Customer Reviews

Conair SU7 Sound Therapy and Relaxation Clock Radio

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(92)
3 star:		(59)
2 star:		(45)
1 star:		(59)

 

 

Conair's Sound Therapy & Relaxation Clock Radio, model SU7, which bills itself as "Soothing to babies," is misleadingly packaged for infants yet is identical in sound-selection makeup to its more expensive cousin marketed to adults: the Obus Forme Sound Therapy Relaxation System (which retails nearly double sans the grownup features). In what would appear to be a marketing mix-up, the infant version of this Conair-branded device offers a dual alarm, AM/FM tuner and a LCD readout, whereas the model marketed to adults has no clock, no radio tuner and no alarm. Go figure.

The good: ten sound choices, including rainfall, running stream, waterfall, songbirds, heartbeat, white noise, ocean waves, summer night, thunderstorm and tropical rainforest. What sets this apart from other clock radios that use batteries to back up the clock and alarm settings is that it is entirely functional on four AA batteries alone (although the AC power adapter is included).

Another strong point: This unit has good AM/FM reception -- better than a number of HoMedics, which I also tried.

Better yet, the unit was easy enough to operate that I didn't have to pull out the manual to figure it out. It should be noted, however, that the implementation of the alarm is somewhat different then other alarm clock radios. Snooze provides a 10-minute extension, but you cannot hit it more than three times without deactivating the alarm. To turn an alarm off, simply hit the alarm button OR your choice of the Radio or Sound Therapy button, which are placed to the right and left of the large round snooze button. (Fortunately the remainder of the buttons on the surface will not result in accidentally disabling the alarm.) Rounding out the feature set is the sleep function, ranging from 15-90 minutes. Last but not least, you may opt to wake to radio, nature sound or buzzer. There is a headphone jack, but no line-in by which to connect an MP3 or CD player.

The only significant downside unique to the Conair SU7 is the blue backlight. At certain angles/distances it is difficult to see the black LCD digits on the clock. I don't know who in the "high fashion" world of consumer product development decided it was cool to have nearly all today's digital clocks backlit by a blue or amber light instead of providing the high-contrast green-, blue- or red-on-black numeral readouts, but those product developers should be forced to squint through the nightlight-like light emitted from their products to try to read their poorly conceived black LCD digits across a darkened room -- no easy task even for someone with 20/20 vision!

As for sound quality, I would put this somewhat above the HoMedics natural sounds line -- although you shouldn't expect it to rival CD-quality audio. The sound samplings are more distinct than HoMedics and more varied than those offered by Timex nature sound machines, but they are also higher pitched. By contrast, the HoMedics models provide nondescript, relatively low-pitched sounds, which are more akin to white noise. Consequently, it should be noted that less distinct nature sounds are probably easier to sleep to if only because the loop is less obvious when the sound stage is somewhat muted and flat (or the speaker is poor, whichever is the case). On the flip side, the HoMedics nature sound generators are not quite as pleasant on the ear during the day. To create a daytime oasis, Conair receives my vote because the sound samples are somewhat more realistic (not to mention the fact that Conair offers the most natural sound selections in the sub $60 price range). Insomniacs, nevertheless, should consider the tried-and-true option of running an air purifier, which is a good year-around white noise generator (one that won't chill you like a fan or a running air conditioner in the winter, toast you like a forced-air heater in the summer, wear out your television set prematurely, or drive your electricity up like a running clothes dryer). Similarly, audiophiles should look to a CD for authentic, non-looping, stereo-quality nature sounds. (Consider "Echos of Nature", a five-CD set, also sold on Amazon. The great thing about this boxed set is the fact that there are no New Age soundtracks mixed in to detract from the outdoor/wilderness ambiance.)

Poorly legible LCD clock aside, the price of the Conair SU7 relative to the number of sound choices and the portability offered by the battery or AC operation really can't be beat. Don't allow the mother-and-child packaging or Amazon's product description fool you: There's nothing inherently "infant" about this unit's design. Because this product has the appearance of being a "baby item" that is not positioned in the baby section of most retail stores such as Target, it is seemingly a slow seller, which may explain why I found mine on clearance for half the $20 list price. If you have been considering the newly released $40 Obus Forme Sound Therapy Relaxation System, take advantage of Conair's marketing mistake and pick up the SU7 instead. At $20 it is a deal, but at $10 it is a steal!

This is an inexpensive sound (sleep) machine that adults will love every bit as much as infants. The sounds of gentle rain or the moving brook lulls one to sleep and overrides the noises of a busy city highway and a bustling condominium. You have a lot of options. Don't want to listen to a known sound, go for "white noise," it all works and works well. I bought it as an experiment. After a week of use I wouldn't be without it. I even use it if I want to catch a power nap. Go for it!

I bought this for background noise for my son's room after we turned off the fan when it got too cold. It has several different sounds, but the best one is just White Noise. It is excellent at drowning out the background noise in our house when my son naps or goes to bed at night. I leave it on all night with the volume very low. My only problem is that because it's an alarm clock, the digital display is a little bright, even with the dimmer switch. But I turned it around in his bookcase and it makes a perfect nightlight. Excellent product that I'm sure we'll be using for years to come.

I don't like most of the sounds. I use the rainfall or the waterfall and the white noise. All the other noises are too disruptive to sleep to (birds chirping, frogs croaking) and the heartbeat is just creepy. With the noises I do use, I constantly hear weird background noises and clicking when the track repeats itself. However, like anything, you get used to it and it's not too bad. The LED display screen is extremely bright...so bright that I can literally do shadow puppets with it on my ceiling.

I bought this a few months ago for my boyfriend. He wanted something to drown out the man below us who plays his tv too loud. I was leery of ordering this off the Internet because I was afraid it would not be good. However, I saw so many positive reviews that I chose it anyway and thank goodness!

Specifics: the very best thing is the SOUND. It is rich, which is not common for a clock radio these days. It reminds me of those solid state radios of the past. No tinny sound. My boyfriend says that the nature sounds totally drown out our buddy downstairs. I like the back light; it's a pretty deep blue (2 options). Extra long cord is a nice touch. Now, some people may be put off by the analog dial (it has digital readout but you must flip the dial rather than push buttons). Be not afraid! It locks in each station within a few numbers, so you don't have to tune it exactly like the older ones. I also like the fact that there is a digital readout, which is a lot easier to read than those old numerals. Finally, I like the fact that the clock is always showing, with smaller numbers showing the station. Sweet! (P.S. This is my first review. I wasn't going to do this, but I felt such gratitude towards all the people who bothered to post reviews about this product and gave me the head's up about it and I want to pay it forward:)

This product is a combination alarm clock/radio/noise machine. The clock and radio work fine, but the noises (white noise and many nature sounds) are digital samples of a few seconds in length that are repeated over and over again. So the white noise sounds like a repeating 6-10s loop, and I can't recommend this product for that purpose. I have to turn down our baby monitor because the repeating noise drives me crazy!

I was looking for an inexpensive sound machine to drown out noise to help my baby sleep. I really just wanted white noise, but couldn't get it continuously on the radio without interference. This fit the bill perfectly - it's very reasonably priced (actually the cheapest I could find) and I felt I was taking a bit of a gamble as there were no reviews for this item. I am very pleased with it - it has plenty of sounds to choose from - ocean, rainforest, birdsong, thunderstorm, heartbeat, rain - the white noise is actually a little more basey than I wanted but I've been using the babbling brook sound and it works perfectly. I'd definitely recommend this product.

This clock would be perfect if it weren't for the bright blue background on the clock setting. It does have a dimmer button, but that really doesn't do much to lessen the brightness. Other than that, it has a variety of sounds to choose from; I love the digital radio; the timers are so easy to use; and the volume control is perfect. I bought this clock for myself, but I ended up putting it in my one year's old room. The blue clock acts as a night-lite which is nice for him at night.

These machines have irritating rythmic noise in the background of the white noise selection. It is not theraputic, it's disruptive to sleep. The clock and alarm work fine. The blue light on the display lights up a room like a flashlight. I just cover it. DO NOT BUY THIS CHEAP MACHINE!

My husband wanted a small white noise machine to take with him to hotels when he travels because there are always so many noises that keep him from being able to get a good nights rest on the road. The white noise setting of the Conair Machine has done just the trick. And when we looked into getting a machine the Conair was nice and small and it was very inexpensive. The only thing I think the company needs to do is change the name so it doesn't turn off people that don't have "infants". Who says you have to be a baby to have sleepless nights.