Overall, I recommend this product. Just a few complaints....
Normally I am hypersensitive to noise and prefer "peace and quiet." But, at night I prefer sleeping with the fan on to drown out other noises, the television in the other room, etc. Unfortunately, this is not possible in the winter, so I purchased the Sound Oasis S-550-05 Sound Therapy System. It arrived in good time, well-packaged, and with all components in place. But, what struck me first, was that it appears smaller and more cheaply made than in the pictures, and has a small plastic cheaply made stand that could easily be lost or broken, so I use the unit laying down on its' back on my headboard.
The Buttons: The on/off/volume and timer buttons are easy to operate for the most part, but the sound buttons must be pushed firmly to change sounds and this tends to be difficult to do with one hand in your sleep without moving the whole unit. (Just a little pet-peeve of mine for this unit).
The Sounds: There are six built-in sounds; Ocean Surf, Stream, Rain, White Noise, Summer Night and Wind. The Ocean Surf is okay and probably would be the choice for most people. The Stream and The Rain are harsh. Rather than being like a babbling brook or gentle rain falling against the roof or window, they should be labeled "Niagara Falls," and "Downpour."
I bought the machine primarily for the "White Noise," sound, but the white noise as well seems too harsh and irritating.
And, the "WIND????" Well, that's downright obnoxious.
Surprisingly, I use the sound that would most likely be annoying to all other human beings on the planet and that is, "Summer Night." Basically it is the sound of crickets chirping repeatedly, and believe it or not, I find it so relaxing that I've had the best two nights sleep that I've had in a very long time. (Hence the four stars in spite of all my complaints!)
Sound Cards: There is the option to use additional sound cards on this machine which is another reason I purchased it. I have not tried this yet, or figured out how to do so, which would require reading the instructions, but I do plan to in the future and hopefully will be able to find other sounds not quite as harsh or obnoxious.
So, do I recommend it? Yes! Just be aware of some of the downfalls I have pointed out and if you are looking for a decent sound quality in a lightweight, fairly easy to use machine, then this is the one!
I'll start off with I have really sensitive hearing. I bought one of these sound machines when another cheaper mechanical one I had started making a noise not intended. Do not buy mechanical ones if you have sensitive hearing, they get off kilter and start becoming irritating, like the little spinner gets loosened. So I got one of these, best investment I have made so far. As for the sounds: The wind noise is horrible... kinda freaky too if you wake up in the middle of the night to that, but you can kinda tell it sounds like burlap carpeting on a spinning wheel or something. The Rain and Streams sounds are not bad, BUT you can not have them too loud or they lose their identity and just become annoying. The Ocean Surf is okay, but it is not a continual sound, so if you want to try to drown out something like snoring, or dogs barking, it is not ideal. The summer night is nice, you wouldn't think of crickets being relaxing but they have enough frequency to not be annoying. I use the white noise (waterfall) as it is better to drown out the snoring neighbor in the apartment next to mine, but not completely unfortunately.. Not enough bass though (as silly as it sounds) to drown out the bass of someone snoring though or other 'deep' or low tone sounds. If I did not have to deal with that it is a great machine and be loud enough to drown out the sound from barking dogs outside. Another reason why I got it was for early mornings when people take their dogs out at 6am and let them bark their idiot heads off.
I have not tried to use this with Batteries yet (never really travel) so I am not sure if the complaints people are making are because the batteries die out quickly (which may be why the have the timer built in). So I would say if you have this powered with batteries, use the timer and ensure when you go somewhere the batteries are fresh, or recharged.
A note about the expansion cards.. you would be best to go to the sound oasis website to get the cards, as certain cards only work in certain devices and the amazon sellers do not always know, or tell, which card they have for what model. So instead of buying the wrong card, get your model number (it is on the instructions) and go to the site.
Also, No product is perfect.. anything mass produced will have the chance to have an issue with a unit or two. Do not throw out the warranty card like some less intelligent people have done. Just take five minutes, fill it out, and send it in, it was included for possibilities like this. Finally, Keep the box and shipping material in case you need to return it as it appears some have difficulties with these.
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My first Sound Oasis purchased from QVC--wonderful and lasted for almost 15 years. i used it 4-5 times a year on vacatlions, etc. Battery life was at least 9 hours a night four or 5 nights in a row.
Finally the knobs just fell off. Purchased a new one a few months back. Worked fine first vacation--white noise great. Wind sound is atrocious. Just got back from second vacation. First night
okay. Second night--kept going on and off; then machine gun sound and couldn't get it to work. Next night tried new batteries--worked okay. Next night continued with previous batteries--conked
out in less than 2 hours. Conclusion I need new batteries every night. Cannot use ac adapter because I use this system camping. This is not the same quality unit. I will search for another system.
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This product looks great, it's thin, sleek, and well designed. Unfortunately how it looks counts for absolutely nothing as this is an AUDIO product. First off the speaker in the back is of the cheapest manufacture. It's the same kind of speaker you may find in a plush toy or other cheap electronic device. Because the speaker wire itself is unshielded and unbalanced, if the unit is too close to an alarm clock, lamp, or anything else you may have on your nightstand, you'll get a nice high frequency buzzing from the device. On the plus side it doesn't matter that much that the speaker is awful since the sound effects are the worst kind of looped stock samples. The 'rain' sounds like a faucet, 'ocean surf' sounds like it was recorded 40 years ago, and 'wind' sounds like something from an old monster movie. The only thing this device does well is 'white noise', so congrats Sound Oasis you made static. Not only are these effects bad, but they have no dynamics at all. Every effect is at most 4 seconds in length and is then just looped, so after a short while you can start to hear when the effect starts and stops almost like a skipping record. The volume is a big issue on this product as well. The volume knob goes from 0 to freight train in the smallest of turns. So if you want to listen to bad looped effects, on the world's cheapest speaker, at ear splitting levels while you sleep, then this is the product for you!
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I already have this product purchased it over two years ago. I bought this one for my cousin. The only problem was her adapter did not work but the company was very nice and they have sent her a new one. Mine has been on airplanes in suitcases and on our motorcycle. I do not sleep without this machine. I tried out others and the sounds were so artificial. This one is a keeper and worth the money.
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