Best White Noise Machine For Office Privacy in 2021: Mask & Block Out Unwanted Sound


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Focus is essential to get your tasks or work done on time and even efficiently. However, in an office setting, distractions are sometimes unavoidable.

According to a survey done by Udemy, about 80% of their participants answered that they are most distracted by chatty workers and noise in general.

I have to agree that it’s not easy to remain focused on your work when you’re in a noisy area or office space. Sometimes, it’s even hard to find a solution for this.

There are many ways to block unwanted noise from your office and one of these known ways would be getting a white noise machine especially designed for office privacy. Trust me when I say that this machine can do you well. It surely will be a good investment if you want to improve your productivity.

In this post, I’ll tell you more about white noise machines and how they work. If I get to persuade you of how getting one would be very beneficial, you won’t have to go anywhere as I’ll also review the best white noise machine for office you can get.

The Best White Noise Machine for office Review in 2021

After knowing what to look for when choosing the right white noise machine for you and your office space, let me introduce you to different models and units that you can purchase.

These are the white noise machines that I find the best in the market.

My favorite is the Marpac Dohm Classic White Noise Sound Machine. I appreciate it’s simplicity and powerful capability to block noises out.

This doesn’t have sound features that most modern white noise machines have, but what Marpac has done with this device is just really effective.

If you want to know more about Marpac’s Dohm Classic White Noise Sound Machine and other white noise machines that you can get, here they are and their features.

Name and Features

Image

Rating

Price

1: Editor’s Pick: Marpac Dohm Classic White Noise Sound Machine

9.5
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2: Best Customizable: Snooz White Noise Sound Machine

9.2
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3: Best Sound Quality: Big Red Rooster White Noise Machine

9
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4: Best Versatility: LectroFan high Fidelity White Noise Machine

8.7
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5: Overall Best: K-Star White Noise Sound Machine

8.5
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6: Best Budget Buy: Aurola Sleep Sound Machine

7.5
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Detail Guide of 6 best white noise machine in 2021

This Machines produce a monotonous 'white noise' sound similar to television static. Many people find this sound masking otherwise distracting sounds or produce variety of calming sounds . So choose your device for your peaceful office environment. 

1. Editor’s Pick: Marpac Dohm Classic White Noise Sound Machine

This is another classic design from Marpac, a well-known brand when it comes to white noise machines.

This measures 5.8 inches in width and length, and 3.2 inches in height. This has a simple design that can produce white noise.

Its volume is adjustable by twisting its top and body. It only has one button, which functions to turn the device on and off.

It’s great if you don’t want your office or work station to be blasting white noise. It’s perfect to use if you have it close to you.

It only needs 120V and can consume about 18 watts of power. This still won’t cost a lot even if you have this run the whole day, or night if you plan on using this at home.

This is known to have soft to loud coverage, which means it can block out the noise outside and even the snoring person next to you.

This comes with a cord that is 8 inches long. You can choose from the four colors it is available in white, gray, black, and tan.

2. Overall Best: K-Star White Noise Sound Machine

The last white noise machine on our list is from K-Star and I could say that this is one of the most popular brands out there.

This has high-quality dual speakers and if you don’t want to disturb others with the sound this machine produces, you can easily plug your earphones or headphones in it.

The 28 non-looping sounds it creates are made of 12 white noises, 12 fan sounds, and four nature sounds, which are forest, lullaby, summer night, and rain. This makes this device highly customizable.

It comes with an AC adaptor and USB port that you can use to charge your phone with. This is straight-forward to use as the buttons are labeled.

The volume can be adjusted through a twisting notch that’s right on the middle of the device.

Its size makes it portable and easy to carry, so at the end of a workday, you can either keep it in your drawer or bring it home with you.

What’s great is that it has a memory function. When turned on, the sound it produces is the continuation of what was playing before it was turned off.

The built-in timer can be set to 15, 30, 60, and 90 minutes and I find this great compared to others that can only let you set the time with just three options.

3. Best Budget Buy: Aurola Sleep Sound Machine

This is another white noise machine and solid-state electronics and speaker that lets you customize what you hear through its 7 non-looping nature sounds.

These sounds are the white noise, thunderstorm, ocean, rainforest, summer night, lullaby, and howling wind.

This is very lightweight and only measures 4.7 inches x 4.7 inches x 1.1 inches.

This makes it compact and easy to carry. It comes with an AC adaptor of 100 – 240 volts, and USB output of 5V or 1A.  

This will also work great if you don’t want to let your workmates hear your device because it has a headphone jack that lets you enjoy the devices’ sounds on your own.

The interface has seven labeled buttons to let you change the nature sound you’d like to hear, two more buttons to let you adjust the device’s volume and turn the device on and off.

The built-in timer it comes with allows you to set it to 30, 60, and 90 minutes.

4. Best Customizable: Snooz White Noise Sound Machine

This white noise sound machine from Snooz isn’t playing with you as it’s a portable machine with a fan as the source of the sound it makes.

This machine offers a full-spectrum sound of natural and soothing moving air.

Its volume is adjustable for up to 87 dBA. You can do this by simply pressing the volume buttons. The tone it produces is also adjustable by twisting its outer shell.

Even if this runs with a fan, it still claims to be 98% more energy efficient than a fan box.

This only uses about 6 watts and that’s a good deal compared to how most white noise machines are, which consumes about 18 watts of power.

The colors it is available in are cloud and charcoal, which are basically grayish white and dark gray.

It measures only 3.2 inches tall and 5.65 inches wide. The design is round and sleek. The touch surface makes this device look and feel modern.

When you look at it, you probably will just think that it’s a regular speaker. It weighs about a pound so it’s not too heavy.

This also gives you the option to control the device using your phone as it comes with a downloadable app with nice features.

The app can serve as a remote control. You can turn the power on and off, schedule a timer, and control multiple Snooz units through the app. Talk about how well it makes use of technology!

Other features it has that you can enjoy outside the office would be nursery calibration if you have a baby that you’d like to make use of this device.

This feature will not let the device hurt your baby’s ears. This can also serve as a night light. These are also features that you can enjoy through using the app.

5. Best Sound Quality: Big Red Rooster White Noise Machine

This is a good device to start with as its very direct and simple to use. All of the control buttons are found on its top and it lets you play six natural sounds it offers.

These are the rain, brook or streaming water, thunder, ocean, summer night, and the white noise itself.

It measures 4 inches deep, 4.375 inches wide, and 2.63 inches tall. If you’ll have this placed in your office, you can easily tuck it into your drawer at the end of the day.

When it comes to usage, you’ll need to have it placed beside you or about 30 inches away from your ears to block the noise you’re trying to get rid of.

This comes with an AC adaptor, but you can also let it run on three double A batteries, which make it compact and portable.

It’s light-weight and its design is simple with its square shape. This also has a button for sleep timer, which you can adjust to five, fifteen, and sixty minutes.

If you don’t press the sleep button, this device can run as long as you want.

6. Best Versatility: LectroFan High Fidelity White Noise Machine

This classic white noise machine from LectroFan takes pride of its 20 ambient noise that’s made up of 10 fan sounds and another 10 white noises.

This comes in a hexagonal design that powered by an AC or USB adaptor with a 5-foot cord. It comes in black and white.

This only uses about 3 watts of power and this is already considered as energy efficient compared to other units that could consume up to 18 watts.

This device is considered as one of the best when it comes to its bass coverage.

Its size is 4 inches by 2.25 inches, making it compact and space-savvy. This can still be portable since it can be powered up with a USB.

Just bring a power bank with you and you should be able to use it during your out of town trips or just bring it at home if you’ll be using it in your office.

It’s also simple to use as this doesn’t have many buttons that could confuse its users.

It’s front only has 3 buttons with 6 functions that let you adjust the volume and control the sound you’d like to hear.

What Exactly Is White Noise And How Does It Help You?

Let’s start by answering this question to cover the basics. White noise is a combination of sounds with equal frequencies.

The term white noise is patterned from white light, which is formed as a combination of light spectrums or different colors of light.

See what they did there?

The sound frequency is the measure of vibration or pitch that are heard by our ears. This is measured by wave cycles per second and the unit to measure frequencies is called Hertz or Hz.

For you to understand better, a low-frequency sound which ranges from 10 up to 350 Hz would be something like a low rumble or a murmur from a person.

Another example would be water dripping from the faucet. It will be hard to actually hear something audible from low-frequency sounds, but these are pretty easy to block out.

For sounds with high frequencies, they measure about 20000 Hz.

A few examples of sounds with high frequencies are sirens, screaming people or children, and a very loud alarm clock.

These are sounds that you may have a hard time blocking.

A human can only hear sounds with frequencies that are 20-20000 Hz. Although, there still are claims that people can actually hear sounds lower than 20 Hz.

This is possible but probably not applicable to everyone.

Now that you understand what frequencies are, we can now dive deeper into what white noise really is.

As mentioned, it is a combination of sounds with equal frequencies.

Now, the thing is that everything we hear that is not considered as white noise has frequencies that measure differently.

When sounds with different frequencies are combined that is when we can just say that the place is noisy.

I’m talking about the kind of noise that could be very hard to bear with. The use of white noise will block all the different sound frequencies.

How a White Noise Machine Works?

A white noise machine is a device that can produce sounds or different noises with just one or equal frequency.

When you have this placed near you, it can mask or block out other noise because the frequency it produces is just enough for the human brain to interpret.

Basically, the white noise that this device can produce is all the range of audio frequencies that your ears and brain can process.

A white noise machine can cover noises that are within the range of what people can hear, which is 20 to 20000 Hz.

White noise machines nowadays have features that users enjoy. Most white noise machines can also let you choose the sound you’d like to hear and even have your own mix, depending on what you prefer.

Some sounds you could choose from would be the sound of the city like car engines, construction, and footsteps.

Nature sounds could also be part of it, like the flow of a running water or river, sounds that animals make, the crackling of fire, and the most popular of them all, rainfall.

These are things you can enjoy in a white noise machine, but if you’re not into any of them, then there’s this static noise that’s basically the sound that tv channels make when nothing is on.

White noise machines can still let you adjust the volume, depending on your preference.

This could come handy if you can’t have the device close to you or if the device is actually close to you and you need it to not be too loud.

Types of a White Noise Machine 

There are two known ways or types of white noise machine when it comes to how a white noise machine generate noise. Let me talk about those below.

Electromechanical: This is something you could say that is old-school yet widely used. It is made with a compact fan and a motor that are responsible for a static-like noise.

This type of white noise machine can be customizable through its tone and volume.

Solid-state electronics and Speakers: This type of white noise device have installed or predetermined noise that you can customize.

This is the device that lets you choose the sound you prefer.  The volume, tone, and mix of sounds are usually highly customizable for this kind of device.

The difference between the two can be easily determined and their price points are easily comparable. The electromechanical white noise machine can be less expensive than a solid-state electronic with speakers, but you need to keep in mind that electromechanical machines may require more power or electricity.

Features to consider while buying the best White Noise Machine for Office

Let this section serve as a buying guide if you now plan on purchasing a white noise machine for your office space.

Nowadays, getting a white noise machine can be a bit of a struggle because of the choices you have. Here are the things you need to check and keep in mind before purchasing one.

Looping or non-looping sound

This will mainly depend on your preference. Some machines offer a loop option for their featured sounds depending on how long you’ve set it.

This means that you can listen to all featured sounds on loop for 2 hours if that’s what you prefer.

Size and Weight

There are different sizes that you can choose from and it really depends on how you’ll be using this device.

If you have an office space in your home, then it’s just reasonable to get a bigger size of this machine.

If you work with other people in an open area, then you may need this kept or brought home, thus the need to get a portable white noise machine.

Reasonably priced

Definitely, you shouldn’t be spending too much on a device that has features which you may not find beneficial. The price should be reasonable and should also fit your budget.

Variety and Sounds

this will really depend on your preference. You can go with the basic static noise or a machine with different pre-installed sounds that you can customize.

Do note that the pre-installed sounds can sometimes still sound annoying to your ears so check on that too!

Volume

there still are devices out there that do not allow you to adjust the volume. If you don’t mind it, then it’s fine but I still would recommend that you get one that lets you have this function.

Design

While most users of this product are only after its functionality, manufacturers have already stepped their game up by selling this product with unique designs.

This is great because consumers nowadays want something that fits their lifestyle. White noise machines are now available in different shapes and colors so get one that also looks pleasing to you.

Ease of Access

if you’re new to using a white noise machine, the last thing you want is a complicated device. Check how easy it is to control the device for you to maximize its functionalities.

Coverage 

this is usually specified on the label of a white noise device. Generally, or for some popular models, the white noise machines could work on a 10 x 30-foot space.

These are the things or factors that you should check when getting a white noise machine.

Other factors to consider would be the size of your workspace. Ideally, one machine or device can already work for one work station.

However, if you plan on using this in a workspace with neighboring cubicles, then it’s best to get two or more. Depending on how well you want the outside noise to be masked.

Who Usually Use White Noise Machines

When technology wasn’t too common and getting a white noise machine could be very pricey, these were mostly used by professionals like psychiatrists.

They used and still do use such a machine to treat patients. This is what they call sound therapy wherein patients with insomnia and anxiety are treated with specific sound frequencies.

As time goes on and such a technology becomes more and more available to everyone, a lot has started to use this as something to help them sleep.

White noise machines can also give sounds for relaxation that help a lot of people get undisturbed sleep.

Parents also would get this to help their babies sleep and for some parents, they also find this useful if in case they don’t want their child to hear their mommy and daddy arguing.

Nowadays, people can get creative on where to use a white noise machine and of course, using this in your workplace is one of the most helpful.

Benefits of Using a White Noise Machine in Your Office

The use of a white noise machine in your office space can be very beneficial and if you’re not yet convinced even after the learning what it is and how it works, let me get specific and tell you these benefits!

Helps You Focus

White noise can help you focus on the things you are doing. You have to admit that it’s really not easy to focus on your work if you have noisy coworkers or if you keep on hearing the noise that the printer and fax machines make.

These kinds of noises can be very annoying and won’t really make you become productive.

Improves Your Memory

Interestingly there are studies that can prove that listening to white noise can improve one’s memory function.

A study from the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience show the effects of having a person listen to white noise during an fMRI.

The result is that they saw a better and greater connectivity of the parts of the brain that have something to do with remembering and understanding.

Helps You Relax

When you need to finish a project or a workload, this could easily give you anxiety and pressure. The sound from a white noise machine can be very pleasing and relaxing. 

Also, since you’ll be more focused in what you are doing, you won’t have to stress about whether you’ll finish your task or not because you’ll definitely have a better output with a white noise machine.

Can Improve Your Health

This could also help people with tinnitus or people with consistent ringing or buzzing in their ears.

A white noise machine can be used to treat this condition, but it still can’t really cure this.

It can only help lessen the symptoms and complications that tinnitus can give a person.

Those are just a few benefits that you can enjoy if you get a white noise machine in your office space.

I tried to just stick with the benefits that are applicable in an office setting. Other benefits of a white machine for outside the office would be to help with sleeping better and vertigo prevention.

Conclusion

Getting a white noise machine for your office isn’t really required, but if you really are having a hard time concentrating on your work because of noise, then I guarantee you that getting one is worth it!

With all the features that all white noise machine in the market has, they can easily be a versatile device that you can take to work and use at home or while you’re traveling.

I hope that I was able to help you find a solution to improve your focus and productivity at work.

The contents of this article should help you decide what to get if you’re on the lookout for white noise machines. Good luck with your hunt for the perfect device! Have a sound and quiet day ahead!

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