There have been many upgrades, with the last one coming about a year ago which added the “A” to the model number and a slight change in dimensions and a “whiter” color.  Marpac places either a Sleep Mate label or a Soundscreen label on the unit depending on the resellers order.  These units are also used in doctor’s offices to keep you from hearing what disease the person  who is in with your doctor has as you wait in the waiting room.  For this reason the Soundscreen label was introduced.  After all, who wants a machine in their waiting room that says Sleep Mate?


First Impressions: It looks weird.  It looks like no other sound machine on the market.  The power cord is 8 feet long and the unit is bright white as apposed to the ivory color of the proceeding model.  You can get any color you want, as long as it’s white.  The plastic is thick and the unit has a good weight feel to it.

How it works: The “cap” on top rotates to expose and/or cover small holes to change tone and volume, somewhat.  The “collar” rotates to expose or cover open slots on the side changing the tone and volume, somewhat.  We say ‘somewhat’ because although the volume does change, it is slight.  The 980A has a low and high speed power switch to aid in volume control, but the best way to control the volume on the unit is to place it near or far from you in the room.

There is a single speed model 580A under the same label names.  The top volume on that unit will run at 85% of the top volume on the two speed 980A.  The 980A has a volume of 65 decibels at 18″ above the unit.

The guts: What makes this different than any other sound machine it that there is actually a motor inside of it turning a rotor.  It works like a fan (which many people use for sleeping already) but it won’t collect dust and go out of balance, and it won’t blow air around the room.

Our CRI’s have told us that these machines have lasted over 25 years!  These American Made units are truly durable.  This unit holds the all time record of best initial quality with a defective rate below .01%!  A defective rate among electronics of 2% is the norm. The unit weighs in at 1 lb. 10 oz.  It is 3.5” tall and 5.5” diameter at the base.  Still light enough for travel, but not as light as the Marpac Marsona TSC-330.  Some resellers offer a 220v-240v model for European travel that has a two prong power cord.  This unit can only be used outside the USA, unlike the 330I.

Maximum volume measured at 18″ above unit at full volume is 69 decibels.

Pricing: Retail pricing is $56.95 for the two speed 980A, $46.95 for the single speed 580A and $61.95 for the 220v-240 volt international model.  These units can be found on the web for 49.95,  40.95 and 54.95 respectively, with some resellers offering free shipping.  It will be hard to find them cheaper as Marpac has activated a ‘MAP’ (minimum advertised price) policy, per our CRI’s.

Verdict: If it’s white noise you’re after, then there is no better machine on the market.

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This is an analog sound machine which doesn’t have a loop as do many other digital sound machine on the market today.  The “loop”  which can be described as a repeating “tick” sound every 3-5 seconds, can often keep people awake at night.   The loop free quality of white noise of the Marsona TSC-330 is very impressive.

First Impressions to select the wave sound which makes it loud then soft and so on to simulate waves rushing in and to select the wave sound which makes it loud then soft and so on to simulate waves rushing in and out.

The tone slide controls listed as “rain” – “waterfall”. At the extremes it does sound like rain or a waterfall, but the best way to view this as a tone control. You can dial it in just to your liking.

Travel:
The whole system weighs only 1 lb. 1 oz. and is 7.5” x 4.5” x 2.25” in size. Some resellers offer an international version that comes with a 220v power adapter for US and international use. . If your without power, you’ll need to buy the optional battery pack for about $15.00. It holds 6 AA batteries and runs the unit for up to 40 hours.

Sound Quality:
The TSC-300 is the only electronic white noise/sound machine we have found that does not loop. The quality is very good! We like being able to adjust the tone. We were able to obtain very high volume without any distortion. Maximum volume measured at 18″ above unit at full volume is 66 decibels.

Pricing:
Suggested retail pricing is $79.95 and $89.95 for the international model (TSC-330I). We have found it for cheaper on the web.

Verdict:
We love the 330, and we recommend it home home and travel use.

Marpac Marsona TSC-330 Video:

The Marsona DS-600A has been around a long time.  It is made in the USA by Marpac Co.  Weighing in at about 2 pounds this unit feels well build.  The operation is straight forward.  There are sound selector switches on the front.  There is a one push button to allow this sound machine to turn itself off in 60 minutes.  Don’t push the button and this sound machine will run forever.

This is one of the few high end sound machines’ that allows for battery operation.  It takes 4 AA batteries.  We judged this unit should run on batteries for about two 8 hour nights.  It of course comes with a standard 110 volt wall plug.  It arrived very well packed with a simple straight forward product manual.  This sound machine comes with six sounds.  We found the sound quality on this machine to be above average.  The thunderstorm sound was crisp and clear.  The babbling brook was clear too.  Lakeshore and surf were very nice.  But you have to like crickets for the lakeshore sound.

The most used sound on any sound machine is the “white noise” sound.  On this unit we found it exceptional.  It got very loud too, just how we want it.  There is no tone control.  The volume is controlled by an easy to find slider switch under the front part of the sound machine.

We like a quality sound machine that gives you some choices of different sounds.  There is always that time when you want to kick back and place yourself next to a lakeshore, close you eyes and imagine.

Feel free to leave your own review and rating below.

The volume is controlled by a slider switch on the front bottom of the unit.  There are only three buttons on the unit.  On/off, sound selector and a 60 minute timer option.

The sounds are:
Womb
Heartbeat
Lullaby
Surf
Rain
Brook

Although there is no “white noise” sound selection white noise is just a type of noise, not a specific sound.  We found that the ‘rain sound’ is a good white noise equivalent.  The unit runs off of an included wall plug or 4 AA batteries.

The sound quality is fair to good.  At high volume we did notice some vibration noise from the rear of the unit.  This was coming from the battery compartment, so we suggest putting batteries in it to keep the battery springs from vibrating.

Leave us your own review below.