Brown noise generator
The deep one. Brown noise puts almost all of its energy at the bottom of the spectrum, which is where traffic, plumbing and footsteps live.
Brown noise (also called red noise) falls by 6 dB per octave as frequency rises, so it is dominated by low rumble and has very little hiss. It is generated here from a random signal integrated over time — the same maths that describes Brownian motion, which is where the name comes from. It is not named after the colour.
What brown noise covers well — and what it does not
- Covers well: road traffic, air conditioning, footsteps upstairs, washing machines, a bass line through a wall, engine drone on a plane.
- Covers poorly: conversation, television dialogue, keyboards, birdsong. Speech sits mostly above brown noise's useful range — use pink or white for those.
Why is brown noise everywhere right now?
Because of a social-media wave rather than a research result. Over the last few years brown noise has been widely shared as a focus aid, especially in ADHD communities, and search interest has climbed steeply with it. What people report is real to them — a quieter-feeling room, less pull from background sound. What has not happened is a body of evidence showing that brown noise specifically improves attention. Two things can both be true: it may help you, and the claim as usually stated is ahead of the science.
We are not going to tell you brown noise treats anything. If it makes your room easier to work in, that is a good enough reason to use it, and it costs nothing.
Settings that work
| Situation | Level | Timer |
|---|---|---|
| Sleeping through street noise | 50–65% | 8 hours |
| Focused work in a shared space | 40–55% | 50 minutes |
| Nap in daylight | 60% | 20 minutes |
| Long flight or train | 55–70% | Open-ended |
On a phone speaker brown noise loses most of its point — small speakers cannot reproduce the low end, so what you hear is the thin remainder. Over headphones or a speaker with any bass at all, it does what it is supposed to.
Brown noise or pink noise?
Pink noise is the same idea with a gentler slope: it keeps more of the mid range, so it sounds like steady rain rather than distant thunder, and it covers voices better. If brown feels muffled, go to pink. If pink feels sharp at night, come back here. You can switch between all of them without stopping on the combined player.
Questions
Is brown noise better than white noise for sleep?
Many people find it more comfortable over long periods because it has almost no high-frequency hiss, but no study has shown it produces better sleep. Choose the one you stop noticing first.
Does brown noise help with ADHD?
The idea is popular online and some people report that it helps them settle into a task. The research is thin and we would not present it as more than that — it is not a treatment. The longer answer is here, including what the studies do and do not show.
Can I play brown noise on a speaker?
Yes. Unlike binaural beats it does not need headphones or stereo separation. A speaker with reasonable bass response gives you more of it than earbuds do.
Is this a loop?
No, it is generated continuously in your browser, so it never repeats and nothing is downloaded before it starts.
Can I use brown noise offline?
Keep this tab open and it needs no connection — the sound is generated locally. For a phone overnight, the mobile app plays with the screen off, which a browser tab cannot do.
Running this on a phone? The Brainwave Generator app keeps playing with the screen off, works without a connection, and carries the same engine. Free on iOS and Android.