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Is The 600 All I Need?


Happa54

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Hey everyone… I hope you all had a great weekend hunt.

I cut my teeth in this hobby on the ML Safari which is basically a tone machine, and the TID’s are secondary. This is the way I run my 600. I like to hear all tones. I don’t know anyone who has the 800 so I don’t know what tone breaks sound like but I am guessing there are 5…correct?

I like to hear a nickel as a nickel, a dime as a dime, quarter as a quarter, and so on. Au naturale on tones is what I’m used to.

I have been going back and forth in my decision to either purchase the 800 or keep the 600. For me there is a technical aspect between the two that would seal it up for me…. And that is;

Pound for pound, is the 600 just as powerful or equal to the 800 when maxed out at recovery speed 3 vs recovery speed of 6 on the 800? 3 on the 600 is equal to 6 on the 800 but are they really equal as written in the manual?  Some of you own both models… do you see any differences when running both at speeds of 6 or 4?

I have noticed through reading and watching videos that most Nox 800 owners don’t seem to hunt often above 6 or 7 on the recovery speed.  In fact, from my observations, most 800 users seem to hunt at 6, 5 and 4… and for obvious reasons mainly due to loss of depth and erratic signals. I hunt mostly in recovery speed 2 on my 600 which is equal to 4 on the 800.

So, being that my emphasis is on tones and slower recovery speeds, is it really necessary to upgrade to the 800? Who hunts in speeds of 7-8? I hunt the some of the most polluted parks in L.A. and I go low and slow. Learned that habit from my Safari.

I am clear on the loss of gold prospecting, profiling, etc. with the 600 but I am not concerned about these features.  I still use my Audio Technica or Grey Ghosts Ultimates and have wires dangling but I prefer it this way since I am into hearing quality tones.

Your input is much appreciated…. Thank you

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A couple of comments.

First, only you can determine whether the 600 is all you need.  I can say that the answer for you is "probably" but I will point out a couple of things based on what you stated your objectives where.

  • Note that the 800 has one mode (Field 2) where the default recovery speed of 7 exceeds the capability of the 600.  I am not sure this is a big deal at all.  But it is what it is.  Two modes Park 1 and Beach 1 have 800 defaults that do not match up with the 600 equivalent defaults as far as recovery speed is concerned (Park 1 3 vs. 5 and Beach 1 2 vs. 6).  Again, I do not think this matters much.
  • I typically use 50 tones so I do not use the no-ferrous tone custom breakpoints at all (50 tone breakpoints are fixed) other than when I use 5 tones in default mode.  You also have 2 tone mode besides 5 tones.
  • Don't sell the user profile button short.  It is very convenient and it is basically the only thing I miss when I am using my 600 (which is a dedicated salt beach machine and backup to my 800) because I like to instantly switch between modes when interrogating certain targets rather than toggling through the whole menu.
  • Gold mode is not just for prospecting, I like to use it in thick iron situations because the VCO audio gives me a different take on what is going on underground, and helps to better identify large profile targets than the under modulated tone modes and sometimes help to separate targets better than the tone modes.
  • If you goal is to really hit highly trashy sites hard, then the extra recovery speed is helpful because at that point you are not going so much for depth but to separate those keeper shallow targets that everyone else has missed with their slower recovery machines.  Will the 600 at recovery speed 3 do the trick?  Yeah, probably for 90%+  of the situations it will be sufficient, so the 600 is should do you just fine.  It is really impossible to tell what difference those extra recovery speed clicks will do for your specific detecting situations, quite frankly.  I think the 6 inch coil is more important for what you are trying to do than the extra recovery speed clicks.
  • Iron Bias - I really don't care much for this filter so the difference between the two units is immaterial to me.

Hope this helps.  HH

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OK 2 things to consider. That extra nudge in recovery speed will make it a touch easier for setting up "sifter" type programs. Who doesn't want multi freq with deus speed?

The second is the wireless headphones and wireless module that come with the 800. Both are very nice items and pretty expensive to buy them separately.

If neither one of those things is important to you then take a closer look at the 600.

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1 hour ago, Alluminati said:

The second is the wireless headphones and wireless module that come with the 800. Both are very nice items and pretty expensive to buy them separately.

Thanks for reminding me.  The 600 is great because just like the 800 it uses a universal industry standard in Bluetooth, which means that if you do want to go wireless, you are not required to just go with the ML wireless headphones.  There are several low latency (APTX LL) spec'd BT headphones available out there for a lot less than the ML phones including the exact clone of the ML phones, the Miccus SR71's that are less than half the cost of the equivalent ML accessory phones.  You can also find some even less expensive APTX LL BT headphones if you do your research (the info resides on this forum) and shop around.  HTH

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Right, aftermarket is a good option, I forgot.

I found my self really liking the WM-08 module because the WM-80 headphones are way too hot for summertime land use.

I've been using the blue wired Deus back-phones with the WM-08 module, modified to have the wire just long enough for the module to sit in my pocket. I also removed the volume control as the Equinox has one already.

This is even more comfortable the the Wireless Deus WS4 setup because I don't have the weight of the puck on my head, as light as it is.   Though to be fair I could stick the WS4 puck in my pocket with the adapter in effect doing the same, however the thought never occurred to me at the time.

The WM-08 module is also faster, about twice as fast as the aptX™ headphones however I can't say that I've noticed a difference yet, I only did a few early hunts with the headphones so too early to tell. Maybe when I switch to the WM-80 headphones in the cooler weather I may notice a slight lag but for now it may be reaching the point of diminishing returns, having after market aptX™ headphones may be the way to go, especially if you can find a cooler on-ear or even a earbud solution. I can't wear earbuds but the seem to work OK for some.

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On 8/21/2018 at 4:34 AM, Alluminati said:

Right, aftermarket is a good option, I forgot.

I found my self really liking the WM-08 module because the WM-80 headphones are way too hot for summertime land use.

I've been using the blue wired Deus back-phones with the WM-08 module, modified to have the wire just long enough for the module to sit in my pocket. I also removed the volume control as the Equinox has one already.

This is even more comfortable the the Wireless Deus WS4 setup because I don't have the weight of the puck on my head, as light as it is.   Though to be fair I could stick the WS4 puck in my pocket with the adapter in effect doing the same, however the thought never occurred to me at the time.

The WM-08 module is also faster, about twice as fast as the aptX™ headphones however I can't say that I've noticed a difference yet, I only did a few early hunts with the headphones so too early to tell. Maybe when I switch to the WM-80 headphones in the cooler weather I may notice a slight lag but for now it may be reaching the point of diminishing returns, having after market aptX™ headphones may be the way to go, especially if you can find a cooler on-ear or even a earbud solution. I can't wear earbuds but the seem to work OK for some.

Hi All,

For me the 800-"extras" of the ML-80 headphones and the WM-08 module are a big plus.

When I got my EQX in July we had a heatwave here and I started off with using the WM-08 headphones to see/feel if they were not too hot in that weather. I found them to be very comfortable and with very good audio. Ok, they became a bit wet and slippery on the ears, but I was sweating all over the rest too, so nothing big to fuss about. After a couple of 2/3 hour hunts with the headphones I tried the WM-08 module with the blue wired XP FX01 backphones. I found those to be definitly cooler in that weather. Also they offered more "interaction" with the environment, as they do not shield the sounds of your suroundings as much as the more enclosing over the ears ML-08. 

Before the EQX I used another brand/model of detector with the Garrett Z-Lynk modules and the same XP FX01 backphones. Always been very satisfied with this combination. No lag and good audio and comfortable. I personally did/do not find any difference in lag (= no noticable lag) between the Z-Lynk, the WM-08 or the ML-80. I swing at a moderate speed. 

Apart from the detector itself, for me the extras, ML-80/WM-08, make my upgrade to the EQX even more of a succes. The ML-80 headphones are my favorites (comfortable, excellent sound, light, good soundshielding, warmer, and affordable replacable if  neccessary), but when it is really hot weather I can use the backphones with the WM-08.

Edited a bit later/forgot to mention:   With the WM-08/FX01 backphones I had to give the volume on the EQX 2 to 3 more clicks (from 20 to 22/23) for the same hearing volume as with the ML-80 headphones, because that combination is not as well "soundshielded" as the ML-80 headphones. The surplus cable of the backphones, between the 1/8" plug and the inline volumecontrol, I roll up and put that behind the WM08 in my breastpocket, with the volumecontrol hanging outside the pocket. That way I can easily and quickly turn down the volume when, at times,  the pinpointing sound comes in relatively too loud for comfort.  The WM08 is in this breastpocket on top of my smartphone. The smartphone is switched on in "simple" phonemode (NOT in  airplanemode and wifi/bluetooth disabled). Even hunting in fields at a distance of less than 500 meters from a celltower or at  less than 100 meters from above ground power lines I didn't notice any interference on the ML-80 or WM08. After noice cancelling no interference on the EQX itself either. 

Greetings,

Bob'ke

 

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I had the 600, and I think the biggest reason I sold it and bought an 800 is precisely this...I didn't want to have to keep asking myself the very question you just have. Just having to wonder if I was missing anything or leaving anything on the table drove me nuts! I am also a bargain hunter and I knew that at some point, nomatter how good I know the Equinox is, it's not going to be someone's cup of tea. Sure enough. As soon as supply ramped up I found one for just a little more than a new 600, and I jumped on it. I even planned to sell the WM 08 and the headphones it comes with. The headphones I may still, but I fell for that little WM 08 module and now I'm glad I have it. 7 and 8 on the recovery side are noticeably quicker than 3 on the 600 (which is equivalent to 6 on the 800). I can't say I've noticed extra depth from running recovery at 1 on the 800 as opposed to 1 on the 600 (which is equivalent to 2 on the 800) yet, but just the possibility was enough to bother me if I opted to stay on the 600.  

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The Equinox 800 is my first detector so I have nothing to compare it to.  But the reasons I went with the 800 over the 600 were:

1) I'm in Alaska, so Gold mode seems important since nugget detecting is a goal, and resale value will probably be better if I want to sell at some point.

2) When I went in to look at detectors, I saw the Wireless Module retails for $269, so you get the gold modes, better headphones, gold modes and user setting modes for less than just buying the Wireless Module.

I don't use the supplied headphones though, they are comfortable but up here it is important to keep an ear out for moose and bears so I prefer earbuds and leave one ear out than over the earhead phones. The WiFi module is nice because I can use any regular wired headphone with it and don't have to go buy an Aptx Bluetooth set.  But I haven't compared it to regular bluetooth headphones for latency, so not sure how much of an improvement wireless over bluetooth is in practical terms.

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On 8/20/2018 at 6:34 PM, Alluminati said:

I can't wear earbuds but the seem to work OK for some.

Not sure why they don't work for you, but I can't wear standard earbuds because I'm deformed ? and don't have the little piece of cartilage that holds them in my ear.  But I do find the actual in the ear canal ear buds or the Bose earbuds with the extra rubber both work pretty well for me.

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4 hours ago, Sasquatch said:

Not sure why they don't work for you, but I can't wear standard earbuds because I'm deformed ? and don't have the little piece of cartilage that holds them in my ear.  But I do find the actual in the ear canal ear buds or the Bose earbuds with the extra rubber both work pretty well for me.

I find they work there was loose in a matter of minutes. If I really jam them in there, it hurts the ears.

Another big reason is they can be really painful if you get the wire caught on something and rip the buds from your ears. There are a million different earbuds out there, maybe there is a pair for me. On the other hand the audio response us usually a littler flatter with the bigger drivers in the headphones vs the buds, generally speaking of course.

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