UPDATED December 8th, 2017: Still working and no cord issues with the new unit. This is a great product! UPDATED December 2nd, 2016: I called customer service today based on comment I received right away from the manufacturer after my review published. I spoke with a person (Jack, himself) and he was easy to work with. I told him how my cord broke off and he said he would send a replacement without question. I gave him the serial number, my contact info and address and that was that! I got a shipment confirmation within minutes after our phone call. If your machine broke, give them a call! I've updated to five stars and will check back when the new machine arrives. *****From 11/30/16***** I loved this sound machine for the past year. Absolutely could not sleep without it and it helped me sleep with my husband's loud snoring (every night, and very obstructive). I'm an incredibly light sleeper and came to rely on this machine, so I packed it with us everywhere we would travel to. That's where this review gets only three stars. The thin cord has now split and only works when I bend it just right to make contact with the exposed copper, which I'm only successful at every few nights I try. Since the break is at the base I do not see how I could successfully salvage this with electrical tape, either (pic included). I always packed this bad boy carefully, in its own protective spare lingerie bag, because without it I'm stuck with the apps on my phone... they don't block out snoring enough and I'm up all night. I'm so sad and surprised by the frailty of the cord, given the nature of this product I would expect it to hold up through travel... we rely on it to sleep with, every night ... right? :( :( As far as how well the sound blocked out snoring, I loved the various pitches available for the same type of sound (sorry, not a music/tone/pitch expert), so if my husband's snoring was deeper one night I could adjust the sound to try and match. I wouldn't say it perfectly blocked it for the lightest sleeper like me, but it was able to drown it out enough to fall asleep better than I've ever been able to. To give you all an idea of what a bad sleep combo the two of us are, I wake up to any sound while sleeping if I don't have at least a box fan running (our cats have proven this during their late night shenanigans downstairs, when our bedroom was upstairs with the door shut). My husband was seen by a specialist dentist for snoring, he rated positive on all of the 5 or 6 structural marks that make a person snore, and he legit falls asleep and begins snoring most nights in about 3-5 minutes. I take more like 30-40 mins to fall asleep. I've tried melatonin, staying on the couch until literally falling asleep then jumping in bed, and more... This machine made me able to share a bed again. I'm so disappointed about the cord after only one year... for the price I would expect better. My recommendation for anyone who travels with it, pack it extremely carefully and separate the cord from the USB plug during transport to reduce strain from the weight of the wall plug. Maybe even lightly tape the cord up so it doesn't have a chance to bend, ever.