AcousticSheep SleepPhones Review: Side Sleeper Compatible 

You're welcome. Let me know if they work out well for you!

I am looking to replace my raycons for asmr. I really should have done more research before buying them, and I desperately need to find a better option. How have the SleepPhones held up?

Thanks for the very kind compliment Christina! I'm glad you liked the review.

Thanks Steve, I really appreciate the positive feedback!

Thank you for the very kind words! I'm glad the video was helpful for you. Honestly, I don't think any of the fabric headphones are perfect, but these are definitely better than the others I've tried so far. There are a couple that are louder and arguable clearer because they have less padding. But what padding they do have tends to be noticeably cheaply made and results in them being less comfortable. And don't get me started on how they actually look on your head with the weird control units and strange choice of words stitched on! So, louder volume and lower cost would be the only reasons to get the others in my opinion. For overall quality, these are the best of a relatively small bunch.

You're welcome! I do try to be unbiased and present the pros and cons:-)

You're welcome Myranda - I'm glad that section was helpful for you. I still think they are the best headphones of this style I've tried, long after publishing this video. And I still think they are more practical than most normal headphones either. I hope they work well for you too if you do buy them. Either way, it would be good to know what you think of them - positive or negative:-)

You're welcome! Good to know which part you found useful, so thanks for the feedback:-)

We ordered a set based upon that review!

You're welcome, and thanks to you too for the positive feedback. I hope you like them!

You're very welcome!

You're welcome Paula!

You're welcome Charlie, and thank you too for the positive feedback, which always brightens my day:-)

@@nosleeplessnights1 :)

You're welcome, and thank you for using my code. Much appreciated!

I’m trying to decide between the Sleep Phones and the Akg. I don’t mind having something in my ear I sleep with earplugs. I’m a side sleeper that moves around a lot and I need some thing that cancels noise as best as possible. What would you suggest from what you’ve seen or tried?

You're welcome Scarlett! Good to know I managed to keep my rambling side in check:-)

Honestly, nothing will beat decent earplugs in my experience were noise cancelling/blocking is concerned. Even the most expensive headphones in my experience don't block as much sound as really well fitting foam earplugs with a noise reduction rating of or around 33dB. But if you specifically want to listen to music and have active noise cancellation, you're going to be limited to in-ear earplugs as a side sleeper. The Bose quiet comfort are good, but they are a bit large. You could try Apple pods if you're an Apple user. AKGs are good in that they can be quite small - a lot of earbuds with active noise cancellation tend to be on the large side, which isn't ideal for side sleepers.

The Bose are way to expensive for me. You’d think with all the technology we have something could easily be invented with all of the qualities for $100. Thanks again for your input

@@scarlettwinters5642 I completely agree! There probably are really good small earbud headphones out there for that price with great noise cancellation. I'm not a dedicated reviewer of all headphones though, so my radar is more tuned towards sleep headphones. I'll be expanding a bit more in the next year or two, but for now I can't help much more. Let me know if you find any you really love though!

Thanks! There are a lot of people doing reviews of sleep products, so I do my best.

You're welcome Sofia - I'm glad to hear you liked the reviews.

You're welcome, and I'm glad it helped you make a decision.

Thank you!

Glad you liked it, thanks for the positive feedback!

Thanks Sigrid, I'm happy you liked it.

Hi, thanks for adding those points, all of which are very true I think. In the long run it's better to not stuff things into your ear canals for hours every night. The whole thing of ear buds with songs on an app and nothing else seems to be growing, and I can't say I'm a huge fan of the idea. I think you'd have to include an incredible library for me to think it's better than having the freedom to play any music I like.

You're welcome - thanks for the compliment too.

You're welcome, glad you liked the review. The Effortless version is definitely more user friendly, but more expensive. Good to hear you like the headphones:-)

Hi Emily, thanks for sharing your thoughts - it's interesting to hear from someone who's tried both the wired and Bluetooth version of the SleepPhones. Unfortunately, there's always going to be a limit to how comfortable any headphones will be for side sleepers. They just can't make the speaker disappear altogether. Maybe in the future someone will invent a speaker that's literally made of fabric! But I'm not holding my breath... If you have very sensitive ears, have you tried using a little pillow speaker instead to listen to music through your pillow? The sound quality of the pillow speakers available that I've reviewed so far in no way matches headphones. But if you don't need noise cancellation, aren't bothered by stereo sound etc and just want to hear some music or radio quietly, it could be an option.Otherwise, I guess you could just put the SleepPhones next to you on the pillow instead of wearing them, and achieve the same effect as a pillow speaker without having to buy another product.

You're welcome!

You're very welcome Darren - I'm happy to hear the video was useful.

@@nosleeplessnights1 Just ordered the Acoustic sheep. Thx for your reply and support.

I'm glad you like them Robyn! I've often found the headband measurements are difficult to predict with these type of headphones too!

That's good to know. I hope long enough to have been worth the money. Let me know:-)

Did they last?

Hi Michal, thanks for your kind words and for subscribing. Sorry to hear you have noisy neighbours. I hope you do find something that helps!

Thanks Miguel. They have no active noise-cancelling, so it all depends on how noisy the neighbors are, what kind of music you play and how loudly. Having some padding around your ears will help a bit too. If they are very noisy and you listen to quiet ambient music or a podcast, they perhaps won't block it out so much. But if you play music with a fuller sound and a bit louder, then sure, there's a good chance they can help block out the neighbors.

Thanks Nick, I appreciate the feedback and positive words. I think the battery life is very similar - both claim to last up to 10 hours, though it will depends on volume etc. The main thing is if you leave them on all night, both will need a charge the next day anyway.

No Sleepless Nights thanks for the response!

@@watermelonslushy1110 no problem

I hope so! Let me know if you like them Mike.

@@nosleeplessnights1 was super stressed out high anxiety my blood pressure was 163 over 107 went to the ER just now got some Ativan and now I'm good to go. Still going to get the Sleep headset though for the future. Have a good one.

Sorry to hear that, it must have been a very stressful time. I hope you're feeling better now.

Hi Christine. I think an auto-off timer on the headband would be a good feature, yes. However, I believe it will turn off after an hour if there is no music being played. So a work around would be to use a timer on your phone. I believe iPhones have a timer function on the clock settings. Android phones can download a timer App. But yeah, not as useful as a direct timer on the headband still. I also saw people complain about pairing, but had no problems myself. To be honest, I think this is a question of bad luck that happens with a lot of tech. Same for issues like wiring being loose. For some, they will last for years, others they break in days or weeks. So although I believe some people will have pairing issues, I didn't myself.

@@nosleeplessnights1 ok thanks a lot for your feedback!

I haven't tried the Mindband yet, so I can't comment on it. I don't have any specific plans to test it soon, but will add it to my to-do list.

You're welcome Melissa. That version is definitely more convenient if you don't mind paying extra for it.

Thank you Melissa! I didn't know about this option before!

@Creed Bratton yes I do, they are comfortable for sleeping. Not to say they aren’t without their downsides. My partner gets annoyed at me because every night, when he’s trying to sleep, I’m messing around with repositioning the earphones inside the sleep band so they are directly over my ears. Then, because I’m a bit obsessive, I have to triple check whether a fraction further forward, or back is better. Apparently all my rustling annoys him far more than the buzzing of the podcasts I listen to! :p An improved version would have a way to easily set the earphones position to your required measurements, so they don’t move around when you take them off. (I know I could put a stitch in them, but I don’t sew 🤪)

It depends how loudly you listen to music, what kind of music it is, and how good their hearing is! If you listen to music or people talking on a reasonable volume, they shouldn't disturb anyone else. But play techno on max volume and they will hear it.

I'm glad you like the channel David. I've tried that combo, and it does help block out more noise, particularly airborne noise. I do find it's a bit intense to have so much in and around my ears, but in desperate times in noisier conditions, I can see why you might do it for a night or two. No headband I know of has active noise cancellation, so really it's down to the volume, quality, comfort and maybe the padding as an extra little barrier. I always recommend these Sleepphones because I like the overall quality, but if you want to test the concept you can get cheaper ones online for a quarter of the price.

@@nosleeplessnights1 thanks a million for the reply! Great info there, cheers. I was thinking on it more & I think I’m going to leave the headband and go with a combo of earplugs / comfy overear headphones (maybe noise cancelling) & that infinity loop pillow. That way there will be room for the headphone cup. How does that combo sound to you? It’s always trial & error with this I suppose when u go down the sleep rabbit hole 😅

No problem. If you can make that work, then go for it. If you mean the infinity travel pillow, I think you might struggle to make it support the weight of your head enough to stop the headphone cup from pressing into your ear. If you sleep on your back, it's less of an issue - until you roll onto your side in the night at least. Google 'pillow for ear surgery' and you might find something interesting to try.

@@nosleeplessnights1 Thanks again for the info. Yeah that was the one I was thinking of. Hmm that’s an interesting point about the support. Yeah I had looked at others like the original pillow with the hole but heard the ear hole maybe too small for larger headphones. I might even just cut a hole in a regular pillow…

Let me know if you do try a different pillow - or DIY - and if it works!

Yes you can if you want to double up on the sound blocking. But I'm not sure how well you'll hear the audiobook if you have good earplugs in.

Hi Kevin, glad you liked the video! I have used some off and on for longer than six months and they are still going strong. However, I understand your concern as I've also broken a couple of different brands over the years. It seems to me that there is an inherent risk with falling asleep with headphones in, especially those that have some degree of wiring in side them that can be stressed when you lie in certain positions. These seem pretty durable to me on the whole though.

Not really, no. The padding will only block out a very small amount of noise I think. Have you tried wax or silicone earplugs instead of foam?

Sorry you have that problem - it's a really tough one to deal with because the impact noise can reach you through vibrations rather than just sound waves. Wireless sleepbuds with music should help, but there's no guarantee. So I'd only buy them if you know you can return them. Really good foam earplugs that fit you well are also worth trying. If all else fails, a chat with your neighbour is probably the best chance you have.

Hi Ewa, of the sleep headphones specifically that I have done videos for, these ones have less sound bleed than the DubsLabs or Lavince. But the others I look at inside the videos by comparison, such as the Bose and AKGs are better. It's unfortunately usually the case that the more expensive headphones have less sound bleed. Not always, but it's a reasonable rule of thumb to go by. So, $30 headphones will probably let out more white noise sound than $300 headphones. That said, if you don't listen to it very loudly (which is generally advised with white noise), then you can get away with cheaper headphones.

Not in my experience, no.

They aren't as bad as all the cheaper fabric headbands out there at the moment, mainly because they are better padded and the maximum volume isn't so loud. But if you have more intense music playing loudly through them, someone next to you in bed is likely to hear it.

Thank you!

Hi, it wasn't intended for that purpose so much. I hadn't even tried it until I read your comment! And my view (after playing with it for all of 5 minutes on my eyes) is that no, it's not the best sleep mask/headphones hybrid because of the relatively thin size. It just doesn't stay in place well enough if you change positions.

large, and it was maybe a little loose for me.

Hi Michael. From experience, it can help block out more noise to double up like this. I don't find it's the most comfortable way to sleep, but it can be effective. I'm not sure what audiologists would say about the long-term effects! But I guess you just need to experiment and do what feels right to you, while keeping an eye out for any unusual hearing or ear problems.

If you really want to filter out all background noises it definitely is a good idea, you could even pair up the foam earplugs + sleep phones along with a white noise machine playing in the background to really muffle any background noises

@@blackpillbishop5016 Yeah, I've been considering buying a bluetooth alarm clock with white noise functions or just a white noise machine.

@@Michael-590 Right, I personally just hook my phone to some speakers for white noise - does a fairly good job

Not in this style, no.

I've wondered the same thing! And that's also my conclusion. Maybe we just need to wait for a bigger company like Bose or Sony to give it a go.

It depends on the music you're listening to, their hearing, and proximity in bed. But if you play more intense music on the maximum volume, they might hear it a bit.

Hi Brein, if you don't usually listen to music, then I would advise experimenting with some good earplugs first, if you haven't already. In my experience, they are better at blocking out noise and cheaper if you buy them in bulk. It's not that these headphones won't help, but they don't have any active noise cancellation so you would probably need to listen to music quite loudly to block out external sound. And if you're not used to sleeping with music, that might keep you awake too!

@@nosleeplessnights1 Yeah I tried earplugs but I just can’t stand it, that it goes into my ear canal. Won’t work. So i’m looking for some alternatives. I’d like sleepbuds or zenbuds but they’re way to expensive and you can’t even listen to your own sounds/music. thanks for the reply!

No problem. Have you tried silicone or wax? They don't go into the ear canal in the same way as foam, so some people prefer them.

@@nosleeplessnights1 No not yet! I’ll look into that, thanks for the tip!

It depends how loud they are, and how loud you have the music playing, so it's an impossible question to answer really. As long as the external sounds aren't too loud, you should be able to block out a lot of sound if you're listening to music through the headphones. Loud dogs right outside your bedroom window will probably still cut through, for example.

They should stay on all night, unless the battery is drained. Where did you find instructions about that, as the ones I bought didn't have anything about holding down buttons to make them stay on all night. Perhaps you have a different version of the SleepPhones to me?

@@nosleeplessnights1 I got my instructions from this www.sleepphones.com/sites/default/files/AS-SL-US-QUICK-01.pdf Maybe it had something to do with me setting my iPhone on low power mode the other night or maybe I didn’t charge my sleephones long enough. The instructions I read also said that the sleephones only stay on a song for about an hour before switching to another song, which I initially didn’t have because the song I played was the only one in an album. I tried pressing the right buttons so that same song would play for 8 hours, and I also set the white noise song I wanted to listen to, to play back repeatedly. Those methods seemed to rectify the issue.

@@Michael-590 I see the issue now - you do have a different version. Yours is the SleepPhones Simple which comes with 17 pre-loaded tracks and timer options as per those instructions. I haven't actually tried this version, so other than interpreting the instructions (which you have already done) I wouldn't have much else of use to say. Good to know you rectified it though. Enjoy them!

@@nosleeplessnights1 The ones I bought from Amazon are the AcousticSheep SleepPhones Wireless | Bluetooth Headphones for Sleep, Travel, and More | The Original and Most Comfortable Headphones for Sleeping | Pitch Black - Breeze Fabric (Size L) for 133.23 Canadian Dollars. I'm pretty sure to I didn't order the Simple Sleephones, as there is nothing on the package, booklet, or headband that indicates that. Maybe setting my iPhone to low power mode had something to do with that. I'm going to test them again on a different soundtrack on my iPhone to make sure there is no issues. I hope there wasn't some sort of accidental or deliberate mix-up with the sleephones versions at a warehouse.

@@nosleeplessnights1 In all likelihood, it was probably just a matter of not charging my sleephones long enough and setting my iPhone to low-power mode.

Hi Joe, I hear you, but unfortunately none of the headband style have active noise cancellation - at least not that I know of, and I've tried lots of them.

@@nosleeplessnights1 of the ones you’ve tried, which would you say took the most edge off of external noise? I don’t need literal noise cancelling abilities personally but I am looking for one that provides some passive noise reduction/muffling even when off. In-ear anything is a total no go for me for any length of time and my over-ears drive me crazy. I’ve been waffling between sleep phones, the hoomband, or trying a cheapie one first.

You may have already found a solution, but just leaving this here in case anyone else has a similar question. Active noise cancelling features tend to be incompatible with products designed for sleep because the technology is by definition bulkier than passive headphones/earphones. Active noise cancelling also brings with it the need for power/charging and so on, which contributes to the bulk and can be inconvenient. I'd recommend looking into really good ear plugs that are designed to attenuate external noise passively. There are brands out there that do this and are also very comfortable to wear in your ears for hours at a time. Etymotic earplugs (flanged silicon style) are worth looking into, although I've found the stems are a tiny bit too long for sleeping. The Happy Ears brand designs earplugs specifically for sleep use, with a range of sizes and very short and soft stems, so they don't bother you when side sleeping. I live in an apartment below a neighbour with wood floors and I've had success with Happy Ears earplugs: when correctly worn, they're good enough to completely block out lower levels of neighbour noise and reduce to a bearable level any louder sounds. Of course, you'll still hear an ambulance siren going past, alarms and similar, but that's probably a good thing.

they have a version made specifically for a tv

They don't have an auto-fade function. You'd need to use an app on your audio device to do that.

I'm not sure, you'd need to check their website.

Fair enough. You can definitely get cheaper headphones if these are too expensive for you. There are other headband styles too, but these are the best of that style that I've seen so far.

It is on the back, yes. I didn't find it hurt because the padding is pretty good. But I imagine if you have sensitive skin, little hair, a hard pillow and sleep on your back all night, you might find them a bit uncomfortable if you use them all night.

@@nosleeplessnights1 thanks man, I have ordered it, couldn't find anything better. I am a side sleeper, can't stand headphones. Even tried a pillow shaped like a donut, thought I was being smart putting my ear in the hole, but even that doesn't work. :(

A few months back I had seen an ad (here on RU-vid) for sleep headband with like a 40 or maybe even a 60 hour battery life. They looked cool and had a good price but they are also hard to track down. I'll send you a shout if I can find them. Good luck and goodnight

The latest version will give you up to 24 hours battery life.

No, there is no function for that.

@@nosleeplessnights1 What if the alarm is set on the phone, will it not transfer the alarm to the sleepphones.

I bought them a long time ago, for around £250 in the UK if I remember rightly. I don't know if they still sell that model though - you'd have to keep an eye on the Bose website or eBay.

I plan on reviewing some in the coming year, but for now I can't really recommend any from recent experience.

No, they don't have that function.

Ok, thanks

Hi Devlin, I imagine you would have a similar problem to the larger over-ear headphones or earbuds, as all the bone conduction headphones I've seen have a significant amount of solid material that wraps around your ear and head. So even though it might not dig into your ears, it would still dig into your skin around your ear if you're a side sleeper. If you know of any brand that is flat and soft, let me know!

@@nosleeplessnights1 thanks, I've never tried any but I saw a few on Amazon.

If you do, let me know how it worked out for sleep!

@@nosleeplessnights1 will do, thanks.

Do you need to turn the volume up quite high on them to mask the snoring?

@@nosleeplessnights1 Oh yeah, full volume haha. But I combine it with good foam ear plugs and listen to a brown noise track. Loud enough to drown her out, but still easy enough to fall asleep to with ear plugs in to soften it. Combined, a bomb could go off beside me and I doubt I’d hear it 👌

That is a good combination. I've tried it myself in the past and the double barrier of earplugs + music through headphones works very well.

Great question Adam! So, it depends on the combination of the type of music you're listening to, the volume, and her hearing! As a rule of thumb, I'd say that all spoken word and many genres of music are unlikely to be heard by her on low to medium volume settings. If you listen to music with a lot of higher frequency sounds, like classical, some electronic, pop, on max volume, she may well hear some of it. The sound leakage is better than other comparable head bands I think, but you do need to be mindful of the volume.

@@nosleeplessnights1 I have to have the volume on high as I can hear my wife’s snoring in the next room even..But, she is a really light sleeper..

I don't know Kaz - they should be able to connect as far as I know. I have connected using a galaxy s10e

I certainly hope not because I've used it many times! Honestly, this isn't my area of expertise though. I have never taken it apart to inspect the components, but I'd like to think headphones don't cause radiation, otherwise we're all in a world of trouble. I suspect this is a question you're best off asking a doctor or electronics expert.

Thank you for raising this question. I read that this sort of question is publicly discussed and debated much more widely in Europe and other non U.S. locations than it is here in the U.S. where corporations have more control of the media. I'm sorry if I'm sounding vague here, and that I can't document what I'm saying as I don't remember where I read this - except that it was on the internet. I hope we can learn more about this issue somehow, before long.

Wow, I didn't imagine the material would be painful. I found it really comfortable, and usually I'm good at guessing if something might not be suitable for everyone, so I'm surprised you found it that bad. Let me know if the fleece is better, as I'd like to know if it's the material or the pressure from the elastic headband that was uncomfortable.

@@nosleeplessnights1 sure . Honestly the sides of the breeze is actually hurting my skin and also the speakers also hurt my ears as I could still feel them . I will get them in few days and will surely let you know .

That would be great. Maybe the fleece version will add a little more padding, but the softness should be an improvement. I guess not everyone likes the same material, especially material that lies against sensitive areas of skin.

hello! ive been thinking of getting the fleece version, have you received yours yet? is it more comfortable/is it really hot?