PlayNoise is a noise generator or noise player.
You can use it to play white noise, grey noise, pink noise, brown noise, or one of the four different provided binaural beats in your browser.
The player also have features to automatically generate volume oscillation or to fade out volume during a specified period of time.
What are white, grey, pink and brown noise?
They are special sounds, that have a specific frequency content, defined by signal mathematical theory.
Each of these noise types is constructed in a different way, resulting in a different frequency content.
You can read more complete information on Wikipedia:
white noise,
grey noise,
pink noise,
brown noise.
What are binaural beats?
They are simple and very pure sounds, which when listened for a certain amount of time, have an effect on the brain.
The effect depends on the binaural beats speed (or frequency): slow beats tends to relax and help sleeping, while fast beats help concentrate and be awake.
To enjoy the effect of binaural beats, it is recommanded to listen with headphones at moderate volume, and for a prolonged period of time.
To read more about binaural beats, you can go to Wikipedia,
What is it useful for?
Because of their frequency content, noises and binaural beats have a special effect on the brain, and can help to concentrate, relax or sleep.
You can for example use PlayNoise to help concentrate if you want to work or read in a noisy environment, to take a nap in public transports, etc.
I also have received several reports of people with Tinnitus who appreciate listening to noises to get relief.
If you want you can also click the "more" button and use advanced features like auto volume oscillation or volume fading.
What is the difference between the "Standard" and the "Lite" player?
The Standard player has advanced features and should work everywhere.
The Lite player do not have advanced features, requires a HTML5 compatible browser but does not use JavaScript to work.
Unless you experiment problems with the Standard player (because you have JavaScript disabled or are using a very low end machine), you should only use the Standard player.
What does the "fade out volume" option do?
When enabled, this option will slowly reduce the volume of the player during the period of time you have entered.
When the volume reaches 0, the player will stop itself automatically.
This option is ideal for example to use PlayNoise as a sleep aid.
What does the "auto volume oscillation" option do?
This option activates automatic variation of the volume to create a "sea like" wave sound. You can also adjust the speed and amplitude of the volume variation to your preference.
Try it with the brown noise and stereo mode!
Why is stereo mode not available with binaural beats?
Binaural Beats are always stereo, so the option is not available because it is always on.
Is there an iPhone/Android App?
There are no iPhone or Android app for now, and no plan to make any.
However you can easily use PlayNoise on your phone by visiting PlayNoise.com in your mobile browser.
Do I need a specific browser to use PlayNoise?
No, PlayNoise has been tested and works with recent versions of all major browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari (desktop, iPhone and iPad versions).
Older browsers should also work, however because of their very buggy and outdated rendering engines, Internet Explorer 7 and previous versions are not supported.
Can I use PlayNoise on my iPhone/Android phone?
Yes, the player will work normally and the layout will automatically adapt itself to small screens.
What are HTML5 and Flash, what is the difference between the two?
They are two different technologies that can be used, amongst other things, to play multimedia content.
Flash is the oldest of the two, is widely used, but needs a plugin installed in the browser, and is known to cause problems like crashes and high CPU usage. It also closed and is slowly but surely declining.
HTML5 is a modern technology, still evolving, available in all reasonably recent browsers, and allowing to do multimedia playback without additional plugins.
Because HTML5 uses less CPU power to play sounds (saving energy and battery life), and is generally more stable, PlayNoise will detect if your browser supports HTML5 and will try to use it.
However, if your browser does not support HTML5, the player will automatically use Flash.
All PlayNoise features are available with both the HTML5 and the Flash version.
Since the end of 2016, a new (third) player engine (based on HTML5 WebAudio technology) is automatically enabled if your browser supports it. It consumes less resources (CPU usage, battery and network bandwith), and fixes a long standing issue of the other player engines that create a short but audible "pop" in the sound every 10 minutes.
What is the difference between "OGG Vorbis" and "MP3" audio formats? How can I choose which one to use?
They are both lossy audio codecs to store audio content.
OGG Vorbis is more recent and more advanced, and thus generally gives a better quality for the same bitrate, however for the sounds that PlayNoise is using, there is no significant (audible) difference.
Just like for HTML5 and Flash, you don't have to worry about anything because PlayNoise will automatically detect which formats your browser is supporting and choose the most appropriate.
The player does not work! What can I do?
Please contact us, and describe your problem. We will do our best to fix it.
I have JavaScript disabled in my browser, can I still use PlayNoise?
Yes, but the Standard player will not work, try the Lite Player that does not require JavaScript.
Please note that some versions of Firefox are known to make use of JavaScript to play native HTML5 audio, and will not work with the Lite player without JavaScript.