Grey noise generator
White noise measures flat and sounds bright. Grey noise is bent the other way — quieter where the ear is sensitive, louder at the edges — so it sounds flat instead.
Grey noise is white noise filtered through an approximation of an equal-loudness contour. Human hearing peaks in sensitivity around 2–5 kHz, so flat noise sounds top-heavy; grey noise pulls that region down and lifts the extremes, producing a bed that is perceptually even across the spectrum.
When grey is the right answer
- White feels tinny or sharp after a few minutes.
- Brown feels muffled and leaves voices audible.
- You want broad masking without either extreme dominating.
- You are sensitive to high frequencies and most generators feel harsh.
A caution about the name
There is no single standard for grey noise: it depends on which equal-loudness curve and which listening level the designer assumes, so one site's grey will not match another's. Ours is a shelf-and-dip approximation, tuned to be listenable rather than to match a specific curve. Treat it as a flavour, not a measurement.
It is also worth knowing that grey noise is sometimes marketed for tinnitus. Sound therapy for tinnitus is a real clinical area, and it is delivered by audiologists with assessment and follow-up. A browser tab is not that. If a soft bed makes silence easier to sit with, use it as the comfort measure it is — see safety.
Questions
What is grey noise?
Noise shaped so that it sounds equally loud at every frequency to human ears, rather than having equal energy at every frequency the way white noise does.
Grey or pink noise?
Pink is the standard balanced choice and sounds like rain. Grey keeps more of the top and bottom and feels wider. Try both back to back on the combined player.
Is grey noise good for tinnitus?
Some people find any soft broadband sound easier than silence. That is comfort, not treatment — tinnitus sound therapy belongs with an audiologist.
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.