Hey Sundance, I don't think the machines are expensive, 20 dollars? We have one and I can't sleep without it as I am listening for alarms and hyper- alert. Even with the ambien. It is nice to have a lulling back ground noise. In the summer it is the fan or A.C. It does help. So might a cd with waves etc that will play over and over. I learned to be so incredibly hypervigilent that this noise thing is like a gift from the greek gods or something. Good luck.