Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsBest sound machine on the market!
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2015
I highly recommend this sound machine and am giving it five stars even though I had problems with it almost immediately — want to know why? Please read on.
Before buying ASTI's Sound Sleep machine, I did my homework. My goal was to find the best sound generating machine on the market, hoping it could help my boyfriend who has bad tinnitus, frequent insomnia, and on top of all that, noisy neighbors. I also thought I might like it too, since I also have mild tinnitus, and insomnia sometimes, and I use a CPAP machine so any distraction from that is welcome, and also a construction project just started across the street from me (I also snore when I'm not using my CPAP machine, so I thought it might help with that noise, too). So, I researched professional product reviews of sound machines, and hands-down the Sound Sleep machine was the clear winner. The reviews placed it as the best, noting its superior sound quality, its realistic and nonrepetitive sound stories, its amazing adaptive sound technology that instantly responds to noises in the environment, its gradual soft fade out on its sleep timer, and its many other great features.
I studied the website of the manufacturer (Adaptive Sound Technologies Inc.), which is "soundofsleep" dot com, which by the way holds a wealth of useful information, and from there I was directed to Amazon to make my purchase (you can't buy directly from ASTI).
So, my next stop was Amazon. I read many great reviews, but I also made sure I looked at the "most helpful critical review," and its comments — I find that often the most helpful information is buried in all the comments to critical reviews, and in this case it was a gold mine of very useful information. In a nutshell, it was determined that a batch of the sound sleep machines had a bad memory card installed, and this was the cause of the small number of bad reviews. The manufacturer immediately responded to each bad review, offering to resolve each problem free of charge and replace each defective machine with a brand-new one, and also they unilaterally decided to extend their warranty to guarantee all of their memory cards for the life of the product, for all machines they have ever sold. They corrected the technical problem, and all the ones they ship to Amazon now have a good card, and they believe they've cleared out all the bad stock from Amazon now.
Well, that seemed perfectly reasonable to me — even the best companies and the best products have problems now and then, and what really matters is how the company responds to it and takes care of it, and it sounded like they addressed the problem and were doing a great job with customer service.
So, I bought one — ordered it last Monday, and it arrived the next day (Tuesday, November 3). I was delighted with it and slept like a baby with it on ocean setting that night, however I did notice a faint, brief crackle in ocean mode, on low richness setting, that I almost thought at first was just one of the sound effects. But then I noticed it for sure the following night, Wednesday, so then Thursday morning I listened to it carefully, and sure enough, there was an intermittent crackle. I realized then that I must've gotten one of the bad ones that hadn't been cleared out of stock yet, so that morning I emailed ASTI customer service (Jack Conway) and told him my problem. He responded to me right away and told me he would replace my machine with a new one. Now, I happen to be lucky in that I work not far from ASTI headquarters, so the next morning (Friday) I brought the machine in to work with me, called Jack and arranged a meeting, and that morning drove over to see Jack in person to get my new machine. I must say that he and everyone else there were so nice! Jack greeted me like Santa Claus emerging from his workshop, and immediately took my defective machine, and handed me a brand-new one, and then asked if I'd like to test it out. So right then and there, we opened the box and he plugged in my new machine and we tested it and it sounded great. He said they stand behind their product, and if I have any problems in the future, he said "you know where we are, and just let us know and we will take care of you." Now that's great customer service!
So now, some words about the machine itself — and please note that I plan to come back and update this review as time goes on, especially after my boyfriend has a chance to use it, which he hasn't yet:
When I got back to my office on Friday with my brand-new machine, I plugged it in at my desk and left it on for the rest of the day, and it performed brilliantly — no problems whatsoever, and not once did I notice any sense of repetition or looping. I think I had it on for about six hours, and it was just as if someone had gone out into nature and recorded six hours of sounds just for me. I tried out every single sound story and every richness setting, and the sound was so lifelike, so clear and amazing. Everyone who stopped by my desk wanted one! And, it responded well to surrounding noises — even a door slamming which I thought was pretty far away. I also found that it was very relaxing while working, which I hadn't even thought of before; it really made work more pleasant, so now I'm even toying with the idea of getting one for my office, too!
At home, I find it's very nice to have on while I'm working at my home computer; it makes for very pleasant background noise, and I find it amusing when it tries to shush me if I sneeze or cough. :-)
At bedtime, it is indispensable. I set the sleep timer and float away on the ocean waves, my favorite sound story for bedtime. I fall asleep before it shuts off, so today before writing this review, I set the timer so I could check how it turns off: a couple minutes before shut off time, it starts to gradually get quieter and softer, until it gently fades away to complete silence by the time it shuts off. Perfect. I also love how I can turn off the display lights at night, so it's completely dark. And I also love how the speaker is on top, so no matter which way you face the machine, you are never turning the speakers away from you. But the adaptive mode is its most amazing feature, besides the incredible sounding sound stories: it literally responds instantly to sudden rises in volume in the room, and it doesn't just turn up the volume — it also dynamically can throw in things from its collection of sound story sound effects to create a natural sounding reaction that's very helpful in masking the sudden disturbance (for example: in rainfall, it might raise the volume of the rain and add a clap of thunder).
Some tips on operation: if it seems to be having trouble hearing and responding to a sound disturbance, turn the unit so the microphone faces the sound, and if possible move it closer to the sound source. Also note that, if it doesn't seem to be masking a certain sound enough, try a different sound story, and/or try turning the volume up. For example, the other night a train went by rather loudly, and at first the machine didn't seem to respond to it, so then I turned the microphone so it faced the window, and I turned up the volume, and then it responded to the train so well, I couldn't hear the train at all.
As for the sound stories themselves:
Waterfall: at level I, this sound story is an electric fan, which is pretty intense and sounds more like a biplane to me. At level II, it's a thundering waterfall, very similar to white noise. At level III, they add in things like wind, splashes, and just a richness of sound to give it more depth and dimension. You really do feel like you're standing next to a thundering waterfall in the wilderness.
Fireplace: one of my favorites. At level I, it's a steadily crackling fireplace, with the occasional sound of a log gently collapsing. At level II, it has more crackling and more logs falling, and the occasional soft distant sound of a tea kettle whistling, or cats purring. At level III, it switches to a roaring campfire in the woods, with lots of crackling and logs falling, and occasional sounds of wind whooshing through the trees, and occasional birds.
Ocean: my hands-down favorite for going to sleep. At level I, it's ocean waves. At level II, they add in occasional birds and seals. At level III, they add on top of that occasional fog horns and buoy bells.
Meadow: this sounds like a stream gently flowing through a meadow at night with lots of crickets chirping. (Note: when I met with Jack Conway, he said the crickets were recorded in his own backyard!) That's mostly what you hear, at all the richness levels, but with more richness they seem to add in wind through the trees, occasional birds, and rain, I believe. This one is great if you like to fall asleep to the sound of crickets, and of course the water sounds are very soothing, too.
Train: you hear all the normal train click clack sounds, and with more richness they add in things like lonesome train whistles and bells. I find this sound story kind of ironic, since trains might be a noise you are trying to cover up! But it's a nice steady mechanical sound if that's what helps you relax. And I can vouch for its realism, because I hear real trains pass by my house day and night (as mentioned above).
City: like Train, this one seems like a sound you would be wanting to cover up, and again like Train it is very realistic, with the steady hum of the city and other realistic noises thrown in. I'm not fond of this one myself, but then I have a coworker who grew up in the city, and when he heard this one he said it would definitely be one of his favorites, and would help him sleep. So, to each his own.
Rainfall: this is a definite favorite (and Jack Conway's favorite, he said). The recording of the rain is so absolutely crystal clear, you feel like you're standing outside in a rainstorm. It is so realistic, with the rain, the occasional thunder, and other storm sounds like the rushing of wind, that it will be loved by anyone who loves the sound of the rain and a good storm. With increased richness, you get more depth and thunder, and vice versa. You can tell they used primo equipment to record all their sounds, especially the rain: my boyfriend is a professional musician with a home recording studio, and once he made a recording of rain outside his door, and he has the best recording equipment you can get, and I swear the quality I hear in this sound story is on par with the quality of my boyfriend's recording. Outstanding, and great for sleeping, and great for masking a wide variety of sounds.
Brook: this is the wonderful sound of rushing water in a brook in the woods, with the occasional sounds of water splashing and birds and other nature sounds. This is one of my favorites for during the day. Could also be a great one at night, if you like that steady rushing and babbling water sound. My coworker friend who liked the City recording actually said that Brook would be his top favorite. It is very soothing and relaxing. With that steady rush, it would also be good at masking a lot of sounds, similar to Rainfall and Waterfall, but perhaps not as intense as those two.
Meditation: this is the steady drone of some kind of musical instrument, with sitars and other musical sounds thrown in with added richness. Personally, I am not fond of this one, but again everyone is different. Another friend at work said that her husband would like it, not for sleeping but for use in actual meditation, and she commented that the sitars sounded like whale song to her. So, I'm sure someone might like this for meditation and/or sleeping or relaxing.
White noise: this has three different settings with different pitches: brown noise at level I, pink noise at level II, and white noise at level III. I am not fond of this one myself, but it would be perfect for someone who likes blank white noise, such as falling asleep to the television when it's just static. I'm thinking it might be good for tinnitus masking — I'll have to wait and see what my boyfriend's experience with the machine is.
And there you have it — my first week's experience. In summary, I highly recommend this sound machine, and believe it is indeed the best one on the market, and great for a variety of uses, and the company itself has outstanding customer service with satisfaction guaranteed. I will update my review after I've had more time with it, and after my boyfriend gets a chance to use one, too.
