How to sleep with noisy neighbors: pick a sound for what you hear

The recipe

Each mix uses one room of the app, because the app mixes one room at a time. Levels are the app's sliders, from 0 to 100; set everything else in the room to 0. Timer: 45 minutes, or longer if the noise runs late.

For voices and TV: Rain room

Measured mix: 26% of its energy below 250 Hz, 63% from 500 Hz to 2 kHz, 11% above · swings 2.0 LU · loudest moment 2.8 dB above average · Plus

For footsteps and bass: Underwater room

Measured mix: 97% of its energy below 250 Hz, 3% from 500 Hz to 2 kHz, 0% above · swings 2.0 LU · loudest moment 5.0 dB above average · Plus, or the Underwater room

Free version: Beach room

Measured mix: 78% of its energy below 250 Hz, 21% from 500 Hz to 2 kHz, 1% above · swings 2.9 LU · loudest moment 2.2 dB above average · Free

Each mix was played from the app's own files at these levels for 3 minutes and measured as a whole. Measured by DozeClock from the app's own audio files (AAC, 48 kHz): spectral slope = straight-line fit of octave-band levels from 63 Hz to 8 kHz, converted to dB per octave per hertz (white 0 · pink −3 · brown −6); loudness swing = EBU R128 loudness range (LU); loudest moment = highest 400 ms loudness above the file's average (dB). Checked against reference white, pink and brown noise we generated (made for the app's next version, not in the current App Store version), which measure +0.1, −2.8 and −5.3. Measured October 30, 2026. These numbers describe the sound of the mix. We did not test how much noise it hides or how anyone sleeps with it.

Build this mix in Fall Asleep

Set the levels once and the app remembers them. Plus keeps it playing with the screen locked and saves up to 5 named mixes; a browser tab usually stops when the phone locks.

Voices and TV

Talking and television sit mostly in the middle of what we hear, and your brain treats speech as worth following even through a wall. The first mix keeps its energy in that same range: wind and crickets from the Rain room with a little heavy rain. Its energy centre is 600 Hz and it swings by only 2.0 LU, so there is little in the sound itself to catch your attention.

Footsteps, doors and bass

Thumps and bass are low, and they travel through walls and floors as vibration. The second mix is the deepest thing in the app: current, deep water and a touch of bubbles from the Underwater room, with 97% of its energy at or below 250 Hz. A phone speaker cannot play much of that, so this mix only makes sense on a speaker with some size or on headphones. On a phone alone, expect to hear little more than the bubbles.

Street noise

Traffic mixes the two: low engine rumble with passing tires and horns. If you hear a constant rumble, start with the deep mix. If single cars or voices wake you, start with the first. Closing the window does more than either, so do that first if you can.

Phone or a sound machine?

Try the phone first, since it costs nothing and you can move it around the room. If the noise is mostly low, or you want something that runs all night without touching your phone, a machine or a real speaker starts to make sense. We compared them in white noise machines. Earplugs block noise while a sound only adds to the room, and they can work together: see how to sleep with noise.

Sounds to leave off

Leave these off: each one swings widely or jumps above its own average, so it adds a new thing to notice.

• Bell buoy (beach): swings 7.9 LU, loudest moment 7.2 dB above its average
• Sonar (underwater): swings 19.4 LU, loudest moment 5.9 dB above its average
• Owls (forest): swings 17.1 LU, loudest moment 10.9 dB above its average
• Muffled waves (underwater): swings 20.4 LU, loudest moment 6.1 dB above its average

Questions people ask

What is the best sound to block out neighbors?

No sound blocks noise. It can only make noise stand out less. Which one suits you depends on what comes through the wall: a middle-range sound for voices, a deep sound on a real speaker for thumps and bass. We measured the mixes, not how well they hide your neighbors.

Can a phone speaker do this?

For voices, usually yes. For bass and footsteps, no: phone speakers play very little of the low sound that the deep mix is made of.

Is there a free version?

Yes: sea breeze at 90 and foam at 30 in the free Beach room, with 78% of its energy below 250 Hz. The free app has a 15-minute timer and stops when the screen goes dark. The two main mixes need Plus, or the Underwater room for the deep one.