The invention provides a device (and method) for masking noise in which a calibration is carried out to determine the sensitivity of a user to a calibration sound. During use of the device, the signal characteristics of the masking sound are adjusted based on the detected noise, the response of the user to the detected noise and also the response of the user to the calibration sound. As a result, a masking sound is generated that is optimally adapted to mask unwanted noise, in particular in a way which avoids the masking noise itself becoming a disturbance to the particular user.
