SonicSenses Lab
Noise colour comparison
White, pink and brown noise are the same random signal shaped by different spectral slopes. Switch between them and the difference is obvious within a second.
Evidence rating: Established science
Noise colour comparison: how this works, in words
- What it does
- Generates continuous white, pink and brown noise in your browser and lets you switch between them instantly, so the only thing that changes is the spectral slope.
- What it accepts
- No input of your own. The three noise signals are synthesised on this page; nothing is uploaded, downloaded or streamed.
- What you control
- Three play buttons (one per colour, press again to stop), a Stop button and a Level slider.
- What changes
- Audio only, no visual output. White noise sounds bright and hissy, pink noise sounds balanced, brown noise sounds low and rumbling. A status line names whichever colour is currently playing.
- What it illustrates
- That the words white, pink and brown describe how energy is distributed across the spectrum - roughly flat per hertz, falling about 3 dB per octave, and falling about 6 dB per octave respectively.
- What it does not claim
- It does not test or show any effect on sleep, focus, tinnitus or health. Which colour sounds least intrusive is a personal preference and varies between listeners and playback systems.
- Keyboard and screen readers
- Every control is a real button or slider reachable with Tab and operated with Enter, Space or the arrow keys. Each play button exposes a pressed state, and a polite live region announces the playing colour, so nothing here depends on seeing the interface.
Nothing playing.
Small laptop speakers roll off the bass, which makes brown noise sound thinner than it is. Headphones or a full-range speaker give a fairer comparison.
Noise colour is a description of a signal's spectrum, not a claim about its effect on you. People differ in which colour they find least intrusive; there is no single correct answer.
Every Lab demo is generated by your own browser and stops when you leave the page. Start quiet, raise slowly, and see our listening safety guidance. Nothing here is medical advice or a treatment.