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What's the best alarm sound?

Last updated: October 15, 2026

A melodic alarm may help. In a 2020 RMIT University survey of 50 people, alarms that people rated as melodic were linked to less reported morning grogginess, while the type of sound itself showed no link.

The research

Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne surveyed 50 people about their usual alarm sound and how groggy they felt after waking (McFarlane et al., 2020). The type of sound people reported using showed no significant link with grogginess. But sounds that people rated as melodic were linked to reports of less grogginess, while sounds rated as neither melodic nor unmelodic were linked to more. It was a small self-report survey, so treat it as a clue rather than proof.

Why melody might help

The researchers suggest melody and rhythm may ease the move from sleep to wakefulness, but that has not been tested directly. A 2019 review of sleep inertia lists sound among the countermeasures studied so far: in one study pink noise removed the sleep inertia effect, and in another, music people liked improved their test performance for up to 20 minutes after waking (Hilditch & McHill, 2019).

Avoid the snooze trap

Even the best sound is wasted if you snooze. Pair a sound you like with a wake-up task: that is what ByeBed's missions provide, with 16 alarm sounds plus the iOS default to choose from.

Sources

1. McFarlane et al., PLoS ONE, 2020. Alarm tones, music and their elements: Analysis of reported waking sounds to counteract sleep inertia
2. Hilditch & McHill, Nature and Science of Sleep, 2019. Sleep inertia: current insights