Sound Mixes for Falling Asleep
Many people play rain when they go to bed. On a quiet night a ticking clock or a small noise outside sounds loud, and an even sound underneath makes those noises stand out less. This guide collects the settings that work well before sleep. We cannot promise it will make you sleep better, but it does help create a comfortable background.
Start with Sleep
Under Moods in Sound and display, press Sleep. It sets rain to 45 and brown noise to 35. The crisp tapping of drops on the window is reduced and a low, heavy brown noise is laid underneath to make the sound feel warm. Everything that jumps out — thunder, crickets, fire crackle — is turned off.
Other mixes to try
- Rain only — rain 50, everything else 0. The simplest.
- Distant sea — waves 55, brown noise 20. A slow rhythm that comes and goes.
- Night in the hills — stream 40, crickets 15, wind 10.
- Noise only — brown noise 50. For when you want a sound with no pattern at all.
Thunder is better off at bedtime. A loud sound just as you are drifting off wakes you easily.
Dim the screen, and let it switch off
In the same panel, lower Brightness to 20–40. In a dark room that is plenty. If you do not need the picture at all, turn the device face down or switch the screen off.
Most important is the Sleep timer. Set it to 30 or 60 minutes and, as the time runs out, the sound and picture fade and switch off, and the keep-awake feature is released so the device can sleep as usual. The details are in Using the sleep timer.
Listening on a phone
- Plug in the charger. With the screen on, the battery drains quickly.
- The sound is built to continue when you turn the screen off or switch apps, but power-saving settings on some devices and browsers may still cut it. If it stops, keep the screen on at the lowest brightness and use the timer.
- On devices that show play and pause controls on the lock screen or in the notification area, you can stop it from there.
- Turn on Do Not Disturb so that notification sounds do not ring through the rain.
Speakers and volume
Phone speakers cannot produce low frequencies, so brown noise sounds weak. Even a small Bluetooth speaker makes it much fuller. Keep the volume low enough that you could talk quietly with someone next to you. Sleeping with earphones in is not recommended.