Відео

Loud dog barking is very difficult to block out. Headphones and earplugs may be a better bet than a white noise machine.

You're welcome - I'm glad you liked the video!

Thank you for your nice feedback, I always really appreciate that. Out of interest, which ones do you have that haven't quite worked for you? I've tried sleep sleep bands in the past, so I know there is a big difference in quality between the better made ones and the cheap copies. It's a bit of a minefield with those! If you do get the A20s, I hope you like them. Let me know if you have time in the future and remember my channel:-)

I have several of the sleep bands which are usually branded with some slightly strange Chinese/English text (Mosicozy, Enjoying, Inktopoint...). Essentially the bands work OK and run through the night without shouting 'LOW BATTERY', like you need to abandon ship or some other emergency! The problem is that they rotate as you change position so you start off listening to an audio book and end up with distant muttering. Additionally, the manufacturers try moving the rigid battery/switch from the front to the side of back: invariably it ends up uncomfortable but the Wonder Woman central front position is the least-worst option for me. I use the night audio to shut up my over active mind, rather than drown out partner snoring (women don't snore, sweat, fart or swear anyway, of course...). I have the excellent Soundcore Liberty 4 NC ear buds and some from Technics, both of which are superb, but unless you're a fidget-free back sleeper (or dead...) these wake you up pretty quickly if you roll onto your side, even on the softest pillow. BTW: I've also tried a couple of audio pillows. These are borderline OK and essentially a badly implemented, good idea! Generally they are too quiet for me and hopeless unless you're right on the speaker. The Soundcore v1 and v2 sleep buds get very mixed reviews both in terms of comfort/useability and reliability in terms of charging. I've ordered some but paid the optional £10 to get swap-out warranty cover. We shall see how it goes, but thanks again for the detailed appraisal: I appreciated it. John

If you have a firm pillow, it could be. I found it okay with a soft pillow though. It also depends on how sensitive you are to the feeling of these strap. There is always going to be some material behind your head by nature of their design. The question is where is each person's own line between it being tolerable and uncomfortable?

@nosleeplessnights1 Thank you!

No problem

That's an impossible question for me to answer because I don't know how loud it is, how your hearing is, and what settings on the A20 you would happily tolerate. So the only answer I can give is unfortunately a vague 'maybe'. But I suspect if it's very loud banging, you'd need the volume turned up quite high to mask it, with an intense mix of white/pink/brown noise tracks. I would test how much you can tolerate that with normal headphones and pink or brown noise from a service like UA-cam or Spotify before buying the A20.

@ thank you for your suggestion. I appreciate it.

No problem

If you can wear normal headphones comfortably in bed, and they have excellent noise cancellation, then I don't see the need to spend money on sleep-specific headphones. These headphones are really designed for people who can't wear normal headphones in bed. That may be because you sleep on your side or front, or your normal headphones are too bulky, or they irritate your ears after 7-9 hours. Most people change position in the night anyway, so even if you feel you are a back sleeper, it's possible you will wake in the night lying uncomfortably on your normal headphones. But if you don't, and they work just fine for you, then keep those and save your money.

@nosleeplessnights1 l still haven't got any earbuds, l'm trying to decide between soundcore a20 and some earbuds with ANC, l mainly want these for sleep when travelling. If we disregard comfort, are there any earbuds with ANC that can: (1) work when not connected to Bluetooth (like soundcore a20 can), and (2) that have got good battery life with ANC on to last through the night? Thank you in advance for your response! I really appreciate your opinion! (Thanks to you I bought Lectrofan Evo which is excellent for my home use.) *I've just read that soundcore a20 is rather low in volume in sleep mode, is that true? Is it useful then for sound masking?

I'm glad you liked the Evo! That's great to hear. Okay, so if you're deciding what to buy when travelling, if it's for flying, I would 100% get normal headphones with ANC. There are no dedicated sleep headphones with ANC and audio playback. The Quieton 3.1 had kind of reasonable ANC, but no audio. The company also had all sorts of problems, with many people having issues with refunds. They also went bankrupt, then set up again as a distributor, so I'm not sure what their long-term outlook is. The A20 are quieter in sleep mode, yes. But with noise masking and the volume turned up, they can still mask a lot of exernal noise. But if you use them in a noisy setting, like a plane, you'll just end up with extra noise on top of the noise. If you mean for hotels or other accommodation, then you could use the Soundcore or normal headphones. I don't think I'd have a preference. For me, however, the main question would be this: do you want to use them to listen to music or other audio when you are awake and travelling? If so, I would always choose normal headphones with ANC over any sleep headphones. I am currently testing the Ozlo, for example, and will say the same about them: good for sleep, not good for daytime use.

@@nosleeplessnights1 I meant to use these for sleeping in hotels in the first place🙂. I'm used to listening to white noise as I am a light sleeper, and therefore I'm looking for something that would be practical and easy to carry around. Thanks a lot for your expert opinion😊, you clarified some things to me! I might give soundcore a20 a try. In case it doesn't work, I'll get an extra backup with ANC headphones.

No problem. In that case, they might be a good choice. Another factor is the good battery life, which is useful if you're out of your usual device charging routine and on the go.

It should last up to around 10 hours, but maybe less depending on how you use it.

With the volume turned up, it is noticeable - but it depends what you're listening to as to how noticeable.

Hi! It is not a newer version of the Soundcore Sleep A20 - it is just a normal low-cost pair of headphones from Anker. It is a bit confusing, and probably would have been better if they called them something different...

This is not a common feature with white noise machines. There are lots that have a wired headphone jack, but Bluetooth is rare. The only one I can think of right now is the Sound+Sleep Aquarius. But that one has some other issues to be aware of, and only plays water sounds. If I think of any others, I'll let you know!

@nosleeplessnights1 Thank you very much for the response!

No problem

You're welcome, I'm happy to hear it was helpful.

That's very kind of you to say - thank you!

Hi! What do you mean exactly by listening to your voice normally? Are you saying you don't hear it differently, as I described? That might mean you either have the wrong size tips or you haven't inserted them correctly. As for the noise of moving furniture - that is unfortunately very difficult to block out sometimes. If it's very loud, I don't think the Loop earplugs will block it out completely. For that, you might need earplugs with a higher noise reduction rating (probably foam) or headphones with noise masking. There are other ways you can look into to soak up more of the sound energy in your bedroom, but then you are into a different area of sound insulation.

If it's about picking headphones, I think I got it and replied.

I feel for you - I know that's a really difficult noise source to block out. I haven't been able to test that with these earplugs, but I do plan on doing some specific tests for impact noise above a bedroom next year. I know that doesn't help you out right now though! My guess would be that if it's really loud, and impact noise rather than just airborne, you'll have a better chance of cutting more out with earplugs that have the highest noise reduction rating possible or headphones with noise masking.

@dholman5513, I feel for you, I like to use foam earplugs because they reduce the most noise. I like to roll them between my thumb and finger and then slide the plugs in my ear and let them expand. Trying not to go too too deep so I can remove them in the morning. I also recommend doing things to help get deep sleep, like taking magnesium, b complex and zinc, exercising. Stretching before bed, and perhaps very important, having perfect dental hygiene. Hope that helps, cheers

Hi. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Without wanting to offend you, just to mention for anyone else reading this that it's important to carefully research supplementation specifically for sleep:-)

Thank you very much for your nice feedback:-)

Hi there. So, I still use the Mack's Ultra Soft and still really like them. If you watch some of my most recent videos, I used them for testing the sound masking compared to the Loop earplugs and Soundcore Sleep A20, for example. The Howard Leight Small and Brison were discontinued. All the others still exist, though there may have been some changes over time to the packaging and colours, as manufacturers seem to like tinkering with earplugs. I plan on doing a more recent update of this video next year at some point. I would probably include some of the same from this video, and maybe include some newer ones like the Loop.

@ thank you! Timely 1st time buyer What brought me here was researching the loop options 🙂. Quiet 2 and the Dream...for example. On the higher budget side. I may go w the Mack's Ultra for now Any thoughts on the Loop products or have you tried or tested yet? Dream or quiet 2

I recently did a video comparing the Dream, Quiet 2, and Experience 2 Plus. You can watch it here: ua-cam.com/video/77fhevHUv7A/v-deo.html

@@nosleeplessnights1 thanks

I haven't tried those, but I've seen them in Boots in the UK. My experience hasn't been great with that style in the past, but if they work for you, that's all that matters:-)

Hi, thanks for your kind words, and for sharing your experience with the A20s. I just put them in to see if I could work out what the problem is, and I think I cracked it. Basically, you can't use the EQ when you're in sleep mode. Once you load the 4 sleep sounds onto the earbuds, they will stay as they are. You have to delete one of them, go back into Bluetooth mode, enter back into the audio library white noise options, choose or mix your sounds, and then open up the EQ to refine them in real time. Once you've done that, go back into the white noise sounds in the audio library and load the final masterpiece back onto the ear buds. Let me know if that works, and if not, I'll have another look. As for the graphic info, which one do you mean exactly? It may be your phone being different from mine, or a recent update, because I didn't edit the lighting of the app at all before I published the video. It may have been the way my camera picked it up as it's tricky to film the colours of some app screens, so if you tell me which one you mean I can double check.

@@nosleeplessnights1 Thanks for doing due diligence, I've been too busy with the final run-up to the madness of Christmas to rejig the stored sounds but will definitely attend to it post-Dec 25th and report back. I do find the Soundcore App a bit clunky for my liking though, it's hardly a seamless user-friendly experience for someone who's of my generation and stuffing around with it on a small screen only compounds this for me. When I use the tap function to control volume for example, the output seems to lower or raise by a massive amount, not incrementally, which then forces me to grope around for my phone in the middle of the night to adjust the slider within the app, anyway I'm actually very happy with the the earbuds despite all this and will get back to you in the New Year, hope you a have a good one ....

Oh just remembered the business with the Graphic Equaliser function, it will probably change when I go to use it in Bluetooth mode but the Hz and dB graphs are greyed out even though the sliders themselves are functional...

I know what you mean; it's a busy time of the year! I also know what you mean about the app...it can be confusing to use for sure. I hope you manage to get the sounds sorted out when you have time. The tap controls are a bit hit or miss, as I mentioned in the video. But at least there are tap controls! I've been testing the Ozlo sleep buds, and one thing that annoys me is the lack of tap controls, so you always have to use your phone to change any settings. As for the equaliser, I'm still not sure what doesn't match my video. I just checked again, and my equaliser still looks just like I showed in the video. And that is with the sliders brighter, and the dB and kHz levels more greyed out. That's the way they are meant to be. Maybe they just look different on your device?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I never imagined my channel would be visited by John Wick, but I guess hitmen need to sleep too😉 It's all relative, but I can see them being viewed as pricey compared to many standard daytime use headphones - if you want to compare them to the entire range of available headphones out there. At least they are less expensive than the Kokoon and Ozlo sleep buds. There seems to be a bit of a premium put on this style of sleep headphones at the moment. Perhaps because there just aren't enough competitors making them to bring the price down.

That's a good question. My duvet doesn't have ties, so I couldn't do that. I believe you tie them once you've laid the duvet cover flat on the duvet. It might take some experimenting with to see how it works with your particular duvet.

You're welcome. I think that depends on how loudly they are talking, and which settings you use. I think it is definitely possible, but might require higher volume levels if they speak loudly and close to you. Regular headphones with ANC can work well, but only very good ones and again only if they don't speak too loudly if you only use them for ANC without music or other sounds.

​@@nosleeplessnights1 Thank you very much for your answer!

@neligio6167 no problem at all.

Hi! That is correct. I mentioned below the link that it goes to the Dreamegg D3 Pro. That's because they stopped making the original D3 some time after I filmed this video, and released the D3 Pro. The D3 Pro has some similarities, but is better in my opinion. It looks more modern, the speaker is more powerful and has more bass, and the soundtracks were improved in terms of quality and loop length. I made a dedicated video about that one a while ago, which you can watch here if you like: ua-cam.com/video/8BmWYlcKoVQ/v-deo.html

Hi! This is something I have had in the back of my mind to do for a while. I would like to do something like that, but it might be a while before I get around to testing multiple ones. As for the travel pillow and anti-decubitus cushion, I am not sure how comfortable they would be to use night after night. I know from camping with a travel pillow, for example, that I aways wish I had taken a normal pillow!

@nosleeplessnights1 C'est peut-être une question assez simple finalement sur un sujet à la fois vitale et élémentaire ; dormir avec un casque antibruit. La frustration peut se justifier mais ça reste vraiment très incompréhensible de ne jamais penser sérieusement à résoudre un tel problème qui mine de rien anéanti la vie de tant de personnes. Il existe tant de viles gadgets pour adoucir l'existence jouissive de quelques blasés et amateurs des doux loisirs, etc. mais rien pour apaiser les vraies souffrances pour apporter un minimum qui pourrait rendre la vie un minimum plus viable pour des gens en réelle détresse. Soyez béni

I understand the frustration that the technology doesn't seem to exist yet. Interestingly, the makers of Ozlo apparently said that they believe it is better to create noise masking headphones rather than noise cancelling for sleep. It may be interesting to explore deeper the reasoning behind that.

You're welcome!

Sorry about that! Honestly, I think it depends on the combination of how loud you talk, how deeply they sleep etc. It may be that they block out enough...or...it may be that they don't. It's just so hard to predict with these things.

Yes, but it depends how loud it is and what kind of traffic. If it's loud enough, you might still hear some. It's an impossible question to answer though really, because the levels where you can or can't hear it will be specific to each person's situation.

Thanks! I'm glad the video was helpful. The Dreamegg D3 Pro and Yogasleep Duet are both quite loud, so might be worth looking into.

You're welcome, I'm glad you liked it.

That is serious dedication to keeping the earplugs going and reducing waste. I'm impressed. I've did something similar in the past when I was travelling and couldn't find any decent earplugs where I was. But, I'm always too worried about the risk of ear infections to do that as habit nowadays. I would in a pinch, but usually remember to take enough earplugs with me when I'm away.

For light snoring, good earplugs should be enough. For very loud snoring, headphones and audio are likely to do better. If you were referring to the dog barking test section, I did a similar test in my review of the Soundcore Sleep A20, which you can see here: ua-cam.com/video/EUc3jOU1vZ8/v-deo.html From 7 mins onwards, there are several noise blocking tests.

Thanks for your kind feedback. It's good to hear they are useful for that.

The texture of the top surface isn't the smoothest, I agree. I'm not sure how clear I was in the video, but we have a mattress protector under the Dock Pro pad, another one on top of it, and then a fitted sheet over that. The combination of those two layers smooths over the pad nicely, and seems to work well.

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Quiet 2. I think the Dream are more comfortable. But if the Quiet 2 work well for you, I'd be tempted to stick with those if it feels like a splurge rather than an insignificant amount of money. The easier cleaning process is definitely a bonus with the Quiet 2.

Hi. So, that sounds like a huge amount of noise. I can't imagine a world in which either the Dream or Quiet 2 manage to block all of that out. You might find they block out some of those various sounds, or reduce the overall volume of all of them, with some specific sounds still getting through more than others. It's very hard to predict in advance what they will help with. In either case, both are likely to reduce the overall volume you hear a fair bit. But I don't think either would give you anything near silence. Personally, I'd also be concerned about using earplugs all day and night, which makes me wonder if you have other options, such as over-ear headphones with active noise cancellation? If you're really keen to use earplugs though, have you tried wax or silicone before? Even though I'm not a huge fan of them, I know some people prefer them as they don't go deep inside the ear canal and expand like foam. Back to the Loop, and you're right to identify the Dream as being harder to clean than the Quiet 2, mainly because of the foam inside the tip. The whole Quiet 2 can get wet, which is much easier to clean in the long run. They are fine for sleep if you're on your back, and even on your side or front they aren't bad if you use a soft pillow and are willing to tolerate the need to adjust your head position from time to time. Really though, there's just no way of telling if they will reduce the noise to a level you can tolerate. It may be a case of trying them and sending them back if they don't do the trick. Perhaps contact Loop in the region you like to ask for specifics on returns to give you peace of mind that it will be possible.

Hi. There are 3 ways you can use an alarm tone: There are basically 3 main alarm options, depending on the mode you are in: 1. Use the in-built A20 app alarm on sleep mode, which is a small selection of tones to choose from. The A20 alarm tone will ONLY play through the A20. 2. Set your normal phone alarm while in sleep mode. Your sleep sounds will continue playing, and your phone alarm will play on the phone speaker as normal. Your phone alarm with NOT play on the A20 as well. 3. Set your phone alarm while in Bluetooth mode. In this case, whatever music or sounds you are listening to will stop, and your normal phone alarm WILL play through the A20 and your phone at the same time. So basically, if you set your phone alarm in sleep mode, you need to be careful that the sleep mode tones don't block out your phone alarm. In Bluetooth mode, it's not a problem because you basically get a double alarm. Personally, I used the in-built app alarm as it works fine.

@ thank you so much !!! ☺️

No problem!

I'm not sure you'll find anything like that with a basic white noise machine as they typically use modern recordings. You're likely to have more luck with a video recording I imagine.

You're very welcome. Thank you too for your nice feedback:-)

Every step counts!

You're welcome - thank you too for watching more than one of my videos! I'm very happy that you see them as honest and real, which is what I try my best to do. Well done for managing to keep the phone out of the bedroom. It's not an easy thing to do for many people. Those lights are really good, especially in the winter. Timing it exactly with cooling and warming is a smart idea - I hadn't really thought of working out how to best combine the two, but now you've put the idea in my head!

You're welcome, thanks for the feedback too.

Sorry about that! I sometimes play all the sounds when I review white noise machines, but for tech like this with so many features to go through, I have to balance video length with demonstrations. I might not always get that balance right - it's a tricky one!

You're welcome! I'm glad it was helpful. Which ones did you decide to get? Or did you decide not to get them?

You're very welcome. Thanks for the nice feedback.