This is what a Singapore Airlines captain flying 747-400 with P&W engines had to say on another (non-English) forum on this subject:Engines in SIA 744 are PW. The noise in the cockpit is minimal, primarily heard on takeoff but even then it isn't much. In contemporary large jets what you mostly hear in the cocpkit is air conditioning and the stream of outside air. Any change in power settings you hear in deep background and only after having more experience in filtering this noise from normal cabin soundsSince there was an extensive discussion on the subject on this forum and some speculated that somehow GE engines were quieter than other engines I thought I would volunteer this small quote/translation. Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/747400.jpg

This is true...If you watch the ITVV film with a Virgin B744, you can hear the engines when they are started (from off to high RPM), When they thrust up for taxi (From idle to higher RPM) and at take off spool (from idle to TO power)...So what we hear in the video is much like what the captain explains...It's when the engines are spooling up you can hear them clearly...Boaz...