Speakers or headphones

hi beer beeper,
have you tried those cordless phones on your
3000? on my x-terror 70 the headphone jack is the
same as my gpx, so i guess the x-terror 30 would be same.
cheers fencejumper

"hi beer beeper,
have you tried those cordless phones on your
3000? on my x-terror 70 the headphone jack is the
same as my gpx, so i guess the x-terror 30 would be same.
cheers fencejumper"

NO I never have, someone else did. I also have a X-Terra 70 and thanks! But it IS a very good idea though!!! I would like to find out if someone has tried cordless phones ALSO!

Look at this, specialty wireless metal detecting headphones. Even a Behind-the-Head model for wide brim hats!:

http://www.airheadzwireless.com/

Hi all,
it is definitely personal preference....however the 2 best posts I reckon are CJ's and Gof's. If you hate sweaty headphones and still want minimal external noise and no missed faint signals, the Telex headsets are easily the best. They are rated at only a few percentage points off the actual audio output of GPX units so they are a terrific match. Very crisp signals, not sweaty and still allow a portion of external sounds to be heard. And, no bugger can hear where you are....AND you won't get annoyed if others are detecting nearby also with speakers. If you have ever been on a club outing when everyone uses speakers, you'll know what I mean!
Take a look at Goldsearch's website to see Telex headsets: http://www.goldsearchaustralia.com/access12.html
Cheers, Dwt

YES I had a pair of Telex's years ago. I want another pair, they ARE great.

2.4GHz Wireless Stereo Headphones $65.99
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2255017

Reviews of the RadioShack 2.4GHz Wireless Stereo Headphones
http://review.zdnet.com/product/headphones/radioshack-24ghz-wireless-stereo-headphones/31969264

(Tandy is about the same as Radio Shack.)

Hi all,
I thought I would raise this issue again.. I run the Super Sound Detacc Booster with single external speaker on my 4k... Has anyone modified the jack to accomodate twin speakers? and do twin speakers work any better then the single set up? and Is it the case to just parallel the second speaker with the first on the jack?

tks
Ray

Gday

For some time now I have been using a single speaker on my 4500, if you are using a correctly wired speaker it will trigger the inbuilt booster in the battery, the jack plug on the headphones are wired differently so that they wont trigger the booster and cause hearing damage.

The reason I went to the speaker was a simple one, the headphones give me the s...s!, they are cumbersome and restrictive, and if you wear glasses they get uncomfortable, the telex under chin ones look good and I may give them a go, as there are definately times when they would be better to use than the speaker.

The other benefit of using a speaker is it gives others the s...s!, scares the crap out of goats and digoes, and keeps other operators a civil distance away from you, you know the type I mean!, the ones that spot you digging a piece so they then circle like a great white at tea time,then get close enough until their detector is talking with yours and you end up moving away letting them move in for the kill!

cheers

stayyerAU

@ Jigalong,

Yes mate get yourself a set of Blackwidows. Full cup. I bought them for high winds on saltlakes and now wont use anything else anywere.


To those who douse themelves in "bugspray". Your quite happy spaying your head with something that dissolves headphone pads, plastic, tackleboxes watch lenses etc.....? Sheesh!


Driller

reading the posts im surprised at how many people dont like external speakers ? and find them annoying if someone else is using them.
So it begs the question Ummmmm do you blokes walk hand in hand when detecting or something im only asking because our mob all have externals (well all but one "splitter")and we dont seem to have this hearing of each others speakers problem.
Granted you will hear the speaker when someone walks over a tin can for argument sake but thats proberly about it, and besides when your on to a good target first thing you do is turn the volume down or switch to cancel mode killing almost all of the volume.
Regards
John
PS yer external speaker for me. But i would use head phones chasing very faint signals winter only, covert operations and if i ever find a pair that are comfortable to wear all day would help also.

The actual usage of speakers or headphones is a personal thing. I wouldn't try to rate one against the other as everyone has different hearing.

What I am against is anyone coming near me using speakers. They are extremely annoying and distracting. I cannot work with speakers going off near me. I think it is extremely rude and thoughtless for anyone using a speaker system to intrude on another prospector. That is, to come into their hearing range.

I use Koss TD80 phones with foam ear pads and I can hear everything going on around me. I can hear a noisy speaker from hundreds of metres away. Come near me with a speaker and you might have start ducking rocks.

Cheers, Jim

yep, it annoys me when someone with headphones intrudes on my speaker area and starts throwing rocks.
If I have to start ducking rocks they'll sure as hell have to start ducking my pick!

madtuna wrote:yep, it annoys me when someone with headphones intrudes on my speaker area and starts throwing rocks.
If I have to start ducking rocks they'll sure as hell have to start ducking my pick!

Good one Tuna, Yep I like the speakers and carry the headclamps in the tool box for use if speakers have a break down

I know this thread is in good fun but on a serious note, when it comes to noise it is usually those who create the noise who claim it is their right to creat noise and those who do not like it can lump it.

I used to live 1.5klm from a night club and if the wind came from that direction it was as if the disc jockey was out on my front veranda. Fair dinkum, my windows would rattle. But did the club owner care? Not flamin likely. We sold that house and moved to a quieter neighbourhood.

Same as when you are out in the bush, some fool comes along and parks near you, pulls out a genny, a chainsaw, a TV and a radio and makes enough noise to stun a goanna.

Noise pollution is a big problem everywhere these days.

We love the quiteness of the bush and use only solar panels. We also use earphones. Not so that others can't home in on us but simply because we prefer them.

If I stop somewhere and hear others using speakers I'll move on. But if I'm there first I expect them to respect my privacy and move on, whether they are using speakers or not, but especially if they are using speakers.

And yes, we have had people move in on us who were using speakers and were pretty upset about it but said nothing and waited for them to move off.

If everyone was courteous and cared about other folk we would all get on a lot better. In general, use your speakers if you prefer them but please stay away from others who may be put off by them.

Cheers, Jim

and just how close is too close Jim?

You'll know you are too close when I put my biggest coil on and start moving toward you.

Hi all, I use either, depending on conditions. Conditions may vary from, heat, wind, cold, other prospectors nearby......Two weeks ago at Wedderburn there were four detectorists working in a close proximity to one another, we were there as a group and I must say that I personally was not bothered at all by the other guys, as they had not said anything about being annoyed either I presume they were not effected.
At some stages we were working so close to one another the threshold could be heard from the other machines but as my speaker was the closest to my ear that is what I heard best and ignored the others, yes gold was found!!

A question that did arise as we talked after the hot conditions of the day over a cold brew around the camp was:
The inbuilt amplifier in the battery of the 4500's is only triggered by the external speaker and not by the headphones?
So then why?? If it is by the simple wiring in the plug, can the wires of the headphones then be changed and be wired as the external speakers are? and would this be an advantage.

May your targets be golden and your rocks be dodged......
Cheers

Rtanweb wrote:Disadvantages of speakers:

1. Miss smallest of sound

2. Can't detect in groups, as you will hear their targets and will think you heard a soft one under your coil

3. Harder to concentrate when in groups, as you have to "filter out" their targets

4. Attracts tourists, hikers, groups of kids, park rangers and the farmers

5. Extra costs of speaker and sound booster

In my humble opinion Con's outweigh the Pro's

I beg to differ Rtanweb especially on point 1 of your disadvantages, I've found from personal experience a correctly set up speaker system is the complete opposite, with the faint targets being far more identifiable/discernible over headphones. If you're in a group and can hear other operators they are either set up incorrectly or you are way too close and will in all likely hood also be suffering from interminable interference!!

JP

Rtanweb do you reckon you could possibly use regular fonts? I know it looks pretty but once I hit 45 I think I broke the zoom button on my eyeballs..tah muchly

and JP..you very diplomaticly said what I was trying to word...thanks!

We often work in groups sometimes less than 50mtrs apart and never have a prob even though all using speakers and boosters.
If someone gets too close, a polite "OI! BUGGER OFF!" usually does the trick without needing to lob rocks or engage in a pick duel.

I also have and use my Honda genny, chainsaw, tv and radio, and use them with concideration and responsibly just as I am entitled to, in the bush where I am entitled to go.

damn noise pollution...contributing to the hole in the earzone layer

was detecting last weekend i was using speakers and met up with this the other fella who was using headphones so we just re-tuned our detectors with each other and went on our merry way. easy as.

cheers...reg

Sorry about the fonts,
was cut-and-pasting from word document (to spellcheck) and did not reset the font.

Well as I said, those who make the noise consider it their god-given right to do so and if others don't like it - too bad.

If noise doesn't bother you that is good for you, but the sound of a speaker working close by does bother me and I cannot work within earshot of a speaker.

That's just the way it is. I simply cannot concentrate.

If you want to throw verbal garbage my way go ahead, you are only showing your true colours but at least you'll be leaving someone else alone.

The very fact that I'm being attacked for politely, and with a little humour, objecting to others intruding on my space shows just how selfish and aggressive some people are becoming.

Cheers, Jim.

Good on you jim you are right, now there must be a market for a jamming device you have in your back pack or pocket and when these hoons come near you you switch off and keep swing, but turn it on till they give up thinking they have a problem with their detector
cj

Good day All.
I am only new to this gold searching but I have been hitting the beaches for about two & a half years with an xterra 70 that has an inbuilt speaker & I have just purchased an extreme with a lucky lark audio speaker & when I use it all I hear is a nice quiet hum but I still hear the targets (pity they are not Gold) & I doubt if someone was 20 feet away that they would hear it, I might not have mine set up right but I hear the small signals.
Cheers Greg.

I was showing another detectorist how to set up his machine 2 days ago on a property opposite Hill End (on the other side of the Turon). It was interesting to see that although he had a GPX, he hadn't read his instructions and had never properly gone through the tuning phase and the ground balancing process correctly. But he'd apparently spoken to enough people to have been influenced to purchase a speaker system (Coiltek). He seemed happy with the speaker that he had obtained and said that it was better in the heat than his headphones.

I decided to use earphones for the first time in a long while... since it would allow him a little privacy as I was detecting just outside of the range of his coil interference. I really don't like headphones in the middle of late-Spring/Summer and it was about 42 degrees on the ground where I was. I ended up leaving them around my neck with the speakers in the headphones facing up. I could still hear my signals and keep an eye on the other guy to make sure he wasn't messing up. It was possible for me to dig a number of good targets whilst being able to hear what the other guy was doing. I'm glad I used earphones because he would have been confused by some of the signals from my own detector. Now people used to tell me that without headphones, you'd miss the quieter targets and whilst this may have been the case years ago with cheaper headphones and poor audio range, I think the speakers today can offer a great alternative and the smaller sounds seem to be there. Some speakers also seem to give a clearer signal than others. Many people ask me where they can get a cut-off-switch for their speaker to mute the sound and I have to remind them that people like JP have modded their speaker with a switch to allow them to turn the speaker on and off.

I recall bringing up the subject of young peoples ability to hear a complete audio range compared to an older person's some time back. A person in their 20s can hear a lot more frequencies that people just 10, 20 and 30 years older than themselves. Some people give their detector to the teenager in the family to use and they do the digging for them when the teenager claims to hear sounds that the adults are missing. I've seen a dozxen instances of this so it's clear the headphones and speakers transmit audio that other persons are unable to hear. It also helps to alter the target volume and tones appropriately. Just remember that the earphones are capable of LOUD sound transmission. There's a warning in the Detector manuals to caution users of this. I have no doubt at all that the constant use of headphones at higher volumes and strengths will permanently damage hearing. I think JP mentioned this some time back. I looked to see if he mentioned it here in this thread but didn't notice it.

A VERY old guy from Trunkey (I'm sure someone from here must have met him by now) asked me to test his earphones out for him last year and I swear that I jumped a foot in the air when the sound boomed through them. He was as deaf as a post so I have to wonder if his constant detecting at high volume was contributing to his great and continued loss of hearing. He could only seem to read lips and had probably less than 2% of his hearing left. Take care of your ears!


Regards,

Marco

hi CJ, i have been told that a flouro starter connected to a 9V battery will put out so much noise that it makes nearby detectors useless !! havent tried it yet, maybe if have a need i may, regards, gary

Jeff,
Once you have tried external speakers you won't go back to headphones.
You can control the signal volume to a degree with the digital program.

Cheers
Peter

Well I had bought a single speaker from Trackline for $55 and it totalled killed the Jaycar cheapies in sound volume.
I also found that I could adjust the volume by turning down the volume signal on the 4500, as you said Peter.

so I have returned the cheapies to Jaycar. What do I want for Christmas - another speaker from Trackline then I can attach the two speakers and have two ears working instead of one.

Jeff

Hi I'm new here I have 4500 and read all the posts on Speakers & headphones and as I wear 2 x hearing aids I was wondering what your thoughts are.
In all the posts on this subject no body talks of those with hearing aids.
I do use headphones now but last week detecting the old ears and head became so hot. Really need to wear wide brim hat , so I am thinking of getting a speaker and giving it a try at least for the hot weather .
I am interested in hearing others thoughts using hearing aids .

Regards John
Goldanfish

Ayounomad wrote:G'day people , it really is personal choice when it comes to h/phone or speakers , but if anyone wants to get technical , ask yourself , why do they test peoples hearing using headphones in a soundproof booth as opposed to a speaker system in a sound proof booth ?..cheers

How's it going Paul,
They don't use external speakers in sound proof booths while doing hearing tests because they are checking level of hearing in each ear separately.

Cheers
Peter

Yes , very true Peter .Pretty obvious in hindsight ..I was just thinking of the noise cancelling effect { which is also important }....When detecting , I like headphones in the cold mornings and speakers in the heat ..Sometimes headphones one ear at a time etc ...I still think walking over the target in the first place is the biggest problem we prospectors have ...cheers .