A device that can drown out the nighttime noises of urban mayhem

A device that can drown out the nighttime noises of urban mayhem

There's one of those perennial Manhattan potholes outside my window that's been there since the Koch administration, and every summer--when I sleep with the windows open--I debate whether I can somehow repair the damn thing by myself. Every time a newspaper delivery truck hits this pothole at two in the morning, the resultant KA-KLANG-KA-KLANG is enough to wake up everyone in my building.

Adaptive Sound Technologies' Ecotones 'sound therapy system' was supposedly designed for problems like these. The bedside device spits out soothing noises--wind, babbling brooks, the tides, etc.--and even claims to be able to detect sudden and extra-loud noises, which it masks by ramping up the waves or what have you.

It sounds too good to be true, though The Times gave it a positive review. At $299 it ain't cheap, but with summer coming up, I'll have to compare the price with the cost of asphalt and a steamroller rental.

(Via Core77.)