Noise Mask

How this tool works

Three colors of noise — white, pink, brown — generated live by your browser's audio engine the moment you press a button. There are no audio files to download, no microphone involved, no network call after the page loads: the noise is synthesized on your device from nothing but math. A volume slider fades in gently rather than starting loud, and the optional timer stops playback by itself after the minutes you set — useful for sleep, or for hands that want to put the device down.

The three colors differ in how their energy is spread across frequencies. White noise is equal energy per frequency — the familiar broadband hiss. Pink noise drops 3 dB per octave — same hiss with the sharp edge filed down, and the color many sound-sensitive people report finding gentler. Brown noise is deeper still — low, rain-like rumble rather than hiss. There is no universally correct answer; the one that lowers your load is the correct one.

The research behind it

Noise masking has real evidence for sound-sensitive autistic people — and real limits, which is why this page leads with the tolerance check. In one clinical study of autistic minors (n=54), white noise delivered via headphones improved attention and behaviour scores for most participants — but a meaningful subgroup, especially those without intellectual disability, did not tolerate it at all (Salmerón Medina et al., 2025, Behavioral Sciences). That is the whole research picture in one sentence: masking helps many, not everyone — and this page is built around that fact.

The mechanism people describe is intuitive: a steady noise floor makes the changes in a soundscape — the footsteps, the door, the fridge cycling — less abrupt, and it is often the abruptness that stings. The mask does not silence the world; it raises the floor so the spikes stand out less.

How to use it well

• Start at the lowest volume that does anything. The goal is to soften the sharp edges of a room, not to add a new loud thing to it.
• Try all three colors before settling. White is the default in most apps; pink and brown exist because many people find them easier to live with.
• Pair it with headphones when the room allows — the study above delivered white noise that way, and it also blocks the noise you don't want at the ear.
• Use the timer for sleep, so the mask does not run all night at a volume your sleeping brain still has to process.
• Run the honest check every time. If the mask adds load instead of removing it, turn it off — your sensory system gets the deciding vote, every time.

What this tool is not

• Not a treatment. For comfort, not therapy — the page's own words, and the research agrees.
• Not a universal solution. The documented intolerance subgroup is real; if masking is not for you, the Sound Level Meter and planning tools are still yours.
• Not a hearing protector. It softens perception of a soundscape; it does not protect hearing the way ear protection does against genuinely loud environments.

Questions people ask

Which color should I try first?

White has the most evidence behind it (that is what the study tested), but pink and brown exist precisely because many people report white feels sharp and the deeper colors feel easier. Thirty seconds of each, lowest volume — your nervous system will vote fast.

Is it okay to sleep with noise playing?

Many people do; the research on overnight use is thinner than the daytime evidence. The timer exists so the choice is deliberate — hours of continuous masking all night is a habit worth making consciously, not by default.

Why can I still hear my neighbor's door?

Because a mask raises the floor, it does not erase the spikes. Sudden loud sounds still cut through — quieter, because they contrast against the steady noise instead of silence, but not gone.

Can I use it in an open-plan office or classroom?

Many people do exactly that — a low pink-noise floor under headphones is a common way to survive shared space. Keep the volume at “softens the edges”, check that the mask isn't adding to anyone else's load, and if headphones aren't allowed, even a quiet mask from the device on your desk can take the sharpness off a clattering room.

Does this work offline?

After the page loads, yes — the noise is synthesized locally, so there is nothing to stream and nothing to fetch.

Where to go next

• Sound Level Meter — find out how loud the room actually is before masking it.
• Sensory Overload Meter — see sound as one input of a whole load picture.
• Sleep, sensory regulation and the body clock — when the mask is a sleep tool, this is the surrounding story.