I bought a white noise machine recently mostly to minimize the noise from my neighbors (I live in a duplex), but i started actually liking the nature sounds when i wanted to relax at night. Some nature sounds were good, but others just had terrible quality. I read reviews on this one which I would have bought first, but realized it wasnt battery operated/rechargeable and wasnt sure how loud it would go to fit my needs. This one goes just as loud as the previous one I bought (where max is too loud and I'd never need it), and sound quality is 10x better on nature sounds. It's smaller than you think, but packs a punch with good bass and clarity. I keep this one in my bedroom on my nightstand and the dark wood matches perfectly and looks nice. Very hard to pick out repeats on nature sounds (which I usually notice right away, then I cant un-hear it) I wish it was battery operated because this would be the only one I need!