Brown noise
Brown noise is a deep, low-frequency hiss with more energy at the bottom of the spectrum than white noise, which is why most people describe it as softer or more like distant thunder. It is generated here in your browser rather than streamed, so it never loops and never plays an advert.
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- What it sounds like
- Like heavy rainfall heard from indoors, or a distant waterfall. Deep and steady.
- Best for
- Long writing or coding blocks, and open-plan offices where the distraction is low-frequency chatter.
What brown noise actually is
The name is Brownian motion, not the colour. Each sample is the previous one plus a small random step, which makes the energy fall away steeply as the pitch rises — roughly six decibels per octave. White noise spreads its energy evenly across every frequency and sounds like static; brown noise concentrates it at the bottom and sounds like weather.
What the research does and does not say
Honestly: very little has been studied. Brown noise became popular through social media rather than through published work, and the controlled research on noise and concentration is mostly about white and pink noise, in small samples, with mixed results. What is reasonably well established is masking — a steady background makes sudden noises less startling, and it is the startle that breaks concentration rather than the volume. If brown noise helps you, that is a real effect; it is just not one with a large literature behind it.
How to use it without wrecking your hearing
Set it just loud enough to cover the noise you are trying to mask and no louder. If you cannot hold a conversation over it, it is too loud for a full working day. Over-ear headphones at a low volume beat earbuds at a high one for the same masking effect.
Frequently asked
Is brown noise better than white noise for focus?
For most people it is more comfortable over long periods, because the harsh high frequencies in white noise are the tiring part. Whether it improves concentration more is not established — the comparison has barely been studied. Try both for a week each; the one you stop noticing is the one that is working.
Is this brown noise generator really free?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no account, no card, no app and no adverts. There is no audio file being streamed either — the sound is generated from maths on your own device, so it costs nothing to serve and never buffers.
Does brown noise help with ADHD?
Some people with ADHD report that steady background noise helps them settle, and there is a small body of research on noise and attention that points in that direction for some individuals. It is not a treatment and the evidence is thin. If it helps you, use it; do not replace anything clinical with it.
Can I run brown noise with a Pomodoro timer?
Yes, and they work well together — the noise marks that you are in a block and the timer marks when it ends. Our free Pomodoro timer is at /pomodoro-timer and keeps counting in a background tab, so you can leave the noise playing here in another.
Why is there a black screen mode?
Because people ask for it. If you leave noise running overnight or on a second monitor, a lit interface is a light source you did not want. The black screen hides everything except a play control and comes back with a tap or the Escape key.
Other noise colours
Focus alongside one other person.
FocusTribe is a free shared workspace for exactly two: your own timer on a board your partner can see, so each of you knows when the other is working. No teams, no webcam.
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