Open office
Speech-range noise and a distant murmur.
Use it for: A speaker in an open office. Speech-range noise with a distant murmur.
Play this mixFor offices, HR, and meeting rooms
An office white noise machine for privacy and focus
In an open office, it is speech that breaks concentration, not general noise. A sound shaped to cover voices makes nearby conversations blur into texture. You can play one through headphones at your desk, or through a speaker by a door to give a meeting room some privacy.
1
Better focus
Words you can follow pull your attention. Masking turns them into a murmur you can ignore.
2
Private meeting rooms
A speaker outside the door keeps HR talks, reviews, and calls inside the room.
3
Free, on any computer
No hardware to buy. Shape the sound with an equalizer until it fits the room.
Mixes made for offices
Each one opens in the sound masker, ready to play. Adjust it there and save your own version.
Desk headphones
Pink noise and rain for a loud open office.
Use it for: Your own headphones at a busy desk.
Play this mixSpeech privacy
Noise shaped where voices sit, plus a fan.
Use it for: Outside a meeting room or manager's office door.
Play this mixHow to set it up
- At your desk with headphones, press Play on Desk headphones. It is pink noise with rain.
- Without headphones, in a small office or by a door, use Speech privacy through a speaker. The noise is shaped around the speech range.
- Place the speaker between the conversation and the people who should not hear it, pointed away from the room you want private.
- Raise the volume until you can no longer follow words through the door, then stop. More is not better.
Why white noise works in an office
Understanding speech is what pulls attention. Researchers call it the irrelevant speech effect: words you can follow interrupt reading and writing even when you try to ignore them. Masking noise lowers how much speech you can understand, so the conversation is still there but no longer grabs you.
An office privacy white noise machine for meeting rooms
For privacy, the speaker goes outside the room, not inside. Put it on the floor or a low shelf by the door of a manager's office, an HR room, or a meeting room, and play Speech privacy. People walking past hear a soft rush instead of words, and the people inside can talk normally.
If the door has a gap at the bottom, a door sweep helps more than a louder speaker.
A browser instead of a box
A hardware white noise machine for an office often costs 30 to 100 dollars and plays one fixed sound. A browser tab costs nothing and lets you shape the sound with an equalizer. For a permanent room, a small speaker plugged into an old phone or laptop works well. For a whole floor, a professional sound masking system is the right tool; see the sound masking page.
What you need
- Headphones for your own desk
- A small speaker and an old laptop or phone for each door
- A door sweep if there is a gap under the door
Mistakes to avoid
- Music with lyrics while writing or reading
- A speaker inside the meeting room, which masks the meeting itself
- Turning it up past the point where words blur
Questions
Does a white noise machine work in an office?
Yes, for nearby speech. It works best close to the people who need privacy, or on your own headphones.
Is white noise or pink noise better for an office?
Pink or speech-shaped noise usually sounds more comfortable over a workday and still covers voices well.
Is it OK to play noise in a therapist's office?
Yes, that is one of the most common uses. Put the speaker outside the door, in the waiting area.
Hear it before you set it up
Press play, then shape the sound in the sound masker: the noise color, the equalizer, and every layer. Free, with no ads and no account.