Sound Spa Rejuvenate by Homedics

Sound Spa Rejuvenate by Homedics

The sound spa Rejuvenate is a sound machine made in China for the purpose of helping those with difficulties in falling asleep. You definitely get what you pay for here! It has 6 nature sounds, one of which is white noise. The others being thunder, summer night, brook, ocean and rain. To me the worst sound is the summer night that has an annoying ventilation fan along with the sound of a cricket in it. The added fan sound is nothing in the summer nights in nature I’m accustomed to. For that matter it isn’t even a nature sound. All sounds are mono/lo-fi with the lack of ability to combine one with another. I don’t know about you but I don’t hear nature in lo-fi. There is no way of changing the event time, slower or faster loop repeat. The cost is just under twenty bucks.

My purpose in getting the Sound Spa was not for sleep deprivation but for background ambiance for an area I created to simulate a cottage by the lake feel, using my art. It’s a place I spend a lot of time relaxing and entertaining. I purchased my first one not knowing the quality of sounds and the lack of information on the box. I was also hoping to find some birds chirping somewhere on it… nope. It was white but compact and portable. It needed 4 double AA batteries, not included. It comes with a power adapter but I have no outlets near by.

When I turned it on, it played the thunder. I wasn’t very impressed by it and then played the other sounds in sequence. They were just as bad, poor quality sound. There are 6 buttons below the speaker to change the sounds and volume controls on the right. Volume levels are digitally set with no adjustment for infinite levels. The on/off switch and the 15, 30 and 60 minute timer is to the left of the speaker.

I was hoping to see an output for a second or external speaker for a wider effect but it had none. I placed the unit in an inconspicuous place to see what kind of effect I would have with just mono. I wasn’t too impressed. I went out to my local Walmart and bought a second unit. I set it up and placed it on the opposite wall away from the first one and turned both units on; first the one on my right and then the left. I wanted to hear the first sound in my right ear rather than my left giving it a wider prospective. Because there is a slight delay in sound from one unit to the other, I now have stereo effect. I can also play 2 different sounds simultaneously i.e. thunder and rain. I also get much more realistic sounds of nature now using two units rather than one with a crappy lo-fi.

I did try it to help me fall a sleep as I do have a problem in that area as well. I've been listening to the fan of a window air conditioner which has helped, however with winter coming, I'm going to need something else. I find that the sounds are too harsh for me with no decent adjustment for the volume. Since it's digital, the volume settings are either too loud or too quiet...nothing in between. The harsh sounds are annoying and instead of helping me fall a sleep, they hinder it. If there was a tone control on the unit, it would help soften the sound. I can also hear the loop in each of the sounds as I concentrate on them.

If I had to rate this item from 1-10 stars, I would give it ** (2 stars) due to the lack in quality of sound and options. If you are looking to purchase this inexpensive sound machine with harsh sounds, want a little more than just poor quality mono, get two and run them at the same time. They’re inexpensive enough not to. They don’t need to be in sync to work well, just remember to separate them so that they hit each different ear, one for the right and one for the left. I would have them far enough away from your ears so that the harshness might be absorbed somewhere in the room softening the sound. Try the ocean sound that way!