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: Tiny but amazing!
Summary: 5 Stars
Much to the chagrin of my husband, I am the kinda gal that can't sleep without white noise. It used to be a big box fan in our bedroom, but as anyone who sleeps with a fan on knows, that dries you out super quick - doubly so when your house is dry to begin with. Plus there's the old "stuff a sock under the carry handle to keep the fan from rattling" and heaven help you if it ever gets a rattle that you can't get rid of!
I love the SleepMate! My husband finally said "No more FAN!" and so I purchased a SleepMate instead. I was dubious at first- I have a very specific kind of white noise that I like to have when I sleep and I was thinking there's no WAY this tiny thing could ever make a sound to compare to the box fan! However, like other reviewers have said this thing can be LOUD! There's two speed settings - high and low - and the top and side of the SleepMate rotate, which covers and uncovers holes to change the pitch and tone of the loud "WHRRRRR" sound it makes. It doesn't matter how picky you are about your white noise, I'll bet you can find a tone that you like if you fiddle long enough. It has a range somewhere between "quiet strong breeze" and "Warning: low flying aircraft"
The SleepMate is also compact enough to take with me when my husband and I go on trips- something that was always difficult with a fan.
The only, and I do mean ONLY thing negative that I can think to say is that the color is that icky medicinal off-white plastic. If this thing came in a black finish, it'd be perfect!
Customer Review: Decent but pricey
Summary: 4 Stars
I don't sleep as soundly as I used to so I needed something to block out background noise, like house creaking, barking dogs, and wandering children as I try to get some sleep.
I researched the other sound machines here and ultimately chose Marpac 980 because of the positive reviews. There were certainly cheaper sound machines, but I decided a good night's sleep was worth an extra $25 or so.
This machine is very well constructed, and is clearly built to last. It makes one sound only - a loud, constant whooshing sound. It is similar to the sound you hear with whitewater rapids - constant with no variation. The pitch and volume are controlled by turning the upper half and lower half of the machine. I was suprised that it wasn't louder at its loudest setting, but it turns out the max volume is loud enough to block out background noise but you can still hear important sounds, like your burglar alarm (hey, I live in California), smoke alarm, or cell phone ringing in the middle of the night.
It took me about a week to acclimate to the new background noise. I was tired for the first week after plugging this in on my nightstand. Although the noise is constant, I think it is still a new background noise that your subconscious must acclimate to, but after a week I was definitely more rested than before I got it.
The only downside to the product is price - at $50 it isn't cheap. But like I said above, I figure sleeping well is worth it in the end.
Customer Review: Never be woken up to your neighbor's dog barking again.
Summary: 5 Stars
The SleepMate is one of my "top 10 things to not leave home without when going out of town". I am lost without my machine, or as SleepMate calls it the "sound conditioner".
I have actually bought two of these now. The initial one I bought was a purchase for myself, but when my daughter kept waking up at night (we weren't sure why at the time), we moved the SleepMate into her room and it has been there (and on) every since.
Needless to say, I am thrilled with my purchase. The ability to change the tone, the multiple "speed" settings, and the compactness of this machine make it suitable for anywhere (bedroom, office, etc.). While in the same room as one of these, while talking on the phone many people state that it sounds very similar to a fan in the background. It is very subtle.
We have grown so accustomed to having the SleepMate on that when it is not on, unknowingly I get this weird anxious feeling that something isn't right and find it nearly impossible to get to sleep without it now.
I feel that the SleepMate produces a much more natural sound than it's electronic counter parts, plus the ability to adjust the pitch and fan speed make it suitable for almost any environment where you would either like to not have people listening or, or you don't want to hear what is going on around you. I could see these working very well in an office environment.
I hope my review helped you reach a decision on your purchase.
Customer Review: all right by me !!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Marpac makes an excellent "white noise" machine that helps me sleep during cooler nights when I don't care to use a fan (which usually makes my bedroom even cooler); and it's also wonderful at preventing people in one room from hearing conversations in another, perhaps adjacent room. It's easy to use (there's just one button for on/off), and its size makes it easily portable. It has two speeds and you can change the sound that comes from the machine by adjusting the vents on the actual mechanism. To get the best job out of this machine, place it a few feet away from you and let it operate there rather than right next to you--this way it just plain seems to do a better job of canceling unwanted noise. I especially like that Marpac was thoughtful enough to apply padding to the bottom of the unit to prevent any noise from the machine shaking, although it really doesn't shake.
I have had this now for a while and it works without fail. The noise it produces actually soothes me and helps me sleep; and I travel with it so that I can get some sleep in hotel rooms where the walls are sometimes just too thin to keep out the noise from other rooms--and that happened even in a pricey hotel I stayed in!
Overall, I recommend this product--it works well even over time and it's easy to use with just one button for on and off and those easily adjustable vents on the machine to change the sound this actually makes. It has helped me get some much needed rest on many a night.
Customer Review: Close to perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
We have been using this SleepMate for about 3 weeks now. Overall it has worked well and encouraged deeper sleep by masking background noise like the road noises that are constant where we live. It sounds like a fan, nothing special or fancy. We like the two speed settings as well as the two methods of pitch adjustment. You can rotate two different portions of the casing which increases or decreases the amount of holes for the air to escape from which changes the pitch and volume simultaneously. We have been using the low setting, although I have occasionally used the high setting for daytime napping or meditating, since background noises seem to be louder during the day.
The reason that I did not give this item 5 stars is because I can sometimes hear or feel the vibration of the motor, in addition to the sound it is generating. We have it placed on the wood floor near the foot of our bed, which is as far away as possible without placing it in another room. There is a foam pad permanently attached to the bottom of this unit which is probably to help reduce the vibration effect. I also folded a hand towel so that it is 4 layers thick and have placed it under the unit, which has helped. But there are still times when I can feel the vibration through my pillow, though those times are infrequent.
I'm contemplating purchasing a second unit for the meditation room and I am thinking about purchasing the travel model since it claims to make different sounds.