Whites MX Sport Waterproof Metal Detector

[bado1]

khouse,

How does the MXS compare to the AT-Pro? 

It would seem that this is the machine that White's is trying to compete with. I have seen Bill's vids on the AT-Pro so perhaps he would have some experienced in-put on a comparison between the two. Thanks.

 

Dean

[khouse]

First off the machine is constructed better. Fit and finish is top notch. The display of course is way better. The only program we ran was coin and jewelry and it was on par with the Atpro.  Today I messed with the relic mode on my coin garden and like some others have said it's hotter. I can confirm this.  Just like the MXT owners using the relic mode for coinshooting the MXS excels here as well. I was set at hyperstat and discriminated out foil and tabs set to 8 tones, modulation off. I was able to run sens at 9 to Boost.  Worked great!   Deep with accurate ID. I think some have given up on the MXS without really trying all the modes tweaked to their style of hunting.  As more and more users post their setting we will have more to work with.  Unlike the Atpro the MXS has a lot of options for all to adjust the way they like. 

[Ridge Runner]

Khouse

 I thank you for all you posted on the MX Sport. I don't think it's necessary it detect a dime at 12 inches. It may be coins that deep but I just want a true ID at 9 inches. I know all detectors are never right all the time on their ID. 

Another person I'd like to hear from is Digger Bob. I know he's a dealer for White's but I do believe he will tell it as it is.

Please khouse come often and let us hear more on your MXS.

Chuck

[iqwozpoom]

I'm seeing a lot of potential in the mxs. The only thing it's missing for me is a tighter coil. I'll hold out on my final judgment when I get one to try out. FYI most of the time I use the racer with the 5 or 5x10 coil, not only by choice but by necessity. For what it is though the mxs will work with the bigger coil, most of the time I find I need to dial back the sensitivity a bit to navigate the high trash. 

[Steve Herschbach]

People have been complaining about the modulation on the MX Sport, and half the problem is they are running the Gain too high. If you run at max gain you go into boost mode, which will almost completely negate modulation being on. Boosting gain boosts deeper signals and modulation is supposed to make deeper signals sound weaker and therefore deeper, so the two controls fight each other.

Number one rule of new detectors is people will almost always run the gain too high initially and then blame various problems that result from that on the machine.

[argyle]

10 hours ago, MDCHIEFSH said:

I typically in the past use the cross over point on the DD's to distinguish if its a bottle cap.

Does that not work on the mxsport

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Bottlecaps as in the fat non-crinkled version, as opposed to twist-tops.

Although it really does not matter as some coins like your zinc cents will give the exact same degradation at height as a twist-top. You'll find most deep coins will, as will most deep cap types.

There is another of your coins too, but I simply cannot remember which, has the same make-up and ID as one of ours. And all ID units will pop both caps and twist-tops straight into a couple of those good coinage segments.
Only units with full-on tricks and the right coil will keep the Cap ratio low.

If a smaller hot closed concentric had of been available as the stock coil it would not have been such of a problem and would have helped with audio ID much better in the form of a couple of far better tricks for Cap ID on the Sport. But, they stuck to an All Round MXT digitalized platform for the MXSport, so the big DD it is.

Although, the reason they made this unit a Multi-purpose one has me baffled.
Rushing the Treasuremaster and TreasuremasterPro onto the scene (they should really have been a Single unit) and not waiting a few months to put it in a Waterproof Sport housing lacked common sense. 

Then this new unit could have been the best prospecting VLF Whites have made to date. Carrying both Digitalzed versions of the MXT and GMT ...Excellent Ground Grab and SAT speed correlation with gain, twin frequencies of 14kHz and 50 kHz, and coils to match all uses.
Though they would have had to have engineered a far better Ground Tracking into it.

2 units - MXSport coin/relic/jewellery - MXSport Prospecting.

Multipurpose units always leave something lacking.

[auminesweeper]

I just think what a wonderful unit this could have been.

[iqwozpoom]

I have to agree with auminesweeper on one thing. I love knobs and dials! I really like the quick precision adjustments that can be made to be just on the edge. Maybe Whites will come out with a truly miniaturized mxt with all the same controls in a lighter package! But I also think it's apples to oranges. There's probably more in the pipeline from Whites, it seems they're not resting on their laurels.

[Steve Herschbach]

I guess you deleted a whole lot of typing John and sorry to see that, but your choice.

I do agree with you on one thing - the MX Sport could have been so much more. And just by a few small things. The thing is, unlike you, I refuse to be passing judgement until I use it. I cannot agree with your thinking that comparing your air tests versus their air tests with the entire issue being MXT vs MX Sport really proves anything at all. Except that you seem to think White's wants to push one over the other. Honestly, who cares? How about we all agree that is you want a dry land unit, get the MXT? Well proven, works, tons of coils, etc.

Again, you want dry land only, get an MXT. You want to stick it underwater, get the MX Sport. Problem solved.

Here is the thing however. I think most people are not looking at this as a MXT vs MX Sport thing. There are people like me who moved on from the MXT long ago and am not going back. There are people who will never own an MXT but who are looking at the AT Pro and wondering if the MX Sport might be a better fit for them. Or for that matter maybe somebody looking at a CTX 3030 but the price is just too much, and they are thinking maybe MX Sport. There are lots of fresh water detectorists out there, and the MXT just is not on the list at all.

From my perspective despite your definitive "no way MX Sport can be better than MXT" decision I have solid information in hand from at least two people who I respect highly and that have used the MX Sport that indicate otherwise. The MX Sport Prospecting mode may very well have a leg up on the MXT Prospecting mode, and I am a prospector. The machine may miss in various ways but that in no way means it is across the board bad. You are tossing the baby out with the bath water.

Could it have been even better? Of course. There is speculation that maybe White's went with an 8 AA battery scheme so the same housing could support some other future model that needs 8 AA batteries. Nice theory but it still forgives White's for compromising the design of this particular detector. There is no reason it can't run on four AA batteries. It may relate to the decision to go with the big DD coil. That may be a very good choice for beach detecting, but it points up an identity crisis. Is this a water detector or a dry land detector? Is it a prospecting detector or a coin detector? Since people tend to compare machines for max depth White's decided to go with the big coil. Now we have a nose heavy detector. How to fix that? Put more weight under arm in the form of batteries. That is how you end up with 8 AA batteries.

Me, I would have went smaller coil. 8" round is a sweet spot for me so maybe the White's 9" spider Eclipse or the popular 11" x 7" elliptical as seen on so many competitor machines. Lighter coil on front, now 4 AA batteries in back, let's lose about a half pound. The MX Sport still weighs more than I like. It is a solid pound heavier than the AT Pro and that is not good. On the good side it is 1.2 pounds lighter than a CTX 3030. The main thing is they could have done more to make the MX Sport lighter than the MXT and though they did shave 0.3 lbs it could have been closer to being a pound lighter than the MXT, and that would have counted for a lot. Manufactures keep underestimating just how important ergonomics is in the buying decision. 

The headphone jack placement? Ridiculous. Should have been under elbow like many, many other White's detectors over the years and for good reason.

Lack of manual ground balance? Really? One of the most requested upgrades for the MXT, still a no go. Not a big deal for many people, but again, the little differences between good and great.

The boom box audio? Tough call if same as past White's detectors. Some people love that sound. But early indications are the MX Sport may lag on even longer than previous White's machines and that may be just too much. The machines need to tighten up the audio if anything, not loosen it. Having not heard it in person I have to reserve judgement there.

White's with a few moves could have made this machine clearly better so that old MXT users like yourself could easily get behind it. In that task they may have failed based at least on your response John. I am not interested in the MXT and so that is not a problem for me. I am interested in the MX Sport for what it may offer, not for what it does not offer. I am a glass half full person.

The bottom line here is I have an edge. I can get an MX Sport for less than most people will pay, try it, and see. I am a bit of a killing ground for new detectors and odds are any new one I get will be gone a year later. They really have to work for me very well to last long and the odds are not in the MX Sports favor with what I have on hand already or on the way very soon. It may be the Prospect mode really does turn out to be a killer mode on the unit, and it proves to be a top notch water machine at Lake Tahoe, which has the worst mineralization of any fresh water lake I have been in. The competition there will be the CTX 3030 and Garrett ATX. For jewelry I have a DFX Bigfoot combo. Can the Bigfoot be adapted to and run the Bigfoot sufficiently well to replace my DFX? I am doubtful, but if so that would be a clear win for the MX Sport and earn it a permanent spot in my collection. Coins? Tons of competition there, but again, Paul seems pleased, and that means a lot in my book. Prospecting? Pretty doubtful, I don't need waterproof prospecting machines if the price is extra weight and limited coil selection for no real performance advantage. The Prospect mode would have to indeed shine.

All machines can be picked apart and all have aspects that prove useless for some users. The trick for me always is not to dwell on might have beens but just look at things as they are, and figure out how to get the best out of them. If that one best thing is good enough, that is all it takes for me. I am not looking to own one machine to do everything. Be nice but not there yet. What I need are machines that excel in just one way. If I can find that one magic thing in the MX Sport then it will find a home. If not, it will be down the river with a hundred other machines I have used and now consider history. The only way I know to figure that out however is to use one, and so I will.

Sight unseen I can promise everyone this. Some people will love the MX Sport. Many will think it is fine. Many will think it is not. Some will just hate it. Been that way with every new machine ever released and the MX Sport will be no different. At the end of the day it is just another single frequency VLF detector, a beat to death category that can't, by its very nature, offer anything particularly new. My real interest is in machines based on new tech, like the GPZ plus whatever else Fisher and White's are working on, and a new renaissance in selectable frequency detectors, the next up probably being the Nokta Impact. Hopefully White's is reworking the V3i from the ground up into something more practical. That is what I really want to see. Messing around with single frequency machines is just a diversion while waiting for the real goods to arrive.