Drones seem so cool but I just cannot get over the godawful screeching whine they make. For me to enjoy one I'd have to be ok with either only flying it well out of earshot or irritating everyone around me, neither of which is appealing.
Same here. I don't even own a drone yet but the first thing I'd do is to look into how to modify them to make them quieter.
Generally speaking, larger quads are less annoying than smaller ones. A big part of that is that larger props spin at lower RPM than smaller ones.
My Autel EVO II Pro is inaudible at ~80’, while the DJI Mavic Mini I had prior to it could still be heard at almost twice that altitude.