I just recieved my second neo-tat vivace and I can't help but notice my standard stroke is signigicantly quieter than my xl stroke. On a scale of one to ten, one being dead silent and ten being coil loud, I would say the standard stroke is a one and the xl stroke is about a six. I've been running the xl stroke around 7.5 volts and it packs color like a dream, I've only gotten to do three small tattoos with the standard stroke, but so far I'm a huge fan. It makes sense that the xl would be louder, but I figured I'd seek the sage advice of the forum. Thanks.