Daikin's R-32 central air conditioners list between 61 and 77 decibels. Two FIT inverters carry AHRI 270 ratings in A-weighted sound power; the other six lines print an unlabeled "Decibels" row. Blank cells are sizes a line does not come in.
| Line | 1.5 t | 2 t | 2.5 t | 3 t | 3.5 t | 4 t | 5 t |
|---|
| FIT DC6VS, AHRI 270 | 61 | 64 | 67 | 68 | 71 | 72 | 73 |
| FIT DC9VS, AHRI 270 | | 67 | | 71 | | 73 | 77 |
| DC7TC, two stage | | 69 | | 70 | | 73 | 75 |
| DC5SE | 71 | 67 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 74 |
| DC4SE | 71 | 68 | 68 | 66 | 71 | 72 | 75 |
| DC4SQ | 74 | 74 | 71 | 67 | 72 | 73 | 76 |
| DC3SE, North only | 72 | 68 | 68 | 69 | 73 | 71 | 74 |
| DC3SQ, North only | 73 | 74 | 74 | 69 | 73 | 71 | 74 |
No line comes in 4.5 tons. The top two rows and the rest are separate groups: a 66 on the DC4SE sheet and a 68 on the DC6VS sheet may describe different quantities, so this page never sets one against the other.
Which Daikin air conditioner is the quietest?
With a stated test behind it, the FIT DC6VS, at 61 dBA of sound power for the 1.5 ton size, footnoted "Compliant with AHRI 270." It beats the DC9VS by 1 to 4 dBA at 2, 3, 4 and 5 tons as well.
The gap is widest at the top, where a 5 ton DC9VS rates 77 dBA, the highest figure on any current Daikin AC sheet, and a 5 ton DC6VS rates 73. Quiet mode narrows it. At LV.3 both list 57 to 59 dBA from 2 to 4 tons, although the 5 ton DC9VS stays at 66. What the DC9VS buys is efficiency, "UP TO 19 SEER2" against 17.2, plus a sales region code of A for all regions, where the DC6VS codes carry S, read in Daikin's key as "Southeast & North".
Both appear beside other brands in our central air conditioner ranking.
The DC4SE leads the single stage rows
At 66 for 3 tons, the DC4SE carries the smallest single stage figure Daikin prints, and it leads or ties at 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 tons too. The DC5SE takes 2 tons with 67. None of these rows says what was measured.
Size by size across the five single stage lines, the low figures fall like this:
| Size | Lowest row | Line |
|---|
| 1.5 tons | 71 | DC4SE and DC5SE |
| 2 tons | 67 | DC5SE |
| 2.5 tons | 68 | DC4SE and DC3SE |
| 3 tons | 66 | DC4SE |
| 3.5 tons | 71 | DC4SE |
| 4 tons | 71 | DC3SE and DC3SQ |
| 5 tons | 74 | DC5SE, DC3SE and DC3SQ |
The "E" lines tend to win. Daikin's nomenclature reads E as "Enhanced" and Q as "Introductory", and the E sheets list a compressor sound blanket and scroll compressors at every size. The DC4SQ and DC3SQ switch to "Rotary" compressors below 3 tons, and at 2 tons the two Q lines read 74, against 67 or 68 for the E lines. Hardware, in other words, lines up with the rows.
One more filter applies in the South. The DC3SE and DC3SQ are coded N, "North", which leaves the DC4SE, DC4SQ and DC5SE.
Five Daikin condensers share Goodman's sound tables
Daikin Comfort Technologies North America sells the Daikin, Goodman and Amana brands. The DC6VS prints the same sound table as the GXV6S, the DC9VS the GXV9S, the DC7TC the GLXT7C, the DC4SQ the GLXS4B and the DC3SQ the GLXS3B.
The "SE" lines break the pattern. Not one DC5SE, DC4SE or DC3SE row matches the seven Goodman condensers on our Goodman air conditioner chart, and at some sizes they post smaller numbers than any Goodman single stage line: the DC4SE's 66 at 3 tons is one under Goodman's best 3 ton row, 67, and the DC5SE's 67 at 2 tons two under Goodman's 69.
Paperwork differs even where tables match. The DC6VS page lists a "12-Year Parts, 6 Year Unit" warranty; the DC4SE page lists "12 - Year Parts" alone.
How loud are Daikin heat pumps?
From 61 to 77 decibels. The three FIT inverters print AHRI 270 sound power for cooling and heating separately, while the DH7TC, DH5SE, DH4SE and DH4SQ give one "Decibels" figure per size with no mode named.
FIT figures, cooling then heating:
| Size | FIT DH6VS | FIT DH7VS | FIT AURORA DH9VS |
|---|
| 1.5 tons | 61 and 61 | | |
| 2 tons | 64 and 63 | 67 and 70 | 71 and 75 |
| 2.5 tons | 66 and 70 | | |
| 3 tons | 68 and 71 | 71 and 72 | 71 and 75 |
| 3.5 tons | 70 and 71 | 73 and 73 | |
| 4 tons | 72 and 71 | 73 and 73 | 77 and 75 |
| 5 tons | 71 and 72 | 77 and 77 | 77 and 75 |
The single stage and two stage rows:
| Line | 1.5 t | 2 t | 2.5 t | 3 t | 3.5 t | 4 t | 5 t |
|---|
| DH7TC, two stage | | 72 | | 71 | | 75 | 75 |
| DH5SE | 70 | 73 | 73 | 71.1 | 72 | 73.6 | 74.8 |
| DH4SE | 68 | 68 | 70 | 74 | 71 | 73 | 74 |
| DH4SQ | 74 | 74 | 77 | 75 | 72 | 74 | 75 |
Other makers' heat pumps on the same test are in our quietest heat pumps guide.
The DH6VS is the quietest Daikin heat pump
Its 1.5 ton size rates 61 dBA in both modes, and at every size it shares with the DH7VS and DH9VS its figure is lower, cooling or heating.
One step is awkward. Heating goes from 63 dBA at 2 tons to 70 at 2.5, while cooling rises only from 64 to 66 across the same step, and no Daikin document explains the jump. Anyone sizing between 2 and 2.5 tons should read the heating column first.
Between the two pricier FIT units, the order flips at 5 tons in heating, where the FIT AURORA rates 75 and the DH7VS 77. In cooling the AURORA is the loudest FIT heat pump at every size, 71 dBA at 2 tons against 64 for the DH6VS.
Among the plain rows, the DH4SE lists the lowest figure at six of seven sizes. Its compressor blanket is fitted "on 1.5-2.0T", the two sizes where it lists 68.
Is the FIT AURORA quiet mode 45 or 47 dBA?
The DH9VS spec sheet says 45. Its feature list reads "as low as 45dBA", and its quiet mode table prints 45 dBA sound pressure at LV.3 for every size, while the product page says 47 twice, including "down to 47 dBA". Both numbers describe quiet mode measured 3 feet from the unit rather than the AHRI 270 rating. At LV.3 the AURORA's sound power is still 63 dBA cooling at 2 and 3 tons and 66 elsewhere, against 57 to 60 for the DH6VS at that setting, and unlike the other FIT sheets it prints no capacity decrease column for quiet mode.
The DC6VS, DH6VS and DH7VS pages repeat the sheets' 45. The DC9VS page drops the quiet mode line altogether, though its sheet carries the table.
What a FIT condenser sounds like at 15 feet
The FIT sheets estimate sound pressure from 3 to 15 feet, under the footnote "Compliant with AHRI 275 utilizing standard mode, total sound levels". Lowest of all is a 1.5 ton DH6VS in cooling, away from any wall: 39 dBA at 15 feet. Bigger units read higher. A 5 ton DC6VS reaches 52 dBA at 15 feet, and a 4 or 5 ton FIT AURORA 56 in either mode; at 2 tons the AURORA's heating estimate, 54, sits 4 above its cooling one. Each reflective surface next to the unit adds 3 dBA on these tables.
The single and two stage sheets have no distance figures at all. Why a 15 foot reading lands so far under the rating is covered in the QuietSpecs sound power and sound pressure explainer.
R-410A and SkyAir units are left out
R-410A condensers still sit next to the R-32 range on the site: the DX9VC, DX7TC, DX6VS, DX5SE, DX4SE, DX4SQ, DX3SE and DX3SQ air conditioners and the DZ9VC, DZ7TC, DZ6VS, DZ5SE, DZ4SE and DZ4SQ heat pumps. None of them is ranked. The heat pump listing says R-32 "will now be in all Daikin home heat pumps in North America", and the sheets for the R-410A flagships date from 2022 and 2023; the DX9VC and DZ9VC appear under also considered for readers who already own one.
Two more heat pumps on the listing, the SkyAir FTQ Ducted and the VRV LIFE, use R-410A and print outdoor sound pressure rather than AHRI 270 sound power. The ductless ranges are on the mini-split page.
