Ambiance vs aSleep

[kwjohns]

I haven't tried either but both updated their apps recently and I'm interested. Has anyone tried both and if so, which do you find better and why? If you don't have both, which one do you have and how do you like it?

[BikeRanger]

Have some ambient nature sounds (ocean, river, etc.) in iTunes, set to repeat. Like that solution better because the tracks can be used from my iPhone or MBP.

[TimothyB]

Considering both are a $1, I can hardly complain.

I recently bought Ambiance and a Sony docking Alarm Clock just for it.

The sounds seem basic. Ocean didn't thrill me, too hard on white noise than soothing. The fan and machine are nice and different from sound machines I've had. Rain, simple, but good. Creek, sounds good, but haven't used it, with like something a little slower and suddle. Waterfall, sounds like a big one.

One annoyance is all the different white noises, like Pink Noise, Violent Noise, etc, that are scattered throughout. So if you want to browse the sounds while play, they are pretty startling.

Though, update doubles the amount of sounds and haven't tried it yet. But for the cost, buying both apps would be a no brainer.

Also, there's this 3rd app that just came out. But until Apple releases their 1.1 update, the sounds have a noticeable hick-up when they repeat.
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=288353538&mt=8

[EvanLugh]

I like aSleep. Lots of options at only 59p. I was looking for a thread like this last night, I wasn't sure which one to buy ;)

[Roller]

Both apps are good, though I like Ambience's better. They were also both just updated to add sounds. The downside is that they're large (aSleep is now 172MB, Ambience 56MB) so they take a lot of time to install/update. I'd like to see them provide a way to permanently delete sounds that I know I'm never going to use to save space.

[TwiceNightly]

I own both and prefer aSleep.

aSleep seems to have more natural sounding noises to me, and the update yesterday just added lots more to it.

[tofupancake]

Has anyone tried iChillOut? Too early to trust the very positive reviews in the iStore, but it looks better than both of those.

[jeremy.king]

The downside is that they're large (aSleep is now 172MB, Ambience 56MB) so they take a lot of time to install/update.

This is an understatement! I bought aSleep last night because I couldn't....well....sleep and it took 40 mins to download and install.

[EvanLugh]

This is an understatement! I bought aSleep last night because I couldn't....well....sleep and it took 40 mins to download and install.

Same here, well it took 10 minutes but in the end I fell asleep anway.

[thatdude90210]

There's a beach in my pocket. :)

The new "coast" sound in Ambiance is pretty nice, I have it going right now with the timer set. It's kinda funny with people wondering where the bird and ocean sound is coming from.

[kwjohns]

This is an understatement! I bought aSleep last night because I couldn't....well....sleep and it took 40 mins to download and install.

Maybe that's their intention. "Can't sleep? Watch our app install!" :D

[rigodamdiculous]

I prefer Ambiance's interface, though for this type of app, it's not that important.
They both have the same features.

aSleep has a larger selection/variety of sounds (including some music and meditation), some of which seem...well...non-sleepy to me, but that's subjective.
Both are of very high quality.
It really comes down to what you find relaxing and I'm not sure but I don't think either developer has samples available.

I pretended they were one app that cost two bucks - less than I pay for a cup of coffee to wake myself up, love all the options, feel it was totally worth it.
Taking both recent updates into consideration, aSleep currently has the edge for the variety.
Here's hoping they keep trying to one-up each other for a while!

[thetoothfairy]

I own both but like aSleep much better.... my reason is because I like the look and feel of aSleep better than the other one.... matter of fact I took off the other one and just have aSleep on my phone now...

[kwjohns]

Something I found odd was that on aSleep's website, they have a button for previewing the sounds but it isn't linked to take you anywhere...

http://www.signs-studios.com/developer/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=61

[noisebleed]

i own both, since i require white noise ( noise with no rhythm basically like a fan or rain ) to sleep.

ambience sucks.

asleep's sounds are a lot more crisp, louder and better...

the rain and thunder ones are the best.

i use the rain everyday now... works like a charm.

[kwjohns]

I decided to get aSleep since everyone who owns both thinks aSleep is better. I sent an email to the developer this morning suggesting a keyboard tapping sound added to the next version and he responded within a couple hours that it would be in the next version. Nice!

[lesliegolf]

I fly about 125k miles a year and was really happy to see both these apps hit the store. I purchased both. Perfect for covering up crying kids, whining kids, whining adults, etc.

As someone mentioned, aSleep has really clear sounds. Also, the sounds do not sound they are repeating as quickly as ambiance. Sometimes I cannot figure out where the repeat even is.

IMHO aSleep is considerably better than Ambiance.

[Zwhaler]

I own ambiance, but I think I might get aSleep as well after reading the good reviews here. The downsize is that the app itself takes up more space than all works by most artists that I have.

[Lucca]

I have ambiance and really like it, but your good reviews of asleep convinced me to purchase it. It's currently downloading and installing now.

I mean, since both are 1 buck a pop, what do I have to lose? :) (well, besides 1 buck but still.)

[iblastoff]

confused as to why anyone would pay for these apps. you do know your iphone/ipod can PLAY mp3s right? its just like all the people buying up those crappy restaurant tip apps. um hello calculator?

[Lucca]

confused as to why anyone would pay for these apps. you do know your iphone/ipod can PLAY mp3s right? its just like all the people buying up those crappy restaurant tip apps. um hello calculator?

Well, yes, but most likely you still have to pay for those mp3s. It's probably the fact that the apps themselves are rather cheap that make them appealing. I know I would not be buying them if they were more than a buck.

[bushido]

i love to listen to the "beach" on aSleep when i'm outside trying to tan, it makes me feel like i'm actual at the beach lol (the birds r kinda annoying tho)

[noisebleed]

confused as to why anyone would pay for these apps. you do know your iphone/ipod can PLAY mp3s right? its just like all the people buying up those crappy restaurant tip apps. um hello calculator?

please find me a decent nature album. i can't find them on itunes nor torrents nor google.

also please find me a nature album that is 99 cents.

( downloading mp3s is legal in canada, sorry americans if you can't talk about it )

either way, there is none!

[SFC Archer]

please find me a decent nature album. i can't find them on itunes nor torrents nor google.

also please find me a nature album that is 99 cents.

( downloading mp3s is legal in canada, sorry americans if you can't talk about it )

either way, there is none!

Try Nature Sound Series or Sounds of the Earth. I downloaded from iTunes and have them on my iPhone at all times. I love the Loons and Campfire Night the best. If you have Simplify Media...let me know your screen name and I will accept you so that you can at least listen or use them at your desire.

SN: rngrtristan

Gary

[bushido]

confused as to why anyone would pay for these apps. you do know your iphone/ipod can PLAY mp3s right?

bc it looks nice and is less work for lazy ppl like me lol

[Roller]

confused as to why anyone would pay for these apps. you do know your iphone/ipod can PLAY mp3s right? its just like all the people buying up those crappy restaurant tip apps. um hello calculator?

Dang, I didn't know that. I went and wasted a buck ($2, actually).

[Excellerator]

I own both, but prefer aSleep because I hate all the "NOISE" ones that Ambience has.

[stockcerts]

I don't think any of us realized that MP3 play sounds .:rolleyes: The nice think about Asleep is it has a timer and the sounds continue on until the designated time is up, and for .99 cents you get lots of different sounds and the automation. It was a well spent .99 cents!

[jaseone]

I own both, but prefer aSleep because I hate all the "NOISE" ones that Ambience has.

That is some fuzzy logic there considering just how many noises that most people would never use that aSleep has...

[slapppy]

Does any of it have explosions and gut wrenching screams for sounds? :p

[stevearm]

I love Ambiance, but some of the sound effects are just bizarre, like the 'white/violet/blue etc... noise'.

They're just over-packing an already cluttered list of sounds (after the new update)

[jaseone]

I own both, but prefer aSleep because I hate all the "NOISE" ones that Ambience has.

Well you would be happy to know the latest update of Ambiance includes an option to hide those static noises. :)

You do know though a lot of offices play those (usually white or pink I think) in the background? You think that is the A/C you're hearing? Think again! ;)

[Jonavin]

I love Ambiance, but some of the sound effects are just bizarre, like the 'white/violet/blue etc... noise'.

They're just over-packing an already cluttered list of sounds (after the new update)

The reason for those noise is that new born babies find them soothing. They are however annoying for the rest of us so I love that they made possible to hide the static noises in the new version. Even better still would be to categorize the sounds.

I'm going to give aSleep a try nice everybody seems to prefer this. Now that my iPhone has stopped app-crashing after going back to iTunes 7.7.0.

[Excellerator]

All and all, the competition of both apps has made BOTH of them get better and better. I think for $2 (for both) they are probably one of the better AppStore deals. They could easily charge $9.99 for each and would probably sell well. Heck, the sound CDs and clocks are a lot more than that!

[bunnicula]

Well you would be happy to know the latest update of Ambiance includes an option to hide those static noises. :)

You do know though a lot of offices play those (usually white or pink I think) in the background? You think that is the A/C you're hearing? Think again! ;)

Oh but yes! I do know this!

My office sounds like I'm on a plane, minus the lower rumblings of the engine.

It's maddening.

:rolleyes:

[macduke]

Oh but yes! I do know this!

My office sounds like I'm on a plane, minus the lower rumblings of the engine.

It's maddening.

:rolleyes:

When I was younger and I would go with my dad to work on bring your kid to work day it would drive me crazy too. I thought it was the A/C but he told me it was a sound they played and I thought that was the nuttiest thing I'd ever heard. I'm so glad Ambiance now has the update to turn off those annoying sounds.

They do need a way to categorize sounds and remove the ones you never use. Or maybe make a favorites button or have all your favorites on the main screen where you have to select from a big list in the options. Eventually it will take forever to scroll through them all.

So far, Ambiance is my favorite because 1.) It has a simple interface 2.) It has a nicer icon and 3.) I like several of the sounds, especially nature ones, better. Asleep does have some better non-nature sounds. I do think the thunderstorm ones need to be improved on both versions though. They sound like someone taking sheet metal and wobbling it through the air...which is probably how the sound file was made. Record a real thunderstorm!! I love noisy thunderstorms with rolling thunder and crashes mixed in along with howling wind. Best sleeping conditions IMO.

[biker74]

Have both, Ambiance for travel, drown out kids.

But prefer asleep as it has the timer. Always thought rain or wind would send me off, but find that flight cabin does it everytime.

Would like to see a hoover sound on asleep - dont know why, but that just soothes me off, weird!

[SFC Archer]

The best sound to add would be a live recording of an Evening Mountain Campfire WITH Crickets/Frogs/Brook in the Background...That is the most perfect relaxing sound ever!!! Those that have been camping know what I mean...those that don't would love it.

The loops for crickets and frogs needs to be increased on both versions! The cricket loop i use is 62 min long and I am asleep long before it completes oh...and its natural, not synthesized.

[tallyho]

Well I have Ambiance, aSleep and iChillout (I'm not actually an insomniac, just kind of interested in doing the comparison, and as they were 59p each, it hardly broke the bank.

The winner is...Ambiance, by a country mile. The sounds are better, you can (now) remove and categorise sounds and most importantly of all, it has options to fade the sound gently to silent, so you are not woken up by the sudden cut off of sound. (aSleep has a "fade" too, but it is pretty poorly done - it seems to fade from full to zero in four steps over 4 seconds, as opposed to the slow fade in Ambiance).

iChillout looks pretty with a different picture but some of the sounds are just bad. The "Scottish Highlands" (where I live...) is just a mess of wind-distortion on the microphone. I have no idea why on earth they let that into the app...

[Solver]

My pick, Ambiance

I've invested in all three, for my wife. iChillout now competes after remixing all the sounds in this new update. Before that it was barely holding two stars.