Brown Noise Generator
Brown noise (named after Robert Brown and Brownian motion, not the colour) loses 6 decibels per octave. Almost all of its energy is in the low end, so it sounds like a deep rumble: a waterfall heard from a distance, or an aircraft cabin.
Generated live in your browser, sample by sample, so it never loops. Keeps playing while you browse this site.
When brown noise helps
Popular for sleep and for focus, especially among people with ADHD who describe it as quietening mental chatter. It masks low-frequency sounds like traffic well.
What the research says
The ADHD focus trend is mostly anecdotal. Related research on white noise and attention in children with ADHD (Söderlund et al.) found benefits for some participants, but brown noise specifically is understudied. If it helps you focus or sleep, that is reason enough.
Using it well
- Set it just loud enough to cover the sound that bothers you, no louder. For all-night use, aim for the level of a quiet conversation or below.
- Put a phone speaker across the room rather than by your head; the sound is more even and quieter at your ear.
- Want a tone too? Open the studio and add brown noise under a binaural beat.
Compare: white noise, pink noise.
Why the colours sound different
Energy in each octave band, in dB relative to the 1 kHz octave.
Power falls 6 dB per octave, so octave energy falls 3 dB per step. The bottom octaves carry most of the energy: a deep rumble with the hiss gone.
Questions people ask
What is brown noise good for?
Sleep, relaxation and focus. Its deep rumble masks low sounds such as traffic and many people find it calmer than white noise.
Does brown noise help ADHD?
Many people with ADHD report it helps, but controlled evidence is limited. It’s low-risk to try at a modest volume.
Why is it called brown noise?
After botanist Robert Brown: the signal wanders like a particle in Brownian motion.