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Does The GM1000 Gold Monster Have Vco Audio?


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Just to clarify. In metal detector land VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) audio refers to audio that increases both in volume and pitch when approaching a target. So it is not just a low tone that turns into a louder low tone, but a low tone that turns into a louder, higher tone. This makes for a nice mellow threshold, but the detector will literally squeak intensely on strong targets. Nearly all VLF nugget detectors feature VCO audio. Most coin machines do not have it to the point where lots of coin hunters have no idea what VCO audio is.

Example Minelab Equinox. Park, Field, and Beach Modes - no VCO audio. Both Gold Modes use VCO. Some people hate VCO. Some people like it so much Minelab has been getting requests for a VCO option in the non-Gold Modes on the Equinox.

I love VCO audio. It's what makes the magical "Zip-Zip" sound on tiny gold nuggets.

Long story short, phrunt is right, the Gold Monster does have VCO audio. But since he only mentioned volume it triggered my "long winded explanation" mode! :smile:

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Thanks for putting those videos up. Pretty clearly demonstrates why one is a gold machine, and why the other is an all-rounder.

Yes to me, the Equinox has a reference threshold, not a traditional threshold like in gold detectors. It is hard to explain but I'll have a stab at it. The Equinox threshold is always there and always constant, and doesn't matter how low or high you have your Sensitivity. The noise/chatter/target responses are one thing, and the threshold is another thing. On most gold detectors, the noise/chatter/signal response/threshold tone are all connected and all affect each other. 

Two things I wish Minelab would add to the Gold Monster. 1. Ability to switch tracking off, 2. Adjustable threshold. 

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On 1/22/2019 at 7:01 PM, Steve Herschbach said:

Just to clarify. In metal detector land VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) audio refers to audio that increases both in volume and pitch when approaching a target. So it is not just a low tone that turns into a louder low tone, but a low tone that turns into a louder, higher tone. This makes for a nice mellow threshold, but the detector will literally squeak intensely on strong targets. Nearly all VLF nugget detectors feature VCO audio. Most coin machines do not have it to the point where lots of coin hunters have no idea what VCO audio is.

Example Minelab Equinox. Park, Field, and Beach Modes - no VCO audio. Both Gold Modes use VCO. Some people hate VCO. Some people like it so much Minelab has been getting requests for a VCO option in the non-Gold Modes on the Equinox.

I love VCO audio. It's what makes the magical "Zip-Zip" sound on tiny gold nuggets.

Long story short, phrunt is right, the Gold Monster does have VCO audio. But since he only mentioned volume it triggered my "long winded explanation" mode! :smile:

Yep, I think traditional prospectors who grew up on VCO audio, find it strange or odd when they get into a coin machine with a simple BEEP audio. The first beep detector I started to enjoy for coin hunting was the X-Terra series, but always felt more at home with the Sovereign, and it's all-metal mode. Also why I like using the Smooth audio on the ctx3030, just gives you that bit of modulation - not in parks though, only while beach detecting. 

When I used my first Nokta machine, the Fors CoRe, that VCO 2-tone mode just spoke to me. I fell in love with it. The same with the Fors Gold+, and I used that a lot more for hunting shallow coins than I did gold detecting. I like that the latest machines like the Kruzer and Anfibio have a choice of VCO or Beep modes. This seems like the obvious thing to add to the Equinox in a future software update. 

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While it does have VCO audio as phrunt has mentioned the Monster does not have a threshold sound unlike most nugget detectors. Worth noting since some people prefer a threshold. I run the sensitivity on mine high enough signals start to break through creating a sort of false threshold but it’s not the same thing exactly. Long story short is the Monster is designed to be a silent search machine.

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Depends how technical you want to get. It is a scientific fact that the human ear can detect changes in volume and pitch easier than it can pick a faint noise out of a silent background. In total silence your brain will start making up sounds for you! So from a purely technical standpoint an ear finely tuned to a threshold has a better chance of hearing a tiny change in the threshold than hearing a faint signal against a silent background.

That all depends on a persons individual hearing abilities and those abilities vary more and in more ways than we think. There is also practicality. If I tell you a threshold sound is better, but you HATE listening to a threshold sound, then your displeasure may override any tiny theoretical benefits to using the threshold.

For me the threshold is telling me as much or more about the ground as the gold. On a manual ground balance machine changes in the threshold may indicate a neeed to ground balance. Since the Monster is locked in tracking at all times that issue is eliminated.

The truth is for those not used to it, discerning the small threshold changes that mean gold from those that are just small ground variations can be quite challenging. It is all just noise. The Monster, since it is intended for people who have never seen let alone used a metal detector, went with silent search because it is easier to learn.

From an absolute standpoint you can argue a threshold might have made the Monster better for some people. At the end of the day however all that matters is how well the Monster does versus some other detector. Most people seem pretty happy on that count.

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