending them back. After using them I noticed they did not block out noises from the rest of the apartment or apartment complex as well as my Honeywell air filters did. They did however work a little bit in blocking noise and I do get a good night's sleep with them. I slowly got used to them and the much smaller size became a big bonus. I can also turn the unit off and on with my toe because it has an easy on/off switch. This is nice and now I do not have to reach all the way to the floor first thing in the morning to turn the unit off when I am still half asleep. The other comment I had was the high and low setting. Again, the unit is not that loud so I expected there to be a big difference in the high/low setting and there is not really. I am glad it is there, but it is not really a great feature. I had to give this product 3 out of 5 even though there is nothing wrong with it, it did not meet my expectations of making a huge amount of "white noise." If Noah's Ark landed on my house - I do not want to hear it. That is what I paid nearly $50 for, but I can still hear some apartment noise (doors closing, etc). I kept them and did not return them because they do make enough noise to drown out 85%. I was desperate to have them, and sorry to give them a "3", but I would have sent them back the day I got them if I had more information on getting a better white noise maker. For now I will keep these little guys. They are a little bigger than a music CD in diameter, FYI. Fans this small can only make so much noise.
Marpac White Noise Machine Sleep Mate 980A Sound Screen Dual Speed Sound Conditioner