SL40 Settings for RV-12

I've tested my SL40 on the ground (engine off), and transmission and reception are fine. However when transmitting in the air or on the ground with the engine running the headset volume levels are so high and distorted that my transmissions (both pilot and co-pilot sides) are virtually unintelligible. However, other aircraft report receiving 5 by 5. Their air to air transmissions seem rather faint, although air to ground (engine off) is fine. Conversation between pilot and co-pilot is not a problem, so the intercom seems OK.

As a first step in tracking down the problem, would someone be able to compare my SL40 settings with theirs. The only change I have made from the settings as received in the kit was to set the Sidetone level to zero as suggested in some previous posts:

Ver 2.2
RF level 032
Noise level 140
Headphone level 000
Mic 1 squelch 058
Mic 2 squelch 058
Transmit Mic 1 + 2
Intcom Lvl 000
Sidetone Lvl 000
Lo Dsp Lvl 00
Hi Dsp Lvl 50

Thanks in advance.

I checked my SL40 settings and they are the same as yours except for the Sidetone Lvl which is 12.

I experience this too, but the distortion in my headset is not as bad as you describe.

On an SL-40, when the sidetone is set to zero the actual side tone volume tracks with the receive volume knob.

If in flight you are turning the volume up quite a bit to hear incoming transmissions, this will make the side to volume quite high and possibly distorted.

Thanks guys. I've only had one short flight in it so far, so I'll need to investigate further. It's probably something simple, but at least I know my settings are in the ballpark.

As RVbuilder said, do not set sidetone to zero. Try 005 - 010.