Noisy neighbor? Here is your solution
This product is amazing. I am so pleased. I live in a highrise on the 15th floor in Boston. I can deal with the outside noise but my neighbor above? OMG !! Rude, inconsiderate. He is one of those people who has no common courteousy with apartment living. He scrapes chairs, slams and drops things, paces heavily and worst of all is his television. He plays it at such a loud volume that the noise resonates down through the vent and walls into my apartment. I can often hear it word for word. I have dealt with management in my building etc. but this guy won't cooperate.

I have tried cds of rain and waterfalls but as others have stated, these don't work well. I sleep with a fan on me at night and that helps but I can't have it on all the time. My dear neighbors clock is reversed and noise runs from about 4 pm till 3 am. It was recommended that I get a white noise machine and I didn't really believe it would help but I knew if there was a place to do my research it was with Amazon. I know the styles that play soothing sounds like rain etc. would not work for me.

But this machine does exactly what it says it does. It provides a constant, steady rush of air. It sounds better than my fan and provides a constant background noise that has removed my neighbors nuisances by 95%. Some have complained about the price but I think this item is an amazing deal. The unit is of high quality, has two settings of high and low and further adjustment can be done by rotating the round collar. The directions explain how it works and it says to place the unit away from you so that the sound will fill the room. I have done that in my apartment and the sound resonates very comfortably. It is a sound that it took only a couple of days to get used to. Now I can play my own music, listen to my own tv, be on the computer in silence and sleep with no disturbances. Before, any time at night I had silence I could hear noise resonating from my neighbor.

I am so grateful and shockingly pleased at how well this machine works and easily becomes a comfortable part of your life. I love my apartment but my neighbor has had me thinking of moving. Not anymore. For $50 my peace and sanity has been returned to me.

Highly recommend this product.

Very Happy
I bought this b/c I have a large family living on top of me, and every time they move around it makes a lot of noise down by me.

The problem is, my one year old son is a light sleeper, and kept on waking up from noise.

I'm happy to tell you all that it worked 90%. yes every once in a while he still wakes up, still its a great help.

it is a very soothing noise, and it distracts you from the outside noise, even when it is quite loud.

I wonder if 2 would do the trick completely - but since it pretty much works and its expensive, I have to hold out.

Tip: keep it as close to the bed as possible.

Works great
This product does exactly what it is supposed to do - create a steady, fan-like sound that makes it easy to sleep. It is a little louder than the small fan I used in the summer, but at least I don't hear our inconsiderate neighbor's coon dogs baying all night. The Marpac Sound Screen has two fan speed settings, and independently adjustable side and top openings can be combined to dial up many different variations of sound and volume. I use it on its "softest" setting, with fan of slow and the side slots closed with only three top holes open. The Sound Screen has foam on the base to prevent scratching furniture. The unit did resonate when placed directly on top of our chest of drawers, creating a an additional low humming sound. Since I didn't care for that, I simply put a book under the Sound Screen, eliminating the hum entirely. The Marpac Sound Screen works as advertised and is highly recommended.

wonderful gentle sound and very safe
I had my sound machine for over a year. Recently one of my children put a heavy blanket over the machine without my knowledge. This morning I went in to shut off the machine as usual and found it covered in a heavy blanket. I wripped the blanket off of the machine and saw it was litterally half way melted to the ground, and yet it was STILL running as usual. I cant say thank you enough to the makers of this product. Not only did it provide a constant, soothing sound, which kept my children of 3 years and 9 years old asleep better, but when it got so hot it severly melted the machine, there was no fire, smoke or any sign of trouble from the over heating.

Does What It Claims To Do
We ordered this for our daughter who has trouble falling asleep when she can hear other people awake in the house. I was worried about the many reviews that said it was too quiet, but that has not been our experience. If anything it's on the loud side. Even on low I can hear it through her closed door two rooms away. On high it's loud enough to be annoying. I agree with other reviewers who said the overall sound is like a bathroom fan. I would also agree with those who say it isn't true white noise. The wind noise it makes can be adjusted to be relatively pleasing and neutral (although it does sound a bit rushed due to the smallness of the chamber), but unfortunately the actual fan is also audible, and has a higher pitch. A little like a far away hair dryer. Overall it works for our needs. It masks noise, and reduces distractions. If she tries, our daughter may still be able to detect the murmur of a conversation elsewhere in the house, but she certainly can't hear the actual words. Noises in general are muffled enough that they are no longer distracting. For those who are looking for something to completely remove the sound of loud TVs, horns honking, and so forth I'm not sure what to tell you. Anything that does that will be very loud itself, and too loud for the average person. The unit is small, simple, adjustable, and does what it claims to. I wouldn't say it's perfect since I'd like a "whiter" white noise and more than two volume settings, but on the other hand we haven't found anything better. If you're looking for a sound screen, that's exactly what it is.