I live with my windows facing a street. Between obnoxious people with loud stereos, blasting their terrible music, to obnoxious neighbours doing the same, I've become really irritated with the amount of /annoying/ noise that's around. I don't mind the sound of cars just driving by. It's almost kind of soothing to know that there are other people out there. I'm not mad at the noise of a rain storm, or wind blowing, or general ambient stuff that you can ignore. What I do hate is the sharp hammering of construction equipment. The rumbling annoyances of loud speakers. Screaming children.I could wear ear plugs, or noise cancelling headphones to get to sleep, but I'm not sure that it's exactly healthy to have that level of stuff crammed in your ear, preventing it from getting air. I could ask the neighbours to keep it to a dull roar, but that only helps for a few hours. The next day, they're at it again, and I get vaguely murdery because I haven't had enough sleep.With the white noise machine, I can crank up the volume until it's drowning out most of life's auditory annoyances. I do have a fan on to help me sleep. I also crank the a/c during the summer. But if I want my windows open to let in the cool night air, I need something to drown out the chaos of rude inconsiderate people. This has made it so much easier to fall asleep. In fact, all I have to do is switch on the white noise to my favourite sound, and all of a sudden my body gets ready to get comfy and sleepy. It's cut down on how often I need to take sleeping meds to fall asleep by about 1/3. I still have insomnia. And I'll try anything to help. This is not some kind of miracle cure, but it really really helps on those nights when the noises are too much.