Why Have We Not Demanded Front Facing Speakers For This Tonal Hobby

[Hombre91]

I am a late comer to the hobby, and sound quality has become a primary interest. There are areas where headphones are not feasible and in those conditions we are relegated to listening to tones that are moving away from us and subjected to reflections before reaching the ear. That is the farthest thing from sound quality that I can think of. Furthermore the volume has to be elevated because the speaker is not facing us. 

Where metal detecting is tonal and in many cases tone is or should be a higher priority than a VDI I am at a loss in 2022 to understand this design flaw, or lack of it being an option. Weight? No. Space? No. Electronic Capability? No.

What gives?

Thanks.

[sodbuster]

Most of us use headphones.   I personally have never used a speaker while hunting on any detector. 

I've been detecting since the mid 1970's.   Headphones allow you to hear small signals that would be missed relying on only speaker audio.  I.M.O.

[Hombre91]

I understand that Sod but for those of us detecting in areas where it is a practical matter of personal safety to forgo HP having a signal that is not secondary to mufflers, children, and car stereos for example would be very nice. 

[strick]

I hate it when someone says O and means zero...thinking the speaker is too big to put in the front...even though I have bad hearing its not really a problem for me... safety? use your eyes more maybe and turn your neck 😄

strick

[kac]

My guess is for control panel realestate. There are machines that do have front speakers but are analog machines. Most speakers are plenty loud and even too loud. I prefer headphones and on machines that don't have critical nuances, on the ear headphones will still allow you to hear what is going on around you. Detector Pro has single headphones too.

[oldcoinhunter]

Just look at the size of the speaker on a cell phone and ipad. They are about the size of a quarter of a round toothpick. Seems to me they could put it anywhere on the detector so it is facing the user. Jim

[RickUK]

I never ever use a detector without headphones,i do agree sometime its not convenient to use full cup headphones like in woods or on hot sticky days etc but when i cannot use full cups i use the XP wired back phones running inside my jacket so the cable does not flop around.....i rely alot on audio threshold for those deep whisper signals especially on pasture or deep ploughed and rolled sites as those often have the desirable deep target,but if i did not have headphones and just listened to the internal speaker i doubt i would be able to hear the audio threshold......of course what works for me may not necessary for other in other situations.

[V3i/MXT Pro]

I can’t believe we’re still settling for monochrome screens. How many of us would accept that on our cellphone or tablet?

[Rick N. MI]

I only hunt with headphones too but sometimes when I'm out testing a detector I just use the speaker.

[TexHunter]

Many, many detectors have been made with front facing speakers. Like most here, I've always used headphones, but I can understand wanting a better "feel" for the surrounding environment, in some areas, these days...