But what does the white noise sound like? Well, the best description would be to say it sounds like a slow soothing "whoosh." Many say it is the sound of the rain, or the waves gently caressing the shore, or the wind blowing through the trees. It is a very peaceful sound that is instinctively soothing and calming to the ears and minds of humans of all ages. White noise is actually a sound given to us by Mother Nature, in the same way as she has provided us with water and air.

The Sleep Solution

Back to our story…Jim Buckwalter solved this problem by inventing the first electro-mechanical sound conditioner to block out these unwanted, distracting noises. At the request of his friends and family members he made several proto-type units for their use. He spent the next several years improving on the electro-mechanical sound conditioners and finally introduced the first electronic sound conditioner, the "Sleepmate".

The "Sleepmate" mechanically makes a "real" sound as opposed to a reproduced or simulated sound like other white noise machines. It does not loop. By "looping", I mean the playing of a recorded or simulated segment of sound over and over. Most other white noise machines do loop but some hide it better than others.

Getting a machine that doesn’t loop is really important. If you can detect a repetitive quality in the sound (such as a chirp that repeats over and over every 5 seconds), then that can be as annoying as the sound you are trying to mask.

My wife and I are using the "Sleepmate" for six month now, as we have a rooster in our neighbour that was waking us up every morning at about 4:30 AM! Well, we now sleep until the sun wakes us up.