Customer Reviews

Sound Oasis Travel Sound Therapy System

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

Can't recommend this product highly enough. Recently, we took this unit on a 19 day backpacking trip to Europe. As a light sleeper, it's always been difficult to stay in hostels and budget hotels due to the noise. With this machine, we got 19 nights of quality sleep. Running the unit on four 2000 mAHr AA batteries, we were able to get 6 nights of use on full volume, averaging 8 hours a night.

Construction is durable, with well made plastic components. Not indestructible, but tougher than your typical big-box electronics item. Should you want to plug the unit in, several wall adapters are included for various parts of the world.

The included sounds are pretty good, although some are gimmicky. Most are on a reasonably long loop. Would be nice if the volume went a bit higher, but is more than sufficient as long as you don't expect to place the unit across the room from your bed.

The time and alarm functions are pretty standard, though there are some nice features for travellers who frequently move between the same time zone. You can set an "away time" and an "away alarm". On batteries, the unit's backlight displays when accessing functions. When plugged in, it is on all the time. The backlight is brighter than it probably should be. That said, we are using this as our primary alarm clock at home.

As of September 2008, there doesn't appear to be a comparable product on the market. The price we paid ($90) seemed steep, but after using the unit while travelling, it was a bargain.

I highly recommend this product.

UPDATE: August 2009 - After changing the batteries, the unit went a little haywire. I emailed Sound Oasis and they were kind enough to help me solve the problem. Should you have similar troubles, there is a reset button inside the battery compartment. Less obvious is that the battery compartment cover must be closed for the unit to function.

We've used the unit on full volume every night for almost a year - still works and sounds brand new.

- Each sound loops for only 3-6 seconds, which emphasizes the repetition and makes it hard to lose yourself in the ambiance.

- Over half of the sounds have obvious salient sub-patterns that intrude and prevent the primary sound from being soothing.

- The speaker is very small (1 inch?), which produces no low frequency at all, making even the white nose seem squeaky.

- The dial's blue backlighting is totally unreadable at night.

- I liked fewer than half of the sounds. Squawking birds, thunderstorms, a cacophony of frogs -- these keep me awake nicely.

My conclusion: save your money and buy the cheapest sound generator on the market. This product isn't any better; it just costs more.

The sounds are very realistic and good volume control. It packs well
and really solved my travel issues. I have severe tinnitus and the white noise sound helps me sleep. A great product.

I bought this because i have a hard time sleeping. I had the Brookstone Model similar to this,and this one works much better. It has twice as many sounds,as the Brookstone,and three different plugs for travel anywhere.Some peaple say the backlite is to bright,but that is not the case. It has a very low blue backlite. The ONLY complaint i have,the same with the Brookstone,is max volume is not very loud. I bought a pair of $5.00 pc speakers,hooked them up to unit,and now it is very loud in stereo. Price is a bit steep,but in line with the Brookstone. Overall a nice unit in a compact size. I wont sleep without it.

Good product. Lived up to advertising. clock & alarm are easy to use. Lock out feature is great for traveling. Batteries last through several nights of continuious use.

I have a minor complaint in that the max volumn is too low.

I bought this for travel, but find I am also using it nightly at home. The sounds are wonderful. The features it offers are so many for such a small machine. I am so glad I purchased it.

Pros: Attractive form factor. Decent number and variety of sounds to select from. Reasonable sound quality. Clock/alarm useful for travel. Battery powered.

Cons: Max volume too low (more below). Alarm time not shown (they display two times, but rather than current time and alarm time, they chose current time 1 and current time 2, then added a separate button you have to press to see the alarm time). Snooze time is 30 mins (I prefer 7-8 so I can shut it off a couple of times without breaking an hour into my sleep time). When snooze button is pushed, sound shuts off (and turning it back on kills the snooze). A bit bright (in dimmed mode) for nighttime for me.

I'd read a review indicating the sound wasn't loud enough. When I first tried it I thought, "Oh, this'll be plenty loud for when I'm sleeping." However, it proved to be no competition for the med/heavy snorer in the room. I suspect it WOULD be fine for a light/moderate snorer.

Another reviewer had also shared that the sound loops are quite short and he/she was distracted by the repeating pattern. When I listened for this, I could hear it and then started focusing on it and was distracted. When I let all that go, it was fine.

They did a lot of things right in the design; just a little too far off the mark for me though. I returned it (and may try one of their other products).

I love this machine. I sleep with the white noise on, every night and it really helps even out the background noises. I travel most of the year and it has been great to have along. The only cons I could come up with are: it doesn't appear to be usable as an alarm clock if you already have it on (possible user error, but I don't think so) and when it is plugged into an outlet the screen is pretty bright. I simply cover it with the case, and problem solved.

Pros: Easy to use. Convenient for traveling, with different power plugs and Travel mode. Nice variety of sounds. Speaker jack for improved volume.

Cons: Very hard to read the blue-backlit LCD display in the dark, especially if you require glasses. LCD backlight may be too bright for some. Noticeable (although subtle) loop end when playing White-Noise. Rather expensive. Somewhat flimsy plastic construction.

Overall: Decent for sound-therapy, but not a good bedside clock.

The Sound Oasis travel sound therapy system failed first time I used it and was returned to Amazon. This is similar to the Brookstone Travel Tranquil Moments Alarm Clock Sound Therapy Machine (same product w/ different plastic shell) which failed after the first month. It is the same product as the Hammacher Schlemmer Travel Sleep Sound Generator. If you like the battery aspect, Hammacher Schlemmer gives a lifetime warranty on their version.

Since these are all pretty much the same cheap product, I'm trying a Marpac 330 sound conditioner which seems to get good reviews.