As the name implies---Soothing....
Written: Dec 16 '06
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Attractive appearance, relatively portable, does the job. Wide selection means you'll find something you like.
Cons: Short sound loop. Pricey. Does not come back on after power interruption.
The Bottom Line: If noise is interrupting your sleep, fix it! Your health and those who depend on you need you. This device can make a positive impact on quality of life.
|
|
|
| Ralleia's Full Review: The Sharper Image Sound Soother 20 SI677 |
I purchased the Sharper Image Sound Soother 20 SI677 in April 2004 shortly after I had my first child. The disrupted night sleep schedule caused me sleep problems and made me more sensitive to waking from outside noise. Desperate for some shut-eye, I bought the Sound Soother 20 for $99.95.
FORM FACTOR
The device is a short cylinder--4 1/2" tall and just under 6" diameter. It stands on a round, dimpled foot of the same diameter. The sound comes from the underside of the device, above the foot. Mine is the platinum with a "burltech" top--the material resembles a deep-toned, complex, highly polished hardwood. The buttons that control the device are located on this top face. The volume is controlled by a thumb wheel on the side just under the on/off button. A headphone jack is located on the the foot. Overall, the device is very modern-looking.
SOUND PRODUCTION
The Sound Soother 20 offers a variety of twenty different neutral background sounds to help diminish the negative effects of unwanted noise. The sound is produced electronically and on a recorded loop. The Sound Soother 20 employs a rather short loop of approximately seconds--the drawback to this is that on some of the sounds the loop is very obvious, and this can become an irritation akin to Chinese water torture. I avoid those sounds.
SOUND DESCRIPTIONS
The following are the sounds available on the Sound Soother 20, along with a brief subjective summary:
1. Brook Sounds like a running brook
2. City Like urban traffic noise from a distance. Some muted car horns. Actually quite soothing.
3. Aviary Birds chirping and warbling. Similar to morning birdsong in the country.
4. Rain Sound of a heavy downpour. Quite nice.
5. Fireside Crackling large fire.
6. Northwoods Crickets chirping and strange animal sounds. The animal sounds are a little too loud and the loop is obvious on this sound. Irritating.
7. Rainforest Sounds like the sound of a large river. Rather soothing.
8. Summer Night Crickets and other wildlife chirping. Pretty nice.
9. Oceanside Waves and seagulls. Loop is obvious. Irritating.
10. Steam Train The chug chug of a steam train. Soothing. Would be perfect if it could also mimic the sway of the train. What a way to fall to sleep!
11. Everglades Chirping of insects. Rather high in pitch. Ok.
12. Yosemite Falls The dull deep roar of water. Pretty nice.
13. Wind Chimes Sharp bell tones of wind chimes. I can't imagine that anyone could fall asleep to this. Every chime would jar you back towards consciousness!
14. Thunderstorm Rain falling plus thunder. I think the thunder punctuations make it difficult to fall asleep.
15. Ebb Tide Waves at the seaside. This is the sound I most frequently use.
16. Heartbeat A rather loud, punctuated heartbeat. Might be useful for some situations (soothing a new puppy), but I personally don't like it.
17. Foghorns Too blaring for background noise.
18. Dockside Water lapping against a dock. The sound loop is obvious on this one, making it quite irritating.
19. White Noise Untuned radio static. Ok, but would be more soothing at a lower pitch. Might be useful in masking higher frequency noise.
20. Surf's Up Large waves breaking. Ok.
POWER
The unit runs on six AA batteries. An AC adapter is available from Sharper Image for $9.95. I purchased the adapter when I bought the unit, since I couldn't imagine trying to keep such a long-running device fed with batteries. In addition, the product manual states that many problems thought to be product defects were often caused by weak batteries. The A/C adapter draws just 3 watts, according to my power meter.
OTHER FEATURES
The unit also comes with a 60-minute sleep timer. I don't use this because outside road noise may occur at any time of the night. Since the unit draws so little power it is more reasonable to simply let if run all night.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I've owned this unit for 2 1/2 years now, and it still performs perfectly. Until recently I left it running essentially 24/7 (for over two years!) since it was difficult to predict when the baby would want to nap. Even with this I have noticed no degradation in the sound quality. I purchased the 3-year replacement guarantee when I bought the unit because I know it would get a lot of use, but have not had reason to use it.
The on/off button is digital--the only drawback here is that if power is interrupted even briefly the unit does not come back on. The abrupt absence of the sound is often enough to waken me.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Ralleia
|
|
Member: Kris Thompson
Location: Omaha, NE
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Part-time architectural engineering student and stay-at-home mom to an energetic toddler.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.