Garrett Axiom & Minelab GPX 6000

[Steve Herschbach]

12 minutes ago, jasong said:

Is there battery discussion on another site? I haven't seen those comments.

I suppose in part it's understandable though because when they first started building batteries into phones without replacement capability, there was a ton of issues. Even as recently as my S7, I lost my entire phone after the battery went bad. I also lost 2 cheapy field laptops where it was simply cheaper to buy new than replace the battery.

Probably boils down to the quality of battery used, manufacturers today have figured out how to make them last much longer than they used to. A high quality battery shouldn't need replaced in the detector's lifetime. 

It's like USB - some people still remember the older micro-usb high failure rates and might be turned off by the USB. But the newer USB C is actually pretty reliable. I'm stoked to see Garrett used it so I can just use the cables I have laying around everywhere already, it's standard for electronics today.

No, it was brought up here somewhere about the batteries, but not sure where, too many posts going on too fast. I'm sure it will come up again though, always does with new rechargeable detectors. And yes, people will question the USB. I'm loving it, as I already had a bunch of USB-C cables for my wife's and my phones. No up or down flip it around nonsense like I have with all my micro-USB plugs!

[Steve Herschbach]

On 7/30/2022 at 10:25 AM, Gravelwasher said:

Love to see a depth comparison on a point 3 gram nugget;))

My $679 Garrett 24K with 6" concentric slays either of them on a 0.1 grain, 0.006 gram nugget, as in it can find gold that size, and these expensive beasts can't. When it comes to tiny gold,  both PIs are LOSERS!  But if you want to use a PI instead, any money is no object, the 6000 with a new 6"x8" Nugget Finder mono coil should be killer, though still not as good as my 24K. Heard good things about the GPZ 7000 with 8" X-Coil also.

[Calmark]

I really like the form factor of the Axiom, and that definitely extends to the coils.  

I look forward to using mine when it arrives!

 

[abenson]

The Axiom is a great looking machine and looking forward to trying one out. The only real concern I have right now is how the audio is with z-lynk system. I tried it on my 5000 and Docs battery system trying to go wireless and didn't care for. Although on the Aoex the audio seemed fine.

[Steve Herschbach]

I wish they had gone Bluetooth LL personally, as I have never been a fan of proprietary, no matter who has made it. Why get locked into one set of headphones, instead of having hundreds to choose from on Amazon? The audio is fine, but not as good as my Sun Ray Pro Golds plugged in.

Next outing I am going to try my little Bluetooth transmitter box just to see how things go with one of my Bluetooth headsets. I have to admit I still use plugged Sun Rays a lot. Stuff like me getting out last time, and finding I should have charged the wireless headphones, only has to happen a couple times before I'm back to my old reliables. That, and the Z-Lynk headphone only has one volume control, and I prefer dual volume, being a tad more deaf in might right ear than my left.

But better yet than all of them, is just using the external speaker. For lots of quiet places that's my go to, for sure. Headphones now only when background noise is excessive, or lots of people around.

[jasong]

If it has less latency than Bluetooth LL, I think it's a win, though I'm sure I'm in the minority here since people like headphone options and I only use them when there is no other option.

I can't understand how no one notices the delay in the LL/APTX stuff though. How am I am seemingly the only one? It drives me crazy. A detector like the Axiom seems to lend itself to real prospecting in the same way the 6k does, and in those cases you aren't simply just swinging slow looking for faint signals, and the faster you swing the more pronounced the delay is with LL.

The thing I'm wondering about is the inconvenience of needing to have a separate unit to use the headphones rather than built-in. Seems like one more thing to lose or forget unless I keep it attached all the time.

[phrunt]

I wonder if they didn't go Bluetooth as Qualcomm retired Bluetooth Low Latency in 2018.  Maybe sourcing enough chips was a problem.  The newer Qualcomm Bluetooth adaptive adjusts latency on the fly to cope with interference and other factors so you don't sit on a nice fast latency and from what I've read it tends to favour higher latency for higher quality stable audio. 

The problem with Bluetooth Low Latency is its unstable, interference or anything and it drops signal or crackles and pops.   While I would have liked it to be Bluetooth I can understand why it's not and technically their Z-lynk is better but they should license out the technology to some metal detector headphone manufacturers to make aftermarket headphones for it.  I like that you can connect the Carrot AT (Z-Lynk edition) to it as well, still in my opinion the best pinpointer on the market and I'm hoping it doesn't cause too much interference with the detector, sounds like it doesn't or they wouldn't be promoting it's compatibility.  Bluetooth adaptive probably sees the detector itself as a massive source of EMI and raises the latency for stability of audio accordingly.

I think purely cosmetically the Axiom makes the 6000 look very dated, it's just every part of it looks more cosmetically modern, the larger nicer screen, the shaft, the box under the cuff, the cuff itself, everything just looks new, the 6000 looked dated when it came out, the 7000 looks far more modern than the 6000,  and it's skinny little shaft looks odd, especially if a bigger coil ever goes on it but I doubt we'll see that for various reasons.  I am guessing the Axiom will end up with some really big coils over time and its shaft will handle them fine.

USB-C was a good move, it will prove itself over time.  The built in battery will be fine, VLF owners are getting more used to that now with detectors like the Nox and some Nokta's, most people have had their Nox for 3+ years now and still going strong, I can't tell the difference in charge from when mine was new, still lasts the same as it did 3+ years ago.  Much better than having a battery on a curly cable hanging off your butthole.   Eventually when it starts to give way I'm sure the process won't be too hard to change out, there will be Youtube's on how to do it yourself with alternative batteries on the cheap, even if Garrett don't want you to 😛

[Steve Herschbach]

20 minutes ago, jasong said:

If it has less latency than Bluetooth LL, I think it's a win, though I'm sure I'm in the minority here since people like headphone options and I only use them when there is no other option.

I can't understand how no one notices the delay in the LL/APTX stuff though. How am I am seemingly the only one? It drives me crazy. A detector like the Axiom seems to lend itself to real prospecting in the same way the 6k does, and in those cases you aren't simply just swinging slow looking for faint signals, and the faster you swing the more pronounced the delay is with LL.

The thing I'm wondering about is the inconvenience of needing to have a separate unit to use the headphones rather than built-in. Seems like one more thing to lose or forget unless I keep it attached all the time.

I hunt very slow, and as long as I get a beep, my eyes and brain compensate automatically. I literally do not notice the very thing that drives you crazy. But yes, Z-Lynk is far faster if that is your issue. But not as fast as my wired Sun Ray phones!

[Chase Goldman]

5 hours ago, abenson said:

The Axiom is a great looking machine and looking forward to trying one out. The only real concern I have right now is how the audio is with z-lynk system. I tried it on my 5000 and Docs battery system trying to go wireless and didn't care for. Although on the Aoex the audio seemed fine.

That's ironic Andy because my go to wireless setup on my GPX 4800 is Z Lynk and an MS3.  Just needed to make sure the muff with the antenna was pointing towards the Z Lynk transmitter and srop outs disappeared and audio has been great.  But I have heard other complaints ts as well when married to the GPX.

Yeah, unfortunately, APTX LL will eventually fade away as it is no longer being supported. As soon as Qualcomm decides to stop manufacturing the chipset, there will be some issues.  Probably still a few years off.  I complained about this in another thread, but manufactures who have gone all in on APTX-LL on their latest detectors should have future proofed themselves on the GPX 6000 and Nokta Legend by including dual radios utilizing their proprietary wireless audio solutions (WiMax and Nokta "Green") as backups just as was done on the Nox.

Personally, I'm OK with Z Lynk.  BT would have been nice but not as a the sole wireless option based on APTX-LL's sunsetting.

[Norvic]

On my modded SDC I had to take the WiFi transmitter out of the new case and mount it externally for reliable reception on the WiFi shoulder speaker. Much better to have the detector manufacturer fitted WiFi to avoid these drop outs and avoid additional battery charging each day before you can enjoy a coldie.