If you haven't heard about the benefits of pink noise for better sleep, you may be one of the more than one-third of adults who say they sleep less than seven hours per night. That's below the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep that adults need for optimal concentrations, focus, mental health, and overall wellness, according to the joint consensus of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

Noise is a common reason for interrupted sleep cycles. Barking dogs, traffic, and household sounds can wake you up throughout the night, making it hard to get back into deep sleep. That may seem like no big deal, but research shows that sleep disturbances from noise disrupt sleep stages and increase the production of adrenaline and cortisol. That can lead to increased heart rate and blood pressure.

The good news is that there is a great way to prevent wake-ups from noise disturbances and improve sleep quality: pink noise.

Like white noise, noise in the pink spectrum is a research-backed audio therapy solution that can mask ambient sounds and help you sleep through the night.

Keep reading to learn about:

• What Is Pink Noise?
• Pink Noise vs. White Noise vs. Brown Noise
• Scientific Research on Pink Noise
• Pink Noise Benefits for Sleep
• How to Use Pink Noise Effectively
• Pink Noise Machines, Apps & Technology
• Pink Noise Safety & Considerations

What Is Pink Noise?

Pink noise — sometimes referred to as pink audio, pink signal, or even pink acoustics — is a type of sound pattern with equal energy across octaves. It spans all the frequencies audible to the human ear, but its power decreases as the frequency increases. The result is a softer, deeper sound that resembles natural elements like rainfall or ocean waves, which many people find helpful for relaxation, focus, or falling asleep.

If you’ve struggled to fall asleep or stay asleep in the past, you may already be familiar with the idea of using calming sounds as background noise. A steady ambient sound, like a fan, is a common solution to sleep problems. The constant, low-level sound masks other noises, which can help make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.

"That consistent noise creates a masking effect that blocks out sudden noises that might cause you to wake up," explains Michelle Drerup, PsyD, DBSM, a sleep medicine expert at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center. “This noise tunes your auditory focus to that constant sound. You can find this to be soothing.”

Sound exists on an acoustic spectrum, similar to the way light exists on a color spectrum. Different sound waves vibrate at different frequencies. Human hearing can perceive sounds in the 20-hertz to 20,000-hertz range of audio frequencies. Certain noises contain all the sounds in the acoustic spectrum, but with different balances of lower frequencies and higher frequencies.

Scientists named those types of sounds after colors because that's an easy-to-remember set of labels. You may have heard background noise called “white noise.” The color describes the balance of frequencies within the sound itself.

"White noise is perfectly balanced across all frequencies," says Dr. Drerup. "With pink noise, the higher frequencies are actually turned down. Pink noise sounds lower-pitched than white noise."

Colored noise sounds have psychoacoustic properties: they stimulate the brain in ways that can affect things like mood and focus.

The different balance of the frequency range in white noise vs. pink noise has different effects on the brain. Listening to white or pink noise produces sleep improvements. Growing evidence suggests that using the pink frequency may be a beneficial type of sound therapy for people who struggle with getting restful sleep.

Pink Noise vs. White Noise vs. Brown Noise

Pink, white, and brown noise sound different — and each offers its own kind of sleep support. Here’s a quick way to compare them:

Pink noise often reminds people of nature sounds. The sound might remind you of ocean waves, a waterfall, a rushing river, leaves rustling, or rainfall. Its calming sounds are steady and restful. Choosing to use pink noise vs. white noise can help you stay asleep, and it might also improve memory consolidation during sleep, according to a study on brain waves in sleep.

In comparing pink vs. white noise, you’ll find white noise has a more mechanical tone. It might sound like a fan, an air conditioner, or radio static. It’s consistent and good at covering other environmental sounds, like city noise. One study found that white noise helped people in New York sleep despite the constant ambient noise of their sound environment.

Brown noise, sometimes called Brownian or red noise, is the deepest of the sound colors. Pink noise is deeper and more natural-sounding than white noise. When you compare pink vs. brown noise, brown noise is deeper. It also evokes natural sounds like distant thunder, a purring cat, or a crackling campfire. Many people find it soothing and relaxing. When selecting your pink noise vs. brown noise soundtrack, you might want to try both and see which you prefer. Like pink noise, studies have shown brown noise is also good for promoting relaxation and may help with deep and uninterrupted sleep.

Scientific Research on Pink Noise

While research on pink noise specifically is still developing, its proposed sleep benefits are grounded in decades of neuroscience studying how sound interacts with the brain during sleep. To understand why pink noise can support sleep quality, much of today’s pink noise research builds on decades of foundational sleep science showing how sound stimulation can influence slow‑wave sleep, sleep spindles, memory consolidation, and overall sleep architecture.

The studies summarized below — while not all pink‑noise‑specific — establish the mechanisms that make pink frequency stimulation a plausible and promising approach.

What Sleep Science Tells Us About Sound and the Brain

During sleep, you go through cyclical sleep phases, consisting of light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep, according to sleep experts.

• Light Sleep: You start in light sleep, which is a transitory stage lasting only about five minutes.
• Deeper Sleep: In the non-REM 2 (NREM2) deep sleep stage, your brain varies between slow waves and short bursts of energy called sleep spindles. According to experts, those bursts may be the brain organizing memories and information from when you were awake.
• Deepest Sleep: In the deepest phases of sleep, known as NREM 3, your brain goes into a slow-wave sleep (SWS) pattern. This is when your body repairs tissues, builds bone and muscle, and strengthens immune functions.
• REM Sleep: REM sleep gets its name from the rapid-eye movements that happen during this phase. REM sleep is when you're dreaming and is not considered a restful sleep stage.

The deep sleep stages are critical for brain functions that benefit you during the day, too. Research demonstrates that improvements to sleep quality may enhance the cognitive functions associated with different sleep stages:

• Early studies suggest that the bursts of activity called “sleep spindles” might play a role in memory consolidation, cortical plasticity, and brain maturation — all helping your brain store memories more effectively.
• An earlier study in the Journal of Neuroscience reported that using medication to increase sleep spindles during naps showed 40% greater memory improvement versus a placebo, establishing that sleep spindles are important for memory.
• A study in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods describes how using acoustic stimulation can enhance slow-wave activity during sleep, which may hold promise for enhancing sleep quality and improving brain function during daytime hours, too.
• That same year, Physiological Reviews published a comprehensive overview showing that both rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep and slow-wave sleep (SWS) play critical roles in memory consolidation.
• An important study in 2007 showed that three hallmark sleep rhythms (hippocampal sharp-wave ripples, thalamocortical sleep spindles, and neocortical slow oscillations) work together in time to support long-term memory consolidation, suggesting that improving sleep quality using sound could be cognitively beneficial.
• One study showed that broadband sound reduced the time it took participants to fall asleep by about 38%.
• In the journal Sleep, researchers showed that automatic sound stimulation during sleep improved declarative memory consolidation.

The more we learn, the more we can see how sound affects the brain during sleep. This offers a clue about how something as simple as a sound app can improve sleep and increase cognitive functions.

Other Pink Noise Research

In addition to supporting better sleep, emerging research suggests that pink noise may have other applications, too:

• Tinnitus: An early clinical study on pink noise for tinnitus suggests it may reduce symptoms of persistent ringing in the ears, although more trials are needed to confirm its therapeutic benefits.
• Studying and focus: Pink noise is also gaining attention as a tool for improving concentration and reducing distractions while studying or working. An Oregon Health & Science University study on young people with ADHD showed small but significant potential benefits of white and pink noise for studying and focus.

Research in these areas is ongoing, but many people find pink noise calming in a variety of settings.

Evidence-Based Pink Noise Benefits for Sleep

Multiple studies on acoustic and pink noise show that pink noise therapy has the potential to improve sleep quality and overall wellness in particular ways.

Sound Masking

The simplest pink noise benefit is that it masks other noises that disrupt crucial deep sleep stages. A pink noise study revealed that playing pink wave sounds at a steady 60 decibels ⁠helped study participants fall asleep faster. The study found that participants took almost ten minutes to fall asleep without pink noise. When pink noise was introduced, they fell asleep in four minutes on average.

Deeper Sleep

There is also evidence that pink noise can help you stay asleep and get more deep sleep. Researchers in 2020 published a study on pink noise effects as people fell asleep. The results showed that playing pink noise at decreasing volume helped the study participants fall asleep faster and reach deep, non-REM sleep sooner.

Slow-wave Sleep Enhancement

The reason for the changes to sleep patterns may be related to the way pink noise affects brain waves. Researchers tracked brain activity in participants exposed to pink noise, and it showed that the brain waves slowed to synchronize with the pink noise soundtrack. This can help stabilize sleep.

Increased Sleep Spindles

Pink noise may also play a role in helping the brain avoid distraction from outside noise during sleep. One study found that pink noise pulses played during sleep may increase the density of sleep spindles, which help block out distractions, so the brain can keep itself asleep more effectively.

Improved Information Retention

In a study of the link between sleep spindles and learning, scientists had participants do a series of learning tasks before sleep. The study found that people with greater sleep spindle density were better able to recall material from the learning tasks upon awakening.

Better Memory in Older Adults

In a Northwestern University study, older adults who slept with pink noise pulses timed to their deep sleep showed stronger brain activity during slow wave sleep and remembered more the next day compared to nights without sound stimulation.

"During deep sleep, the brain clears toxic metabolites which, if allowed to accumulate, contribute to the neurodegeneration associated with aging," noted Margeaux Schade, an assistant research professor in biobehavioral health at Penn State University. "As people age, we also get less deep sleep."

Researchers are still learning exactly how pink noise affects the brain. The existing pink noise research suggests that it may support deeper sleep and help your brain hold onto memories more effectively.

"Science has not fully uncovered how to harness the power of sounds to consistently induce or sustain sleep," Dr. Orfeu Buxton, professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State University, says. "The brain is always listening. Our results show how the sleeping brain responds in the moment to sounds."

How to Use Pink Noise Effectively

The best way to sleep better with pink tone noise is to combine it with a healthy sleep routine. Start with common-sense sleep hygiene strategies, such as a consistent bedtime, avoiding caffeine before bed, and sleeping in a cool, dark room.

You can use a sleep app or sound machine to play pink noise in your sleep area. Don't crank the volume up too high, though. For safe listening, keep the volume at 60 decibels or lower (about the hum of a refrigerator) for adults, and even lower for babies.

Like all good sleep habits, using pink noise regularly can improve its efficacy. Your brain and body will start to associate pink noise with sleep.

Dr. Drerup of the Cleveland Clinic likens it to a child using a teddy bear as a sleep tool: "If she doesn't have the teddy bear, she won't sleep as well," Dr. Drerup says. "Is the teddy bear changing her sleep? No, but she associates it with falling asleep."

To get started, choose your app, sound machine, or other pink noise generator. Adjust it to a volume that’s loud enough to cover up the noises that might disrupt your sleep, but not loud enough to increase sleeplessness. Set a timer if you want the sound to shut off so you don't have to look at a screen or get up to switch off a machine.

Once the pink noise is playing, you can climb into bed and fall asleep as usual. It's as simple as that!

Pink Noise Machines, Apps & Technology

You can find pink noise recordings on smartphone apps or websites, and some white noise machines have pink noise settings. You can use headphones or earbuds, if you prefer, or simply play the sound through speakers on your phone or noise machine.

Sound machines

If you prefer a dedicated device, noise machines can be a reliable option, with a huge selection available in stores and online. As you scroll through the options, look at the features and reviews to make sure it has everything that matters to you. Factors to consider when shopping for a noise machine include:

• Does it have a timer?
• Does it have multiple noise settings?
• Does it have volume control?
• What's the power source? Is it rechargeable, or does it require batteries or access to an electrical outlet?
• Can you take it with you if you travel?
• Is it in your budget?

While they’re simple to use, sound machines may offer fewer customization options than digital alternatives.

Apps

For more flexibility, smartphone apps can offer a broader range of pink noise options and additional features like sound mixing functions, timers, and easy volume control to help you sleep.

The BetterSleep app, developed by sleep experts, offers a growing library of over 150 soothing sounds — including scientifically designed noise colors to help you create your perfect pink noise soundscape. You can mix and match pink noise with rainfall or ocean waves and adjust the timing and volume to fit your sleep routine. BetterSleep is available for iOS and Android and is free to download.

Websites and Free Resources

Popular sites like YouTube have videos with audio tracks that can play pink noise for hours at a time. These videos are free, and some have a dark mode so you don't have to worry about light shining in your room all night.

Be careful, though. Not all websites are created equally, and the pink noise videos on free sites may not actually be pink noise. Double-check the source is reliable — not just someone posting any old steady sound and calling it pink noise.

Pink Noise Safety & Considerations

It's important to follow basic safety guidelines when you use a noise machine or app to play sounds like pink noise:

• Keep pink noise at 60 decibels or lower for adults and 50 decibels or lower for infants. Consistent exposure to sound 70 decibels or louder can cause hearing loss, according to the CDC and the WHO.
• Use devices as recommended by the manufacturer.
• Don't use the wrong kind of battery or charging cable.
• Don't leave devices unattended.
• Keep all electrical devices out of reach of children.
• If you have hearing loss, sleep disorders, or other medical concerns, consult your doctor before using a pink noise machine or pink noise app.

FAQ

What does pink noise do?

Research shows that pink noise can promote feelings of relaxation, improve concentration, and help with restful sleep.

What is pink noise good for?

Pink noise can help you sleep better. You can play pink audio tracks as ambient sound when you're trying to fall asleep or stay asleep.

What does pink noise sound like?

Pink noise is similar to sounds from nature. It may sound like a rushing river, rustling leaves, or falling rain.

How long should I listen to pink noise?

You can listen to pink noise for as long as you like! Just be sure to keep the volume at 60 decibels or lower to avoid the risk of damage to your hearing.

Is pink noise good for sleep?

Pink noise science suggests it can help with sleeplessness, insomnia, and sleep disturbances. Research shows that pink noise can help you stay in the deep sleep stages that are the most restful.

How to use pink noise for sleep?

You can play pink noise using a sound machine or an app like BetterSleep. Set the volume at a level that is comfortable for you. You can play it all night, or put it on a timer so it shuts off after a specific time.

Does pink noise help you sleep?

Pink noise can help you sleep by helping your mind relax and making it easier to fall asleep. During sleep, pink sound may promote deep sleep stages that improve memory consolidation and cognitive functions.

What's the difference between pink and white noise?

Both white noise and pink noise contain sounds on all the frequencies audible to humans. In white noise, all the frequencies are equally balanced. In pink noise, the lower frequencies are stronger than the higher frequencies.

Try Pink Noise Tonight With BetterSleep

If you struggle with insomnia or getting enough of the deep, restful sleep you need, pink noise might help. Using a pink noise machine or a smartphone app to play soothing sounds could promote deeper sleep with fewer disturbances.

The BetterSleep app makes it easy to add pink noise to your bedtime routine. BetterSleep was created by sleep experts and offers a range of tools to enhance sleep habits and promote restful nights. Millions of users have downloaded the app and found that improving their sleep helped with issues like stress reduction, anxiety relief, relaxation, concentration, and focus.

With more than 150+ customizable sounds, including pink soundscapes, guided meditations, music options, and SleepTales, the BetterSleep app is the leading sleep wellness app. Over 65 million people have used BetterSleep for better rest. Download the app for iPhone or Android and get started today.