Dewalt DXV10S and DXV12P-QT shop vac noise comparison.

I compared the Dewalt DXV10S with the DXV12P-QT shop vacs, both brand new units. Immediate differences: The DXV10S's hose tip is 1.585" ID and has a dedicated exhaust port you can hookup a hose to, while the DXV12P-QT's is 2.1" ID and has 2 exhaust grills, no easy way to hook up a hose to it. I won't go into accessories other than to say the DXV12P-QT floor brush is bigger. I didn't do any air flow or suction tests.
I used a P3 Kill-A-Watt EZ watt meter to monitor watts being drawn. I also put a 15 amp Vivosun Variable Fan Speed Controller inline to adjust the vacuum speed. Note: Do this at your own risk. I have no idea if the speed controller shortens the vacuum life, or causes overheating, fires, etc.
Results:
DXV10S:
Vivosun on high consumes 1030 watts @ 83.6 db.
Vivosun on low consumes 604 watts @ 87.0 db.
No Vivosun, consumes 1054 watts @ 86.2 db (not in video).
DXV12P-QT:
Vivosun on high consumes 841 watts @ 73.7 db.
Vivosun on low consumes 488 watts @ 70.2 db.
No Vivosun, consumes 860 watts @ 73.5 db.
While the DXV10S on Vivosun low has a higher db reading, the sound is less offensive to my ears, but still not great. Given the DXV12P-QT is quiet enough, I wouldn't consider putting a speed controller on it.
At the time of this writing the DXV12P-QT is available at Lowes.com, or Rona.ca for Canadians.