It isn't so much the volume of the sound as it is the source of the sound. Natural sounds seem to be okay. It is man made noise that I find so very irritating and difficult. For instance, the restaurant across the street uses a leaf blower for over an hour each morning. The sound is horribly invasive and all the more irritating when you consider a broom would do the same job of sweeping their patio. Right now I am listening to a gasoline powered weed-whacker. Ugh.