Ecotones

What is Adaptive Sound?

Ecotones is the very first sound machine that can listen to a room and learn to determine what is normal sound for the environment, and what's not, by continuously scanning the room so it has a current image of the ambient sounds.

When Ecotones detects an unusual or disruptive noise, its unique and patented software is then capable of adapting the SoundStory being played, adding sounds (increasing “richness”) in real-time from its expanded sound library and even automatically adjusting volume to neutralize the offensive noise.

When the sound intrusion abates, Ecotones automatically returns to the original volume and richness settings for the selected SoundStory.

How does Ecotones help with sleep?

Ecotones improves on widely available, conventional solutions that simply play music or repetitive, short sound clips like the sound of fans, chanting or falling water.

• ASTI's patented Adaptive Mode is completely unique to Ecotones models.
• SoundStories are dynamically composed from hundreds of proprietary recordings. As a result, they do not become repetitious and monotonous after hours and hours of play. This minimizes the potential for the recording itself to become irritating.
• Each ASTI SoundStory is a blend of a foundational theme enhanced by a library of up to 50 additional natural sounds. For example, the Thunderstorm SoundStory is augmented by various thunderclaps, wind sounds and more. Ecotones measures the ambient sound in a room using its built-in microphone to determine the appropriate mix of sounds to play. ASTI calls this real-time sound composition.
• ASTI understands that the acoustical and design quality of its machines is a vital factor in the listening experience of our customers. Case materials, speakers and fabrication are of the highest possible quality to deliver the best possible sound at an affordable price.

How are SoundStories recorded?

The short answer is that ASTI stories are recorded the hard way. Our sound engineering and design teams climb trees, sit up all night waiting for frogs to croak, and stand outside in thunder storms with high-quality sound equipment to capture the best quality sounds – the authentic sounds of nature.

All of our SoundStories employ recorded natural sounds except for the Meditation theme.

How well does Ecotones mask sound?

The only way to truly and completely “mask” or “block” sound is to turn up the volume on any device to a point where the intrusive sound can't be heard over the sound being generated by your sound machine. But that would act against the primary goal of relaxing or sleeping well without disturbing others.

Ecotones' Adaptive Mode offers more than volume as a tool for neutralizing disruptive noise, automatically enriching SoundStories with additional sound and automatically (and gradually) raising volume even while you are asleep to minimize the potential to be startled or awakened by an intrusive noise.

We simply think that works better than having to choose a static volume setting that strikes a balance between being soft enough to allow you to sleep, but loud enough to drown out the sound of the neighbor's car alarm when they return home from the night shift.

Making those adjustments automatically allows you to continue sleeping through many of those disruptions.

How does Ecotones know there is a disturbance in the room?

Ecotones units include a microphone that listens to the sound in the area where it's installed and detects noises that differ from those it heard when the room was scanned to measure the ambient noise level (calibrated) when the Ecotones was first powered on. With this in mind, it's best to perform calibration when the room is in a state where the noise level is what you consider ideal.

If Ecotones detects a freight train in the room continuously during calibration, it will believe that's the natural sound environment it's intended to maintain, rather than that it is intrusive sound you would like to neutralize.

To what kinds of noises does Ecotones respond?

Ecotones responds to a wide variety of noises, responding best to loud, sudden changes in background noise that can be detected by the microphone and readily differentiated from the sound being played by the unit.

The louder the noise, the more readily Ecotones responds. If the noise is too faint to be detected by the microphone, Ecotones responsiveness is reduced, but the likelihood that any but the most acute listener will detect the noise is equally low.

Finally, certain SoundStories are more effective than others in neutralizing certain sounds because they're in a similar frequency to the noise you want to neutralize. This following table suggests SoundStories you may find more effective in minimizing certain common sound intrusions.

Will Adaptive Mode interfere with my home's security system?

Ecotones SoundStories will not mask security or fire alarms because of their high volume levels and unique frequency patterns. Also, the SoundStories will not interfere with security systems that listen for specific sounds, such as breaking glass.

Will Ecotones cover up my partner's snoring?

A snoring partner right next to you is a rather unique and difficult circumstance. Ecotones works as well as any other sound machine in this scenario, but may not be the miracle to blocking a particularly loud snorer just inches away.