A miter saw is the loudest tool in many workshops, and it sits at chest height right in front of you. Every saw in this survey declares at least 88 dB(A) at the operator's ear. What the declarations show is an eight decibel spread, from 88 to 96.2, and it has little to do with blade size or whether the saw has a cord.
Fourteen miter saws sold in the US carry maker declarations we could read. At the ear they run from 88 to 96.2 dB(A). Sound power runs from 100 to 107.5.
The test behind the numbers
Makers selling in Europe declare miter saw noise under EN 62841-3-9, the part of EN 62841 written for table and miter saws. It gives two quantities. LpA is sound pressure at the operator's position. LWA is sound power, the saw's total noise output. Each comes with a K value, the uncertainty, which is 3 dB for every saw here.
We rank on LpA and show LwA beside it. The two come from the same test but measure different things, and never belong in one ranking. The sound power vs sound pressure explainer covers why.
Makita and Bosch name EN 62841-3-9 in their manuals. Festool's manuals, Hilti's manual and DEWALT's EU manual name EN 62841. Milwaukee's European pages name no standard. Festool labels its figures "Sawing" and the others name no cutting condition. Each maker declares one figure pair per saw, so we rank them together and say where each figure comes from.
The ranking, by blade size
A 12 inch saw and an 8-1/2 inch saw are bought for different jobs, so we group by blade.
Compact, 8-1/2 inch (216 mm): Festool KSC 60 at 88 and Makita GSL02 at 89.
Ten inch class, 254 to 260 mm: Festool KS 120 REB at 88, Milwaukee 2734-20 at 90.5, Makita LS1019L and GSL03 at 91, and Makita XSL06 at 92.
Twelve inch (305 mm): Bosch GCM18V-12GDC at 88, Hilti SM 60-22 at 90, Makita LS1219L and GSL04M1 at 91, DEWALT DWS780 at 92, Bosch GCM12SD at 93 and Milwaukee 2739-20 at 96.2.
Sound power does not follow the same order. Four Makitas declare the lowest, 100 dB(A): the LS1219L, GSL02, GSL03 and GSL04M1. Bosch's GCM18V-12GDC is lowest at the ear in its group but declares 103 sound power, three above them. If other people share the room, read the sound power column too.
None of it is printed for US buyers
Not one US product page or US manual we opened for these fourteen saws prints a noise figure. The figures below come from each maker's European documents, and we match each US saw to its European twin with the evidence in its listing.
Festool, Makita (for the corded LS1019L and LS1219L), DEWALT and Hilti sell the same model names on both sides of the Atlantic. The Kapex saws also match on power, speed, blade, angles, size and weight. The corded declarations come from European versions of the saws, and the US tools run on 120 V.
Makita's cordless saws change names. The US XSL06 is the European DLS110 family, the GSL02 is the LS002G, the 10 inch GSL03 is the LS004G and the 12 inch GSL04 is the LS003G. The numbers look swapped, but the manuals leave no doubt: blade, speed, angles, dimensions and voltage match pair by pair. One wrinkle: Makita's US page for the GSL04M1 kit lists 4,400 rpm, while the GSL04 manual it links and the European manual both say 3,600. The tool only GSL04Z is marked discontinued.
Bosch, and the firmest match here
Bosch's US PROFACTOR GCM18V-12GDC gives part number 3601M43010 on its US page, and the European GCM 18V-305 GDC manual covers article numbers 3 601 M43 0.. with the same 2550 rpm ECO speed. That is as close to one article as a US and EU saw get. The manual declares 88 dB(A) at the ear and 103 sound power under EN IEC 62841-3-9.
The corded GCM12SD is a weaker match. Its part number differs from the European GCM 12 GDL, but the two share the 12 inch blade, 4,000 rpm, the 52 and 60 degree miter range, the 47 degree bevels, the bevel cut capacities and a weight within a few tenths of a kilogram. The GCM 12 GDL declares 93 and 106. The two Bosch saws use the same Axial-Glide arm and sit five decibels apart at the ear.
Festool's international site lists 88.00 dB(A) at the ear and 101.00 sound power for both Kapex saws. For the corded KS 120 REB, the web table names EN 61029-2-9, an older standard, while the saw's current manual and its declaration of conformity name EN 62841. The figures are the same either way, and we quote the manual. Prices come from the compare at prices on Festool USA's own reconditioned tool store, because festoolusa.com shows none.
Milwaukee and Hilti
Milwaukee's European pages list 90.5 dB(A) at the ear and 101.5 sound power for the 10 inch M18 FMS254, and 96.2 and 107.5 for the 12 inch M18 FMS305. We match the first to the US 2734-20 by blade, speed and angle ranges, and the second to the 2739-20 by the same, plus its capacities. Milwaukee's US page for the 2739-20 says 3,500 rpm, but its manual says 3600, as the European page does.
Hilti sells its Nuron SM 60-22 under the same name in the US and prices it on hilti.com. Its EU manual declares 90 at the ear and 101 sound power. Hilti's UK page lists 101 as sound pressure; the manual labels it sound power, and we follow the manual.
What the spread means
With a K of 3 on every figure, saws a decibel or two apart may sound the same in use. The three saws at 88 and the Makita at 89 are a group, not a podium. The bigger gaps are real: Bosch's two 12 inch saws sit five decibels apart at the ear, and Milwaukee's 2739-20 declares 8.2 decibels more than the quietest 12 inch saw here.
A declaration is one standardised cut, not your whole day. Blade choice, material and how hard you push the saw all change what you hear, and a dust extractor running beside it adds its own noise. Use the figures to compare saws, not to predict your exposure.
The silent aisle
DEWALT prints no noise figure in the US manuals for the DWS780 or its 60 V DCS781. The UK page for the European DCS781 offered no manual we could open, so that saw stays out, and we found no European twin for the DWS779, DWS716 or DWS713. Makita's EU manual for the DLS211 declares 95 dB(A) and 103 sound power, but its US twins, the XSL07 and XSL08, are marked discontinued. Makita's European LS1040 runs at 5,100 rpm against 4,600 for the US LS1040, so we did not match them. Metabo's US site menu lists circular, metal, multi-tool and reciprocating saws but no miter saws, and we found no US Metabo miter saw page to read. For Metabo HPT we could not open a declaration we could tie to a US model: the Asian edition of the HiKOKI manual we read for the C3612DRA prints no noise figures, and its European page gave no data. These saws may be quiet or loud. Their makers' US documents do not say.
We did not measure any of these miter saws. Every figure is the maker's own, quoted as published, with the standard, K value and document identified wherever the maker identified them.
