The HoMedics Deep Sleep HDS-2000 offers sound profiles that are unmatched by the competition, with sound masking capabilities that excelled during testing. That makes this HoMedics device one of the best sound machines for helping you fall asleep and stay asleep.
The HoMedics Deep Sleep HDS-2000 has 12 sounds that fall under three categories: white noise, water, and nature. The water noises are ocean, rain, thunderstorm and brook. The thunderstorm sound is a combination of light rainfall and rolling thunder. You can use the tone adjustment buttons on the remote or on the sleep machine to manipulate each sound.
In our HoMedics Deep Sleep HDS-2000 review, we look at the machine's design, features and performance, to help you decide if it's right for you. To aid your sleep further, we'd also recommend looking at the best sunrise alarm clocks to help you rise more easily, while our best pillows and best mattress online guides will help you find the right bedding for your body type.
HoMedics Deep Sleep HDS-2000: Overview
When you crank up the tone on the thunderstorm sound, the thunder is the most prominent, with bass-driven crashes and echoing resonance that nicely emulate a real thunderstorm. When the tone is turned all the way down, the rain becomes the forefront of the sound, with the thunder tucked into the background.
Under the white noise category, there are four sounds to choose from: mask, relax, calm and soothe. The mask tone is specifically designed to block external noise and distractions so you can have undisturbed sleep. The calm setting has the lowest undertone; this is supposed to give relief to tinnitus suffers. Relax is also there to block unwanted room noise, while the soothe tone has the highest pitch of any of the white noises. It's great to have more than one option for white noise; this way, you can find the noise that helps you sleep best.
HoMedics Deep Sleep HDS-2000: Design
The HoMedics Deep Sleep HDS-2000 boasts an elegant design, but it is a relatively tall sleep machine and has a slim base, so it can easily tip over. The speaker's grille is light gray and has a great-looking wavy design. The base of the sleep machine hosts the display and all of the controls.
The display is an LCD screen with four brightness settings. One of the settings is total backlighting, while the other three are minor adjustments of brightness without the backlight. When backlit, the screen is easy to see, especially in the dark. The LCD screen displays the sound you are currently listening to as well as the volume and tone of each sound.
Any time you make an adjustment to the sound, including adjusting volume or changing sleep sounds, the screen automatically lights up. This is especially useful when you make adjustments to your sound machine in the middle of the night.
The Deep Sleep comes with a convenient remote control. You can place your sleep machine virtually anywhere in your room and still make adjustments to the sound without having to leave your bed. The remote control is small and lets you adjust every aspect of your sound machine. There is a groove for the remote on the back of the sleep machine where it attaches magnetically. This is a nice touch so you don't misplace the remote.
The Deep Sleep is covered by a one-year warranty. Reaching out to the company via phone is the quickest way to receive customer support. HoMedics also offers email support if your inquiry isn't urgent.
HoMedics Deep Sleep HDS-2000: Features
This white noise generator excelled in our testing. For our sound masking tests, we used the mask tone within the white noise sound profiles. Reviewers sat inside a room with the sound machine running while a reviewer outside of the room created common household noises. These noises included a vacuum, a television, music and a blender.
While the sound machine was on, our testers were virtually unable to hear the traffic from the road outside of our testing facility, which is usually quite loud. The white noise maker also did a great job masking conversational noise from the television as well as blocking music from the stereo.
The blender was the most intrusive noise, and while the sound machine couldn’t completely mask the blender, it did take away from the initial high-pitched rev noise. The sudden, sharp tone of a loud sound is the thing that will wake someone up. The Deep Sleep softens the blow of that sound better than any other device we reviewed, including the Avantek sound machine.
As far as sound quality goes, the Deep Sleep just sounds better than the competition. All of the sound profiles are rich, realistic, soothing and adjustable. There are no audible loops in any sound profile, which is extremely important. When you are trying to sleep at night, an audible loop can become distracting and keep you awake instead of lulling you to sleep.
One of the standout features on the HDS-2000 is the sleep therapy option. This takes any of the eight water and nature noises and transitions them to white noise after you have fallen asleep. This is to promote all-night sleep without any disturbances. The gentle transition is so gradual that the change in sound won't startle you awake.
Although this sleep machine has an LCD screen, it doesn't display the time, nor does it have an alarm clock. The Deep Sleep does feature a built-in timer to automatically shut the sound machine off after 30, 60 or 90 minutes.
Should you buy the HoMedics Deep Sleep HDS-2000?
There isn't another sound machine that matches the Deep Sleep's audio quality or sound masking abilities. This sound machine is also adjustable to fit your listening preferences. The tone control lets you manipulate the sound until you find your personal sweet spot.
The Sleep Therapy button transitions water and nature sounds to white noise in the middle of your sleep to keep you asleep all night. This sound machine helps to not only get you to sleep, but keep you asleep. It’s the best choice for the sleep deprived.
