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Grey noise
Updated 22 October 2026
Grey noise is white noise reshaped so that it sounds equally loud at every pitch to a human ear. Our hearing is less sensitive at the very low and very high ends, so grey noise lifts those edges. The result sounds fuller and more even than white noise on good headphones.
Press play
Play opens the sound masker with this mix already loaded, so you can hear it and shape it.
How to set it up
- Use headphones. A phone speaker cannot reproduce the low boost.
- Press Play on Grey noise.
- If the top is too much, open it in the sound masker and lower 12k and 16k.
How grey noise is made
Grey noise follows an equal-loudness contour, a curve measured from many listeners that shows how loud each frequency must be to sound as loud as a 1,000 Hz tone. The version here is a practical approximation on a ten-band equalizer, not a calibrated lab signal.
Grey noise for tinnitus
Audiologists sometimes use grey noise in tinnitus sound therapy because it covers the whole range evenly as the ear hears it, without a part that sticks out. Some people find it easier to set at a low level than white noise.
Questions
What is grey noise?
White noise shaped by an equal-loudness curve, so every pitch sounds about equally loud.
Grey noise vs white noise?
White is flat in energy. Grey is flat to the ear, with more level at the frequencies we hear less easily.