Noise and precision of ion count rate measurements were characterised for ICP-MS using a Vulkan direct injection nebuliser (Vulkan DIN) for sample introduction. For comparison, experiments were also carried out using a direct injection high efficiency nebuliser (DIHEN). The Vulkan DIN gave considerably higher relative white noise compared with the DIHEN, −40.3 compared with −45.8 dB, and measurements of aerosol characteristics showed that this was a result of broader size distribution and larger mean size of droplets for the Vulkan DIN. At a liquid flow rate of 85 μL min⁻¹, the aerosol volume fraction constituted by droplets with a diameter smaller than 10 μm was only 5% for the Vulkan DIN compared to 38% for the DIHEN, and the Sauter mean diameter was 30.2 and 11.1 μm, respectively. Compared with the DIHEN, interference noise from a peristaltic pump was very small with the Vulkan DIN because at the liquid flow rate giving maximum sensitivity, the analyte signal intensity was not much affected by changes in liquid flow rate. Although this had a positive effect on precision, it indicated that the plasma is cooled by large droplets that do not positively contribute to the analyte signal intensity. For analytical precision data it was evident that with the Vulkan DIN, precision was limited by the high white noise in the frequency range 0.4–500 Hz, but for the DIHEN there were relatively large contributions from 1/f and/or interference noise to the observed precision. When using integration times of 1000 ms or longer, the DIHEN did, however, appear to give slightly better precision for most of the isotopes tested. For comparison, precision data was also generated when using a conventional spray chamber sample introduction system and it was found that, with a 3000 ms integration time, both direct injection nebulisers gave better precision for most isotopes. Although analytical precision is impressive, the results in this paper also show that both direct injection nebulisers produce aerosols that are far from ideal for the types of ICPs currently used in commercial instruments.