California Air Tools CAT-1P1060S Light & Quiet Portable Air Compressor, Lightweight, Ultra Quiet, Oil-Free, 1 Gallon Steel Tank, .6 HP, 56 dBA Noise Level, Silver

Boy this thing is quiet. True, you are not going to forget it is there, but the average polite conversation isnt going to be disrupted by it either even it is sitting at your feet. FWIW, I use this at an SMD rework station for blow-off, drying, and powering small air tools where it has replaced my little DeWalt pancake unit. When the DeWalt kicked-on, I’d always flinch and often turn my head away from the noise. No more! This fact alone made this a worthwhile purchase for me.This compressor has a very pleasing “putt-putt-putt” sound, unlike the obnoxious “braaaaaap!!!” of other units, yet the air output is impressive for such a small unit. As other reviewers have mentioned, it only takes 60 seconds to fill from empty, and 15 seconds to refill itself to the cutoff pressure (~120 psi). Although my use case is pretty specific, I can definitely see where this unit would be a good fit for air brushing or powering a trim/brad nailer. And of course it will handle the usual tasks like inflating bike tires, car tires, athletic equipment, and levitating random sleeping cats (KIDDING!).Perhaps the biggest “like” (other than being so quiet) is the portability factor. Im guessing it is about 35-ish lbs which means even an over-the-hill duffer like me can pick it up and take it to where it is needed without needing medical attention afterwards. Its actually pretty well balanced. Hefting it up to the tailgate of my truck did not evoke any colorful language from my back. :)All in all this is a very impressive little compressor without any visible downsides. It is well-built, runs cool and is basically a steal at this price. If you need quiet, portable air in small quantities, you will love this thing. 5 stars.Update: July 19, 2020: When I went to throw the box away, something in the bottom rattled. Hmmm... Curious! Further investigation revealed an intake muffler. Wait... what? So I installed it. This means that when I wrote the review above, it DIDNT HAVE THE INTAKE SILENCER ON! After installing the silencer, its even quieter. You can listen to music or talk on the phone while this thing is running. Unreal!I use this compressor every day and it really deserves six stars. It sits beside my rework bench and just purrs along. Love it!

Works as advertised. Quiet. Light. Easy to use.

First the packaging. Came in a sturdy box well guarded inside with packing. No issues right out of the box. Easy to use regulator with a working gauges that are actually pretty close to perfect. From the floor up about half way on my shin is the height footprint. Normal feet apart stance is about the width. A large shoe is how deep it is front to back. The handle was actually in a good spot for what I needed to do and get it n a tight spot. It is about conversation loud/noise. Not yelling-just normal. A long enough power cord that it did not have to sit right on top of an outlet. Combine a quick connect type hose that plugs i to the air delivery hole and you have air at your command. It is not meant for large air tool. No way could it keep up. But a few short blast of air to blow off a work bench-perfect. The price is right, the noise level is great, the air delivery is easy and typical air connections, electrical needs are nothing special-just a 120 volt three prong outlet. It fits in most spots with room to spare (if you need an air compressor-they are usually not a small piece of equipment)I would buy this again and again and again

My voice in a normal conversational tone is 80DB. This CAT-1P1060S runs at 75DB, which is more than the advertised 56DB. Honestly, I did not believe the 56DB claim as my new 17 seer heat pump fan in my house makes 65DB and it is not loud at all so I doubted this compressor would be more quiet than my HVAC fan motor. Being that it is quieter than the spoken voice I am thrilled. I always hated the traditional pancake compressors that run close to 100DB on a good day as they make a work site louder than it needed to be. What I used to do is run my loud mechanic's compressor I have on my 2003 7.3L diesel F350 service truck to power my carpentry air tools, but that obviously used diesel at $3.50/gallon and I had to run a 150' to 200' long 3/8" air line to get the air inside the house where I needed it. With this compressor, I enjoy leaving Betsy (my truck's name) in the driveway turned off and I simply grab this tiny CA compressor. It is super light, which is very nice! It is compact so I can stow it inside my behind-the-cab truck box with plenty of room for other tools so it is always ready to use. On job sites without power, (which are few and far between) I use my 4000w pure sine wave inverter that is wired to my truck's electrical system, which requires I run the engine to prevent dead batteries (7.3 diesels needs gobs of battery power to start). I just use a 100' or 200' long 12AWG extension cord from the inverter to the job site with a short 50' long 3/8" pneumatic hose in the area I am working. I only use my truck compressor now to run my mechanic's tools such as impact guns and the like as they require tons of air supply, much more than any carpentry tool will ever need. I absolutely love this California CAT-1P1060S compressor.

This unit works well and is very quiet. I would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for the location of the on/off lever. The lever is easily bumped into the on position when grabbing the handle to carry it. As I am writing this, it occurs to me that this may be because I'm left-handed. Even if that is the case, I think the location is a poor design.

This thing is a cadillac of small air compressors. NOTICEABLY quieter than others I have used. Obviously this is for smaller tools like brad nailers and crown staplers but so long as you are aware of the limitations inherent in this size/pressure, I can't recommend this enough.