This Marpac Lifesounds 440 has a nice design, and looks good. It is intended for use in baby and toddler rooms, for naps and during the night. The unit is small and can be placed close to a bed, on a night-table, quite easily. In fact, we could argue that it’s the best portable white noise machine.
Most parents, at some time or another, struggle to ensure there is sufficient quiet in the house for a youngster to sleep. Whether it is brothers or sisters, or the parents themselves, waking a sleeping youngster is frustrating. To combat this, place the sound machine inside the room of the infant, and let it cancel out noise, and play more relaxing sounds. This should help create a better sleeping environment, and allow the little one to sleep better and longer.
The Marpac Lifesounds Is Great For Filling Rooms
The unit is easy to operate, and has good volume controls, and more importantly, there is no crackling or other background noise from the machine itself when playing on a high volume. To be used effectively, in a youngsters room (who are notoriously light sleepers, and wake at any noise) it needs to play fairly loud, and it does indeed do this. There is no loss of quality of sound, which is important. The white noises it creates are soothing and pleasant, and should help youngsters fall off to sleep. It should also help to keep them asleep, masking any other noises made in the house, by neighbours, or outside. This sound screen conditioner is also designed and manufactured in the United States, as opposed to China, where most of the other models are put together, meaning you don’t feel as bad about paying the few extra dollars for it.
Pros
- Four inch speaker for clarity
- No loss of quality at higher volume levels
- Higher quality product
- Plays an assortment of noises suitable for youngsters
Cons
- Is more expensive than other sound conditioners
- No battery operation mode
- No choice of colours
The device plays ocean surf and trickling water, among other soothing noises, and can be used by anybody, not just youngsters. Considering that you want to block out other noise, and not have the machine itself begin to make distracting noises, the extra investment is probably worth the money. It is marketed towards kids, and the higher level of volume is important here. This is an excellent sound machine, and there are not many negatives about it. The one thing that some may see as not so good is the price. It is a fair bit more expensive than other types of infant noise conditioners, but as is usual, you get what you pay for, quality wise.
Conclusion
While some other products may start to buzz or crackle on higher volumes – which may be needed for houses close to airports or railway track – this Marpac Lifesounds 440 retains a clear and true sound, even on the higher volume settings. The lack of an option to operate by battery is a minor issue most of us usually sleep in a room which has access to the mains power supply. Everything else about the machine is excellent, from the nice, sleek design, to the actual sounds it plays, from ocean waves, to trickling water; the sounds are realistic and soothing.