White, Pink and Brown Noise, Fans and Household Hums
White, pink and brown noise, and a fan. What each one is, which to pick, and four to try below.
Samples
Tap a sound to play it on a loop, and tap it again to stop. Headphones help, especially for close-mic triggers.
These are 4 of the 15 sounds in this group. Tingles ASMR has 255 in all. See what else is in the app.
The three colours of noise
Noise is named after colours by how its energy is spread across low and high frequencies:
- White noise has equal energy at every frequency. It sounds bright and hissy, like an untuned radio.
- Pink noise has less energy in the high frequencies. It sounds softer and more like steady rain.
- Brown noise drops off more steeply still, leaving mostly the low end. It’s a deep rumble, like a waterfall heard from a distance or the inside of a plane.
Many people find white noise too harsh for sleep and prefer pink or brown. Brown noise in particular has become popular for focus work.
Fans and machines
The rest of the group is real-world steady noise: Fan, Big Fan, Air Extractor, Airplane, Dishwasher, Hair Dryer, Vacuum Cleaner and Record Noise (the crackle of a vinyl record). Womb is a low, muffled whoosh, often played for babies.
Steady sounds like these don’t trigger tingles. They mask other noise: a dog barking or traffic outside is less jarring when there’s a constant sound to hide it in.
The “brainwave” tracks
Alpha Waves, Theta Waves and Delta Waves are named after brainwave bands. Tracks like these are often sold as tuning your brain to a state, but the evidence for that claim is mixed. Treat them as calm tonal backgrounds, and use them if you like how they sound.
How to use noise
- For sleep: Brown Noise or Fan at a low volume. The app’s Fan Whirl Sleepscape mix layers Big Fan with Air Extractor.
- For babies: Womb or Airplane, at a low volume and with the phone well away from the cot (see below). The Baby Sleep Cabin mix pairs Airplane with Wind Whispers.
- As a base layer: noise sits well underneath a mix. Add a tapping or rain sound on top.
- All night: in a mix, the free mix timer stops the sound at a set time. With Premium, Sleep Mode fades it out gently instead, so it doesn’t play until morning.
A note on volume for babies
Keep the phone well away from the cot, never inside it, and keep the volume low. In a 2014 study in Pediatrics, Hugh and colleagues tested 14 infant sleep machines and found that at maximum volume, measured 30 cm away, every one was louder than the 50 dB limit recommended for hospital nurseries. Their advice applies to a phone too: place it as far from the baby as practical and turn it down.
Sources
- Hugh, S. C., Wolter, N. E., Propst, E. J., Gordon, K. A., Cushing, S. L., & Papsin, B. C. (2014). Infant sleep machines and hazardous sound pressure levels. Pediatrics, 133(4), 677–681. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2013-3617
In the app
Every sample on this page comes from Tingles ASMR, free on iOS and Android. In the app you can layer up to 10 sounds into a mix (no limit with Premium), set each volume, play ready-made mixes, and set a timer. With Premium, Sleep Mode fades the sound out gently instead.
More white, pink and brown noise sounds in the app: Alpha Waves · Delta Waves · Theta Waves · Air Extractor · Airplane · Big Fan · Dishwasher · Hair Dryer · Record Noise · Vacuum Cleaner · Womb
Ready-made mixes with these sounds: Coffee Shop · Fall Asleep Next To Me · Code Marathon · Quiet Study Room · Alpha Waves · Brown Noise with Rain & Thunder · Baby Sleep Cabin · Delta Waves - Soothing Clouds · Fan Whirl Sleepscape · Vibrational Echoes · Harmonic Pulses · Static Drone · Analog Static Wash
Got a trigger you'd love to hear in the app? Suggest it from the app menu under Send Feedback.
