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: Blankets most noise except for low frequencies
Summary: 3 Stars
The best remedy for a noisy neighbor is just go up to them and have a casual face to face about it. Find something to break the ice with-- baked goods or in my case helping an elderly neighbor with her trash can. If you're like me and live in a condo with thin walls then you have dealt with it-- the mostly quiet neighbor who just happens to leave their tv on through the night. In my case, it only started recently after almost five years living next to this person. She's a nice lady and since our casual chat about it has kept her tv turned down to a moderate level.
With that said, let me quickly review the Marpac SleepMate 980A. It works great for mid to high frequencies but not so much for lower frequencies. The worst culprits aside from rap music for low frequencies happen to be loud commercials featuring baritone male spokespersons that dominate late night television. For me, the SleepMate works best when it emits a higher frequency (it's mechanically tunable) similar to common white noise. It's just not loud enough to cover up bass frequencies that carry very well through dry wall. Also the SleepMate emits it's own 'hum' or 'whine' due to the mechanical nature of the product. This irritable sound seems to diminish over time (a couple of weeks) possibly due to break-in.
You do become addicted to the white noise though and once you leave it on a for a few weeks it's hard to go asleep without it-- even when it's dead quiet.
Customer Review: Bedtime in Berlin
Summary: 5 Stars
Since moving from Montana to Berlin, Germany 2 years ago, the adjustment to the noise level that comes with apartment and city living has been a challenge for both my husband & I. We live on the 4th floor of our building overlooking an inner court yard which houses the collection bins for garbage, as well as a through way for foot traffic and other tenants entering and exiting their buildings. The noise ranges from people carrying on conversations & shouting to being awakened by the loud rumbling of the garbage containers as they are being wheeled in & traded out for empty ones. That alone can cause even the heaviest sleeper to bolt straight out of bed! We had been running a fan to provide some relief but it was beginning to be an annoying sound and didn't mask the noises as well as we would have liked. What was worse, we still had to run it in the cooler months as well. We knew we needed a better alternative & after doing some searching we discovered the Marpac-SleepMate 980A on Amazon.com. My husband was familiar with these types of machines & spoke highly of them. So after reading a few of the reviews we decided to order one. I can honestly say that this has been one of the best items I have purchased. It has made a tremendous impact on the noise reduction & enabled us to fall asleep and stay asleep. Mind you it doesn't drown out the birds in the morning, but I'll take their happy chirping over the garbage collectors any day!!Customer Review: Does what it says -- just not enough
Summary: 2 Stars
I live in an apartment. My next door neighbors' family includes a young man with Down syndrome. He makes a LOT of noise; I can't sleep when he's awake. I've talked to them about it, but it's a pretty difficult subject to broach more than once. I'm sure you can understand.
I needed something to mask his voice. I found a 10-second sample of pink noise online. Pink noise is like white noise but without the harsh sounds in the treble register. It sounds like an open faucet and a loud box fan: the two things that it's hardest to hear people over. I have good speakers so I can turn that sound up loud enough to drown the guy out -- and go right to sleep.
I bought this device because I didn't want to run my computer all night just so it could loop that clip. I figured it'd be more energy efficient, at least: my little effort to Go Green.
Well, the machine makes sound. It just doesn't make enough of it. Sure, there are two speeds, and the sound is able to be adjusted and the volume is able to be controlled. I've put it on the maximum on all settings and, even ON MY BED, it's not loud enough to drown out my neighbor. If what you want is a device that makes a constant noise to mask an intermittent, annoying noise you can't control, look elsewhere.
I'm returning the product. It's back to the pink noise clip for me. I suppose the environment will have to wait until I find a new apartment.
Customer Review: Are you going insane living in the city?
Summary: 5 Stars
Do you live in a big noisy city with a 2-year old whose good behavior really depends on his getting a nap, and maybe you or your significant other might benefit from napping, too, but you have unpredictably loud downstairs neighbors, not to mention that your bedroom faces the street where the extremely popular next door neighbor - the street mayor - spends all his time either sitting on his stoop (which is effectively 15 feet away from your head on your bed) chatting up everyone passing by on the street or if no one is around finds the time to break out his power tools to get some major home renovations done??? Or maybe you are sick of the garbage truck or the crazy can-collecting-grocery-cart-pushing guy who does his inconspicuous work at 6 am waking you? Is moving just not an realistic option at the juncture?
Well, even if these aren't your specific problems, but you're dealing with some noise issues - well, the Marpac might just be for you! It's subtle and refreshingly simple to use. Basically it's like a fan that doesn't move air, but has adjustable pitch and volume control. It worked immediately and has been a godsend in my apartment.
You don't have to get some new-age-waterfall-Sharper-Image-white-noise-machine-thingy and waste your money - unless that's your vibe, which is cool. I'm not judging you. If you need something no-frills that simply works, this is the product.
Customer Review: Best sleep I've had in years....
Summary: 5 Stars
I live in an apartment and recently had neighbors move in who like to watch tv at full volume at 2:30am on weeknights. I haven't slept well since they moved in and have been going to work exhausted and in a zombie-like state. I needed something to drown out their tv and tried using a box fan. While the box fan allowed me to sleep again, it gets too cold with a fan blowing air around the room this time of year. I came across the Sleepmate on the internet and thought I'd give this thing a try. I was skeptical because of it's small size, I didn't think it would be loud enough to compare with the box fan, and also read complaints saying it wasn't loud enough. I was pleasantly surprised, this thing is perfect and exactly what I was hoping for! It is certainly loud enough, I use it on the low setting, with all the holes open, and it is PERFECT for drowning out the neighbor's tv, and also various other noises that come with apartment life such as people starting their cars in the morning, walking up and down the stairs and conversations in the hallways. It is a pleasant sound, it kind of reminds me of the sound of being on plane. Even before my noisy neighbors moved in, I used to sleep lightly, and wake up a few times a night. Ever since using the Sleepmate I sleep soundly the entire night, and have more energy throughout the day. This is the best $50 I've spent in a long time. Don't hesitate to buy this!