M-Series noise level

It's unanamous

The noise level of the REMstar® M Series (compared with the equivalent Invacare boat anchor model) is:

QUIETER: . . . . . . . . . .1
ABOUT THE SAME: . . .0
NOISIER: . . . . . . . . . .0

I bought an M series to carry on a recent vacation. I found it absolutely quiet. However I also find my Pro 2 absolutely quiet. Maybe I should have my hearing tested.

guessed wrote:It's unanamous

The noise level of the REMstar® M Series (compared with the equivalent Invacare boat anchor model) is:

QUIETER: . . . . . . . . . .1
ABOUT THE SAME: . . .0
NOISIER: . . . . . . . . . .0

if you turn your head 90 degrees to the right, based upon your numbers it is 100% quieter

I've used a Remstar Auto CFlex for 4 months, and now I am using the Respironics M Series Auto, which I've been using for 3 weeks. Both of my CPAP machines have the integrated heated humidifier.

The noise that M series produces is quite a bit different than the Remstar Auto. The Remstar Auto produced only audible white noise, which was hardly, if at all, detectable for me above the interface exhaust (mask exhaust). The M Series Auto produces white noise as well as additional frequency specific electric motor type sounds that varies in pitch over the time from one's beginning an exhale cycle to completing it (on inhale, I hear only white noise). This variation of pitch is obviously caused by the variation of back pressure the unit experiences while breathing out. This sound, albeit quite, is quite discernable to me above the white noise of the unit and the white noise of my interface exhaust.

At 2:15 AM, after waking for some unknown reason, the varying pitch, I'll call it a drone, of the M Series is the only thing that I find myself focusing on. And it makes it real difficult for me to fall back asleep. (This has been happening almost every night since I started using the M Series ... and perhaps I woke while using the Remstar Auto as well, but if so, I just fell back to sleep without trouble or even noticing).

I have had 2 different M Series Auto CPAP units to date, and each produced a very different sound from each other, both were or are troublesome for me.

The first M Series I used for only one night, then switched back to my older Remstar auto while I awaited a replacement. This new M Series unit produced a high pitched whine ... the frequency and its variance with each breath reminded me very much of a dentists drill ... albeit a way off in the distance dentist drill. Note that I'm not comparing the loudness of a dentists drill (which is very very loud), just the type of sound produced. The M Series is not loud at all, it just produces additional sound components that varies in pitch that is not white noise (like a dentists drill and of similar sound frequencies, but not the volume of same).

I received a replacement M Series Auto, and it too produces additional frequency specific sound components along with the expected white noise. This particular unit has a much lower frequency sound than the previous M Series I had, which too, varies in pitch with each exhale. Again, it's not loud at all, but it's very much there. For me it's quite difficult not to focus on that varying sound especially since I control the sound's pitch to some degree as I vary my exhale pressure (the motor speed of the M series must be digitally controlled as the frequency of the sound coming from the unit changes in steps as my exhale pressure varies). I've even had a fairly loud desktop fan running for several nights to help mask the sound and I put the CPAP unit on the carpet floor under a night table, and the sound coming from the unit was still quite preeminent in my perception over the white noises.

The replacement M Series Auto that I received was used or refurbished as it had some noticable scratches on the plastic cover when I took it out of the box. So I paid full price for a brand new unit, and I get a used unit. I can't say I'm happy about that, and I don't think that's a fair trade at all. This is apparently Respironics policy, not that of CPAP.com. And this is another issue I'm having to get used to apparently.

So now I have to decide, with much reduced sleep, if it's me that has to get used to these new noises in my bedroom, or if I've somehow gotten unlucky and received 2 different out-of-tolerance M Series CPAP machines. It seems odd to me that they both produced very different sounds and are yet of the same manufacturer and model. Curious.

Two different phone support individuals at CPAP.com told me this week that I just have to get used to this varying pitch complex sound of the M Series, and give it a couple more nights. I've been using it every night for 3 weeks now, and can say that I'm not yet getting used to it.

So why, you may ask, did I switch units if I liked the larger Remstar Auto so much?

In every other respect, I do like the M Series better, but these other respects are taking a major back-seat to the fact that I'm not sleeping soundly through the night now. I purchased the M series because I had a couple business trips back to back, and I would be traveling through airports and such. The M Series, with heated humidifier, was indeed easy to carry through the airports and bring on-board to stow in the overhead bins with ample room. It's smaller size and lighter weight is definitely a major plus.

Also, I've taken the older Remstar Auto CFlex camping (car camping), running it and it's heated humidifier from a battery and inverter and it's worked just fine. It was real quiet even in the confines of a tent (in fact, the cooling fan in the small power inverter emits more noise than the Remstar Auto itself). Based on my experience with powering the Remstar Auto from a deep-cycle gel cell, and the fact that the M Series consumes less power according to Respironics, I believe I can pull together some light-weight components that will allow me to go backpacking with the M Series (leaving the heated humidifier behind) and I fully expect to give that a try next summer. The Remstar Auto is too heavy and takes up too much space to even consider it for backpacking.

My comparison here has been largely over the sound issue, and not so much the other features. My conclusion is not that the M Series is much louder then the whisper quite white-noise only Remstar Auto, but that the M Series Auto emits, for me anyway, undesirable and varying frequencies of sound that's very easy to pick out above its white noise. I find myself, in the wee hours of the morning, awake and focusing on these sounds on each exhale and that's keeping me awake. I'm also concerned that if I use the M Series in a tent while camping, that it's sound may keep other family members awake. My hope is that I've actually been unlucky and have received 2 out-of-tolerance units and that I could someday report back that I'm now using a white-noise only M Series ... but based on my conversations so far with CPAP.com support, that's unlikely to happen.

The M Series is not necessarily louder, it's that it produces more than just white noise.

Sleep Unit Roy

I am new to the family but my wife says tha my M Series is quiet. She doesn't hear it running.


rjgreen3

Okay, here's my $.02 :

I've had the old RemStar plus and now the RemStar Plus M series w/cflex.

The new M series is MUCH more quiter.
________________________________________________________________

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream.
Wandering by lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate streams.
World losers and world forsakers, for whom the pale moon gleams.
Yet we are movers and the shakers of the world forever it seems."

- Arthur O'Shaunessey

I have to agree with everything that SleepUnitRoy said, and I do own an older remstar and a new M series.

I thought SleepUnitRoy's analysis was very interesting. Because I have two residences, I want to buy a second Remstar Auto CPAP, but cannot decide between the M series and the non M series. I upgraded my respironics solo for a Resmed s8 vantage. I could not use the machine because of the noise. After many nights the noise still kept me up. I traded the Resmed s8 vantage in for a Remstar Auto CPAP non M series and could sleep soundly again.

I am afraid I will have the same problem with the M series. It would be nice to have a small CPAP machine to travel with, but if you are sensitive to noise like I am, I guess you have to live with a larger machine.

After reading SleepUnitRoy's analysis of the noise, I am now going to buy another Remstar Auto CPAP.

Some people feel that the noise is of little importance, but to me it is the most important deciding factor.

I had the older Remstar C-Flex Auto for two months (rental) before buying the new M Series Auto, and I think SleepUnitRoy's summary is spot on. The M series does make a slight whining noise. It is by no means loud, but due to its pitch/frequency, it could be annoying to some. It doesn't bother me, but it is definitely there on my unit.

I appreciate the discussion, particularly SleepUnit's detailed desciption of the nuances of the noise. My wife is very sensitive, and I could imagine that kind of varying servo-noise driving her crazy.

Does anyone have any comments on how the Puritan Bennet GoodKnight models compare vis a vis noise? Or the Everest Aura?

There seem to be as many different opinions out there as there are people and it is hard to make a choice without having any opportunity to try a different machine out before buying...

I currently have a RemStar straight CPAP without humidifier, and sometimes it can sound a bit loud to my ear. I am considering perhaps an APAP this time around.

I can't make any comparisons, since I have only had the M-Series Pro CPAP, but I do agree there is an element to its sound that might bother some. I find it perfectly quiet enough for me and for DH, but the sound is *not* white noise--it does vary with inhale and exhale. DH, while sleeping perfectly fine with me on the M, did say the first night that he wished it made a more regular noise. For me, I find the only noise I notice is the sound in my mask. I only hear the machine if I specifically listen for it. FYI, I have always been a really light sleeper, even before OSA, and the noise of this machine is repetitive enough not to bother me--I find it easy to tune out.