Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

It does the job in providing ambient noise in a bedroom. It's not going to hide the bumps and noises that vibrate through the house, but sound machines help to make them less noticeable. The concept behind any sound machine is that if you've already got some noise in your ears, all the other sudden noises blend in rather than startle a person awake. Some notes: - There's a single red LED light on top, which is not too obtrusive. - The buttons make a click sound when pressed, so switching sounds while a baby is sleeping is not seamless. I don't recommend doing so. - At a higher volume, the white noise sound has some distortion and other repetitive noises or ringing that occurs and is annoying if you're paying attention. We liked it at first because it replaced having to run a tabletop fan in the middle of winter, but the distortion got a bit annoying. So either I use it a low volumes, or if I need higher volume, I switch to the rain. - The rain sound feels the most natural because the steady rain fall is not interrupted by noticeable cycling or repeat seams or other thunder sounds. It sounds like a steady rain is falling outside your windows, but without thunder and lightning. *** 23 January 2012 Update: After a few months of usage, I noticed another issue that affects the quality of the sound machine: If there is another electronic device in the room, the sound machine will occasionally have static. I finally figured out that the cell phones (either a smartphone-iPhone, or a regular primitive cell phone) were causing the interference. It's not immediate, but it's pretty disruptive in the middle of the night when it happens. I have a digital baby monitor camera in the room, too, but that doesn't cause interference, though I think the older radio styles might. It *is* possible to use a smartphone in the room without causing static noises as long as it is in airplane mode (all Wi-Fi and phone service turned off--for those of you who use your phones as silent vibrating alarm clocks.) P.S. We've used the sound machine in the same room as an ultrasonic humidifier, and they seem to be compatible with no interference.