The Marpac Dohm Sound Machine Review (White Noise Generator)

The Marpac Dohm Sound Machine, in its varying models is THE MOST popular sound machine (or white noise generator) on the market today. With the main product “The Classic” being the company's most popular white noise generator, with over 3800 reviews on Amazon currently as we write this (2018). Marpac Dohm as a company has been apparently helping people improve their sleep via use of this machine generated noise since the 1960's. With our interest in sleep helping technology here on this blog, we had to have a look into this specific tech.

Before you read on, if you'd like to skip ahead to any particular area of interest regarding the Dohm white noise generators, then click on any of the links below:

How Does A White Noise Machine Work?

A White Noise machine basically just creates a consistent noise, which is basically the noise of a fan (in fact, inside the Dohm sound machine, is exactly that, it's noise is generated by a fan inside the unit), and by creating this consistent noise it gives your mind a consistent and relaxing noise to focus on. It also helps to drown out other disturbing noises for both when you are trying to fall asleep, and later on when you're already asleep and might otherwise be awoken by the disturbance.

What Are The Features Of Marpac Dohm Sound Machines?

Customised Sound Options

You have a level of choice when it comes to how you want your “white noise” to sound. You have both an option to tweak the “tone” given out by the fan, and also the fan's speed, which impacts the sound created as well. You can see how this works functionally in the image below with the red arrows, with the small holes on both the sides, and the top of the sound generator unit.

Constant Sound Generation

According to their sales page on Amazon, the Dohm sound machine will produce an unobtrusive sound that will then fade into the background, and then mask any noise that would otherwise usually wake you out of sleep. The sound volume and pitch are controlled by small adjustable holes on both the top of the unit and on the sides. (see image below).

Small & Compact Design

All their units are small and compact, and are about the shape of a large kitchen bowl. Probably the best way to get an idea of their size and shape is to quickly watch some YouTube footage of one being displayed, so here you go:

What Different Models Of Dohm Sound Machines Are Available?

Here are the most popular models that are available right now, along with a brief description of what sets them apart (check back in the near future and we'll have more detailed reviews on each particular model):

Marpac Dohm Basic

There are no extra features on this basic model, as the name suggests, this is the bare minimal product from Dohm. It has 1 speed adjustable “volume” and the tone is not adjustable as is the case with some of the slightly more expensive models. This model doesn't include a timer. Click here to see the Amazon listing, and click here to see our feedback evaluation for this model further down the page.

Marpac Dohm Classic

The Classic is very similar to the Basic except that it has the ability to change speed (2 speed) and also has tone selection. Apart from that it's available in white, black or tan colours, instead of just white for the Basic model. Again, like the Basic, no timer option is available with the Classic. Here's the Amazon listing for this model, and you can read the feedback evaluation here.

 

Marpac Dohm Connect

The Connect is the most modern and futuristic version of the Dohm sound machine, with connectivity via either an app or the Alexa (Amazon's software that runs on the Echo, and is basically an ID driven voice controlled search engine and knowledge database – read more about it here).

The Connect also hosts up to 10 different volume settings, so you have far greater flexibility than the other models. The Connect also features a sleep timer, so it will auto shut off at a certain time of your choosing (this is useful if it's more the sounds as you're trying to get to sleep that are bothersome to you, and not to much sounds that happen during your sleep to wake you up). See the listing for this model on Amazon here, and read up on the feedback evaluation on the Connect here.

Marpac Whish

The Whish has the most sound options and flexibility of all the Marpac sound machines. This model includes a total of 16 total sound options. It also has a push button volume control which is a little different from the other models where you twist the side of the unit. The tone however on this model is not adjustable, which we thought was a bit of an oversight from Marpac Dohm. See the listing for this model here on Amazon, and read up on our feedback evaluation for this model here.

Marpac Rohm

The Marpac Rohm is the best model for travel at just 3.5 inches (or just under 9 cm) in size, this model will fit into even the smallest travel packs easily. It incorporates 3 different sound options and you have the option of either deep white noise, bright white noise, or gentle surf. You also have the ability to set the volume, which is controlled again with a button, similarly to the Whish model above. Another great feature included in this particular model is the fact that it's USB charged, and will run all night long on a single charge, which means you don't have to worry about packing extra batteries if you're on the move. See the Amazon listing for this model here, and you can read our feedback evaluation here.

Marpac Hushh

The Marpac Hushh was designed with baby care specifically in mind, and is tiny enough to fasten to either your baby car seat or stroller. This unit is also UBS rechargeable, and is a similar size and shape to the Rohm model, at just 3.8 inches (about 10 cm). It again has the sound options of either the bright white noise,  gentle surf or deep white noise. It is also child locked, so that your young one can't mess with the settings, which is a thoughtful feature that will probably come in handy.

This unit will make it easier to keep your baby from waking at night when you're wondering around the house. Any hours of extra sleep are probably worth the small investment into this device, as I'm sure most parents would attest to. This model is listed here on Amazon, and you can read our feedback evaluation on this version of the Dohm Sound Machine here.

What About The Feedback?

Due to the popularity of these Dohm Sound Machines, there's quite a lot of accrued online feedback, which helps us to work out just how good these products are at doing what they claim to do. Whilst the Classic model is definitely the most popular out of all the Marpac sound machines, all of their models have at least 1000 reviews on Amazon.com at the time of writing which means that they are all getting a lot of use and therefore lots of feedback too.

Let's look into some of the varying feedback on the different models of the Dohm Sound Machine.

Please Note – When looking at the feedback on Amazon.com in the reviews section, it's important to highlight the model that you want to see reviews for under the sort section using the “Sort Style” option, otherwise you might get confused about the feedback on a specific model, because it will just show all the reviews for ALL the models, which makes the feedback look overwhelmingly positive for all the machines, when in fact, some of the models have serious issues (like the Basic model) and therefore you see a reflection of this in the overall reviews.

Consumer Feedback On The Basic Model

As of the time of writing there are 1593 reviews on Amazon.com for the Marpac Dohm Classic white noise sound machine. Out of those reviews 1157 of them are positive, with the product being rated somewhere between the 3/5 and 5/5 star range. 61% of reviewers actually rated the classic the full 5/5 star rating, so this shows a very good response from customers overall. About 20% of people rated the product negatively, either give it 2 or 1/5 stars.

Positive Feedback

There's obviously loads of positive feedback based on the high percentage of positive reviews for this model. One of the main things you'll notice if you read through the feedback is that people have been mostly pretty happy with the level of sound that's emitted from this model. One particular user commented that they'd been having terrible issues with dog barking noise from the next door neighbours, and the unit worked very effectively to drown this noise out.

Another thing that people commented on was the size of the unit, and most were very happy with how small and compact the design of the Basic model is.

Negative Feedback

Having said that, there are some definite issues with this model it seems from going through all the feedback. The first issue is that it's said that this model is not as loud as the Classic model. This might pose a problem to those of us who need a louder type of noise generation to be able to sleep well. So those of you reading who need the louder version, you're probably better off looking into the Classic.

Another issue that lots of people commented on was the bothersome on/off button. People had issues getting the button to stay on sometimes, and one reviewer labelled it as “finicky” due to this issue with consistency. Other people commented that the power button would stick after a short period of use after buying the machine.

View the current reviews for the Basic model here on Amazon.

Overall – It seems that if Marpac Dohm can correct the issues with the button failing after time, then they'll have a pretty good entry level model here with the Basic.

View The Basic Model Here On Amazon

Consumer Feedback On The Classic Model

There are tonnes of reviews for the Classic model currently at the time of writing, with 3893 total reviews. 3028 out of those total reviews have been positive so far, which means the reviewer gave the product somewhere between 3-5/5 stars on the rating scale on Amazon.com.

The Classic model actually got a whopping total of 70% 5/5 star ratings overall, which is a very positive sign for the consistency of results that this particular machine is producing for consumers looking for help with their sleep. Overall, there were only 16% of reviewers that gave this model a negative (1-2/5 star rating). So let's look into some of the feedback more specifically here.

Positive Feedback

Quite a few reviewers commented that this unit was quite loud, but that it was definitely effective in what it set out to achieve, and that after a while the “loudness” created by the machine (especially on its highest volume setting) would become comfortable.

There were several comments on the value for money that this unit provides, especially when there are a LOT of different white noise machines on the market, and some of them are FAR more expensive than the Marpac Dohm Classic. Although the Classic model was not specifically designed for children and babies, many people commented that they had found the Classic very effective in helping to keep their children asleep and unwoken during the night.

Negative Feedback

The negative feedback is interesting in that you get a lot of very subjective comments on how the Classic was either too loud, or not loud enough. So of course this will entirely depend on the user, and what they are comfortable with, and ultimately, it's probably going to require a bit of self experimentation.

Other than that, as is quite often the case, there were some people that unfortunately had issues with the unit breaking down after a period of time, usually months. This is unfortunate, but it's hard to say if this is a real issue with the product overall, as out of the probably tens if not hundreds of thousands of people that have purchased these units, most of those people are not going to leave a review, and especially aren't going to leave a review if they had no problem with the machine. This is pretty standard when it comes to product feedback, and something that we have to account for when looking at the negative reviews, as legitimate as they may be.

Read the current reviews for the Classic on Amazon here.

Overall – Most people are happy with the amount of volume put out by the Classic, and see it as a cost effective solution comparable with other more expensive units on the market.

View The Classic Model Here On Amazon

Consumer Feedback On The Connect Model

At the time of writing, the Connect model from Marpac Dohm has only review it seems, which is negative. We find this very weird, and maybe by the time you are reading this there will be more reviews as it's a newer model. This is why it's important to make sure when viewing the reviews on Amazon, that you're looking at the correct model, which you select in the “Style” section of the review filter on the reviews page for any given product. After selecting the Connect model from the drop down to only get reviews for this specific model, instead of the 3909 reviews that are seemingly for this model of Dohm sound machine, there is only 1, and that single review is negative with the person giving it 1/5 stars.

We would hope that Amazon can correct this slightly imperfect setup soon, as it's a little misleading to see thousands of reviews next to a product when you're browsing for a certain model, only to discover that that review count is for ALL similar models from the same manufacturer, and not necessarily for that product at all…

Positive Feedback

So far, as we just discussed, at the time of writing, there is 0 positive feedback for this version of the Marpac Dohm Sound machine. We'll update this as soon as we see any positive feedback has been added.

Negative Feedback

The single negative review so far for this model is not good. The customer says that the unit was readjusting the volume automatically which was taking it from a level 3 to level 8 volume in the middle of the night, and therefore waking up their sleeping infant. This is pretty much the worst case scenario for a device that was designed to HELP people sleep, and not a great promo report for Marpac Dohm. They also complained that the device could not be solely controlled via their phone's app, despite customer service reassurance before purchase.

Here's the current reviews on Amazon for the Connect model.

Overall – So as the feedback stands so far for the Connect, it's really not very good, but this could just be because it's a very new model and not enough feedback data has had a chance to make it's way online yet.

View The Connect Model Here On Amazon

Consumer Feedback On The Whish Model

The Whish, like the Connect currently at the time of writing has very few (1) reviews to give us any idea of whether this is an effective product or not based on the customer feedback. Be sure to click on the “Style sort feature” in the sort section of the reviews as we mentioned above, otherwise you might be looking at reviews on the other models of the same product.

So out of the current limited reviews for this model, let's look more specifically at the feedback.

Positive Feedback

The only review at the time of writing is a positive one, lucky for the Whish. The singular positive review rated the product 5/5 stars, and the consumer commented that the Whish was better than the “Dohm” in terms of its volume capability. We have to assume here that by “The Dohm” they are referring to the Classic model. This user stated that they have been very happy with the ability of the Whish after previously trying the “Dohm”.

Negative Feedback

There is currently no negative feedback out of the very small amount of overall feedback for this model. Please check back later as we'll be sure to update this section in future.

You can view the current Amazon reviews for the Whish here.

Overall – There's currently not a lot of data on this particular model in terms of feedback,  so it's a little early for us to make a good judgement on what the overall consensus is for the Whish. We'll update this section once there are more reviews available.

View The Whish Model Here On Amazon

Consumer Feedback On The Rohm Model

At the time of writing this review, there are currently 645 actual reviews that focus on the Rohm model specifically (as explained above, you have to select the correct model from the reviews sort section using the “Style” filter). Out of those reviews 487 of them are positive, with the rating being either 3, 4, or 5/5 stars. This means that a little over 70% of the reviews are positive overall, and this is a pretty good sign for this particular model. Let's take a closer look here at the feedback for the Rohm.

Positive Feedback

When going through the positive feedback for the Rohm, you'll notice that a lot of people were very happy with the speaker quality, with one user specifically explaining that this was one of the main reasons she chose the Rohm from Marpac over other similar devices, as she found that the speaker was “less tinny” and provided a more realistic (and more “bassy”) sound. This is combination with the fact that the actual sound clips used by the Rohm are longer, and more intricate than many other competing white noise machine devices on the market. As this one reviewer rightly pointed out, it gets irritating hearing the same 6 seconds of any sound clip over and over again, especially if you're trying to sleep.

Many people have commented on the power of this small device, and quite a few positive reviews actually mentioned that they thought this was better than the original (Classic model) device.

Negative Feedback

Some people were a little disappointed with the battery life of this model, though it's hard to say if this is really a design fault, or some of the people just got a faulty device that didn't use power as efficiently (this happens a lot when you read reviews, because a large % of people who have a positive or non negative experience of a product will not leave any feedback at all, so the few negative reviews that mention a fault over and over again might seem more common than the problem really is).

Other than that, some people reported a melodic “beeping” noise that could be noticed after a little while using the machine. They found this very annoying and therefore the device no longer helped, but rather hindered their sleep. Again, from the relatively small amount of people that had this subjective experience, it's hard to say if this is a real problem with the product overall. It's unclear at this point whether this is actually a design flaw, or it's a random problem that a small percentage of customers have experienced due to simply getting a flawed version of the product.

You can read all the current reviews on Amazon for the Rohm here.

Overall – A large proportion of people who bought the Rohm ended up as satisfied customers, whilst a small minority of people had a bad experience with the “beeping noise” as we just mentioned above. 

View The Rohm Model Here On Amazon

Consumer Feedback On The Hushh Model

When you first look at the product on Amazon you might see a number of over 1000 reviews next to the product at the top, however, you have to go into the reviews section by clicking “see all xxx reviews” and then filtering by the specific “style” (model) of that product under the “All Formats” button. That's when you'll see the actual reviews for this specific model from Marpac. It's a little deceptive, and we hope that Amazon will correct this in future.

That being said, when you have filtered the reviews correctly for the Hushh as explained, you will see about half of the reviews for this actual model. There are 514 reviews for the Hushh model on Amazon.com at the time of writing this. Out of those, 340 of them are positive reviews, with the product getting somewhere between 3-5 stars out of 5. The remaining 154 reviews were negative, with reviewers either leaving a 1-2 star out of 5 star rating for this product. Now, let's have a closer look at the feedback, both negative and positive.

Positive Feedback

There are a lot of parents who claim this is like a “life saver” for keeping their child calm and helping them get to sleep when otherwise they might have trouble. One lady in particular said that she would use hair dryers, fans, etc, in order to get her baby to relax. Obviously she was happy to find that the same effect was far more conveniently achieved using this Marpac Dohm Hushh. Other parents stated that it was like one of their top 5 items for parenting, making such a HUGE difference in their ability to get their baby to sleep, which would of course have a hugely positive effect on their own well being, being able to get to sleep themselves and relax and unwind when they needed to.

Apart from that, many parents liked the fact that the Hushh could operate on a USB charge and without batteries. Another thing that many reviewers mentioned as a positive was the highly portable nature and size of this model, meaning it could easily be carried in baby bags, and taken wherever needed.

Negative Feedback

Most of the negative feedback for this model seemed to be circumstantial. Meaning that the feedback itself was probably more of a negative personal experience, than a design fault overall with the Hushh. A few people said they got a faulty charger, or that the unit's power button had issues. There were some reviews that commented that the unit broke after X months, or that it would no longer charge, etc. Unfortunately these things will happen with any product, and it's probably not a good idea to judge a products value based on a few of these reviews.

Click here to read all the current reviews on Amazon for the Hushh model.

Overall – It seems that the feedback for the Hushh from Marpac Dohm has so far been very much more positive than negative.

View The Hushh Model Here On Amazon

Discussion On Marpac Dohm Noise Machines

Thanks for reading this content, if you have any feedback about the Marpac Dohm white noise machines, or white noise generators in general, please join the conversation below by adding a comment below.