New sounds - let’s discuss our thoughts

[Denziloshamen]

Well, we got a firmware update (no idea really what it did, but seems to have caused issues for many). And a new app, with a new interface that no one wanted or asked for and has now made the quick use of the Sleepbuds at bedtime include an additional step with a full bright screen  rather than the old ‘play’ button we used to get on the nice dark Sleepbuds connection screen. 

But we also got some new sounds, which Bose don’t seem to have mentioned here at all (unless I missed it). I knew they were coming as spotted a, quickly pulled, Facebook post from Bose last week a number of days before the update actually dropped, but when I first updated the app the sounds weren’t there. I incorrectly assumed the app update didn’t include new sounds. A check a few days later, prompted by another post on here, and the new sounds are all available. 

I know I have been pretty negative on here about the issues we all have with the Sleepbuds and the lack of engagement Bose have with us, so I figured it would be good to post some positives when they do occur. Of course, this could just be my personal opinion, but I believe these new sounds are a huge improvement from the older sounds available. The noise masking sounds are all variations of white or pink noise and much more pure than the older sounds (less elements to clutter and enhance the loop triggering). The naturescapes are more complex than just noisemasking, but I feel have less repetitive elements to them that can be fixated on and cause anxiety whilst trying to sleep. It sounds like there’s just the two layers in there, and that, for me is certainly giving me a much better experience than the old sounds (which I think were just trying to be too clever instead of keeping it simple so we can sleep).

These new sounds certainly appear to have been created with our comments in mind, but could just be what they were working on anyway. It would be so nice if the Bose Sleepbuds team would post on here to tell us what they took from our posts and how they went about creating these new sounds (and their future plans). 

I’d be very interested to here from the rest of the community to see if you agree with me, or if you continue to have issues with the new sounds (or if there are issues, are the less annoying now and so a step in the right direction). 

[Ears]

That's strange, I've done the update but I don't seem to have any new sounds?

I deleted + reinstalled the app, and have them now. Really like the new Masking Sounds.

Have spent more time with them now, and would have to agree, well done to Bose on these. Engine Room and Sand are particularly good, exactly what I was missing.

I also like Island Hop from Naturescapes. 

[jimh12345]

I've also been very critical of Bose regarding the 'masking' sounds and the too-obvious loops. When they messed up Warm Static in version 2,  I completely lost hope and concluded no one at Bose really cared.  And let's face it, it's been years.

So I was astounded to get an update yesterday with several new masking sounds.   I've now put them on my buds and listened to them briefly.  On first hearing they sound like they might work, but I didn't listen long enough to be sure; it seems like our ears are a lot more tolerant during the day, or maybe our brains are just too distracted to focus on small anomalies that will eventually drive us nuts.  

Tonight I think I'll try one for real and will report back. 

[Denziloshamen]

Totally agree with you regarding day time ears not being as sensitive to theses sounds as night time ears (I suppose the brain has other distractions during the day that makes the ears more forgiving). 

Last night I slept with Canvas Rain and had no issues with it. It’s fairly similar to Cobblestone for me (which was the only sound my brain could cope with out of all the previous sounds, yet I know some of you had issue hearing the loop of the drips in that one) but with the drips being more constant than the irregular spread out drips Cobblestone had. This makes it a good masking sound as it gives the brain the right level of confusion to not really be able to hear any other outside sounds. I’m not trying too hard to find the loop on Canvas Rain and my ears are certainly not drawn to any specific element of the sound I can hear every ten seconds or so. 

[Denziloshamen]

for those of you with tinnitus that were looking for sounds to help relieve the issues. I’m finding Canvas Rain seems to have the rain drops at just the right pitch that it helps mask it. The other new naturescape sounds are two low frequency for me. Frost and Whiteout also do the same trick for me, so fingers crossed you now find they work for you. 

These improvements to the sounds could just be a coincidence they are better with tinnitus or they could have been designed that way. The fact it was asked for on here might be a factor, it might not. I still invite the Bose Sleepbuds development team to actually post a proper post on here with the development they have done with these new sounds, if they actually took feedback from us and what they plan to do going forward (the post about the app update doesn’t make a single mention of the new sounds for example. Why would you go to the effort of adding new sounds and not shouting it from the rooftops on this community forum. I just don’t understand Bose’s lack of proper engagement on here, why just keep it functional?). 

[harrydog]

New here so may have been posted elsewhere, but its a shame I cant add one loop of my own to them. 

I am still (after three nights) wondering if I will keep them as I am yet to find the perfect relax/cover sound. 

[Denziloshamen]

The adding your own sounds option is never going to be something Bose will allow as it will compromise the user experience and could result in performance issues. However, one of my earlier suggestions was that Bose meet us halfway and create a Soundsleep Studio within the app. This would allow Bose to feed us a selection of all the sleep sound elements that we could then use to build our own individually tailored sound that you can then export to the Sleepbuds. This ensures Bose keep control of the quality experience, but provides users with near infinite sounds (they could even create a share studio for these sounds so others could use them on top of the standard library). The sound studio in the app should also allow the creation of short, medium or long loops. The longer the loop, the fewer sounds you can load of course, but do any of us really want ten sounds on our sleepbuds? I’d much rather have two 1 minute long loops than ten 15 second loops and I’m pretty sure almost every other user feels the same. 

[harrydog]

Are the loops only 15 seconds? The buds hold less than 5 minutes? Wow that's a surprise at this price, I have micro sd cards with hours of stereo wavs on.

[upatamby]

I also noticed by chance that there are suddenly new sounds.

Sand is my new favorite. This is the only sound that allows me to completely mask my partner's snoring. I do have to set the volume to at least 80%, but since Sand is a very soft sound this matches Warm Static at about 50% for me. With Warm Static (my previous favorite), the snoring continues to be heard through it. 

Unfortunately, with Sand, another glitch occurred immediately the first night, adding an artifact to the sound in the left Sleepbud: a constant hum like from an electrical cord. Switching the sound off and on again did not help. Switching to another sound and then back to Sand solved the problem (for that moment). But in the meantime you are wide awake again.

Another sound I noticed was "Pruttel". That's the Dutch name. I have no idea what the English name is (and I can't find the option to change the language in the app anymore) but the sound accompanies an image of a pan on the fire. I myself have made the suggestion in this community for adding the sound of a kettle, but as a masking sound. If this sound is a response from Bose to my suggestion then I appreciate that they did something with it, but I would have appreciated it much more if they had contacted me so I could have explained to them exactly what I had in mind. I wanted the sound of an electric kettle in which the water is fully boiling: an abundant and steady bubbling. "Pruttel" sounds more like a stew that is on a slightly too high fire and could burn at any moment if you don't start stirring it very quickly.

[Denziloshamen]

The amount of storage available is a trade off on the size of the battery and the form factor needed to last the ten hours needed to cover most people’s sleep (although, I can easily squeeze 12 hours of use as I tend to keep them in a bit for the first hour or so sitting at my desk working). I’m pretty sure it’s a bespoke chip and so cannot really be compared to SD cards (although I do get what you’re saying). However, just having around five minutes of storage would be fine if Bose gave us loops that were that long and not as short as they currently are. The current sounds do vary in length though, they’re not all 15 seconds or so. I think the naturescape sounds must be longer and the ones with the music longer still. The hardware is what it is, there’s no changing that now, and it’s mostly fine. The solutions we all make here are all software based improvements that Bose could implement through the app if they’d only take our feedback seriously.