palzynski Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 I went today to one of my favourite testing areas , a very old site in a forest , low mineralized soil but infested with thousands of nails. It is my first outing there with the Apex . I decided to use the Ripper (5X8)coil instead of the Viper ( 6X11 ) because of its smaller size which means better separation , and also because it is lighter than the Viper ( 330g instead of 400g ). Up to now I had only done a few short outings with the Apex in less difficult areas , so I have some experience of the machine and its settings . I already know that it works very well in iron trashed areas , but I am wondering if it will do the job in todays "extreme" outing ... Ok lets start the detector . First thing the Apex is very stable , almost silent on the nail bed. There is no noise at all compared for example with the ML multifreqs like the Equinox or the Vanquish , which is a very good thing. My settings : Jewellery mode , freq MF , sens MAX. Apex soft. version : 1.28 I found my first coin only after 5 minutes . Very good news because it is difficult to find new targets here. The Ripper coil has the perfect size for hunting (very) small roman coins . It is also very easy to center the targets with that coil , no pinpointer required. The MS3 wireless headphones are excellent and very reliable , it is a pleasure to use them. An important thing , in case of a doubtful signal I always press the Iron Audio button to have more audio info. This "Iron Audio" is just equivalent to the Equinox and Vanquish AM ( all metal ) function. I dont know why Garrett did not simply call this button AM instead of "Iron Audio" ... The signals on targets are sharp and clean , may be a little too sharp , I would have preferred a little "softer" audio , but it works very well and this is the most important Long story short , I found a total of 6 coins during 1 hour , which is a very good result.🙂 I am not sure that I would have found more coins with my Deus HF which is a reference in iron trashed areas. So I confirm that the Apex is a very good detector in iron trash. It outperforms the ML multifreqs in iron trash to my opinion. It is very good on tiny targets as it can be seen on the pics below. Compared to the XPs the Apex is probably quite close to the Deus in terms of separation , but the Deus has the edge concerning its weight ( 800g for the Deus instead of 1100g for the Apex/ripper ). On the other hand the Apex is probably much better than the Deus at the beach, and could be a good choice for users looking for a detector performing very well on both inland and beach hunting ... So conclusion of this test the Apex is a very good detector , both easy to use and very efficient in the field , especially with the excellent Ripper coil ... GARRETT APEX + RIPPER COIL -- PLUS AND CONS : THE PROS : . excellent on iron trashed areas . very good audio / excellent iron filtering . sensitive to tiny targets as well as bigger ones ( multifrequency ) . fast and reactive/accurate on targets . a light detector , weighting only 2.4lbs (1,1kg ) with the Ripper coil . the thin control box . the lithium/ion battery . easy to use even by beginners . the excellent MS3 wireless headphones THE CONS : . VDIs a little unstable . the rod outdated compared to other brands . the coil cable too short for tall persons ( above 6 feet/ 1,85m ) . no dedicated backlight button . the running freq info ( 5k,10k ... , MF..) NOT displayed on the main detection screen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few pics of todays outing below ... 1) First coin with the Apex/Ripper : 2) A bigger one ... : 3) Total 6 coins : 4) Back home , after cleaning , a nice roman coin : Constantinus , AD 360 , 1660 years old ! : legend : CONSTANTINUS PF AUG reverse legend : GLORIA EXERCITUS 5) The Viper 6X11 and the Ripper 5X8 : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCR Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Very nice report. Please continue updating us with your evaluations. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Herschbach Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Excellent report! There were teething pains with Apex, and this combined with ten minute test experts made for a rough introduction. I wish people would actually make good faith attempts to really use detectors before rushing to YouTube to trash them, but getting eyeballs is more important than accuracy apparently. I’ve found the machine to be better than some early reports, and it’s nice to see confirmation from you. I’ve got a new Ripper coil, but have not had it out yet. Maybe tomorrow. The Iron Audio is not identical to the all metal option offered on other models. I wish it was. It has some odd quirks that I’ve been meaning to write up. Best bet is to use the all metal mode if you want all metals, as activating iron audio in some other modes does not just switch to all metal. It’s more complicated than that, but no time to go over it now. I’m fine with the rod. It’s not a Deus rod, true, but compared to say, Equinox, it’s great. The thing you mentioned as a negative that most caught my eye was the lack of display as to what frequency mode a person is in. You have to go into settings to confirm what should be on screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locator Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Thanks for the report, Palzynski. A few days back I decided, if my Whites MF detectors break (DFX / VX3) the Apex will definitely be the next one. (or if they become to heavy...😪) And congrats on those nice coins.👍 WTG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palzynski Posted May 9, 2021 Author Share Posted May 9, 2021 15 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said: .... The Iron Audio is not identical to the all metal option offered on other models. I wish it was. It has some very odd quirks that I’ve been meaning to write up. Best bet is to use the all metal mode if you want all metals, as activating iron audio in some other modes does not just switch to all metal. It’s more complicated than that, but no time to go over it now. ... Actually I found that the Apex manual is not very clear about this "Iron Audio" function . I just discovered in the field that pressing the Iron Audio allows to hear the low ferrous tones and that works well for me at the moment ... I will try to understand the Iron Audio details when I have some time available... I have never tried the all metal ZERO mode yet, yes may be an interesting mode I will try it. On the other hand yes I have had teething pains 🙂 last year with my Apex because of this faulty Viper coil . The reason why my first reports were so negative ... I hope that Garrett has solved this quality issue now ... Anyway I have a totally different machine compared to the one I had last year and I enjoy it now ... 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EL NINO77 Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Alain ... Congratulations on finding nice old coins ,, you did a really good job with Apex ... and I'm glad that Apex brings you good luck ...👍 Finally, I still stop the opinion that the right coil .. really can optimize the work of the detector on the given terrain ... or in terms of separation, or depth of detection .. As for the Iron audio in the garrett - so I'm glad it's a definite setting of the detector in all metal with a strongly amplified iron bias - which can distinguish well Ferromagnetic targets ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Goldman Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 4 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said: The Iron Audio is not identical to the all metal option offered on other models. I wish it was. It has some odd quirks that I’ve been meaning to write up. Best bet is to use the all metal mode if you want all metals, as activating iron audio in some other modes does not just switch to all metal. It’s more complicated than that, but no time to go over it now. Yes. This has always confused me because it is dependent on the disc setting. Weird. 22 hours ago, palzynski said: So I confirm that the Apex is a very good detector in iron trash. It outperforms the ML multifreqs in iron trash to my opinion. This is a very powerful claim. You are changing my perspective on Apex. Would like to see some reviews by folks using it in hot ground. Andy Benson (abenson on the forum) was not a big fan of Apex and I respect his opinion because we have very similar detecting philosophies and detector knowledge. I wonder whether his opinion would change with this coil and with the latest firmware update similar to how you turned around on this machine. Still not a fan of Garrett audio in general and the mediocre recovery really bothers me, but there is no other multiple selectable frequency machines at this price point. Single frequency is a key feature missing from Vanquish IMO (along with adjustable ground balance). If I was faced with a decision between Vanquish and Apex - no brainer I would select Apex sight unseen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palzynski Posted May 9, 2021 Author Share Posted May 9, 2021 31 minutes ago, EL NINO77 said: Alain ... Congratulations on finding nice old coins ,, you did a really good job with Apex ... and I'm glad that Apex brings you good luck ...👍 Finally, I still stop the opinion that the right coil .. really can optimize the work of the detector on the given terrain ... or in terms of separation, or depth of detection .. As for the Iron audio in the garrett - so I'm glad it's a definite setting of the detector in all metal with a strongly amplified iron bias - which can distinguish well Ferromagnetic targets ... Thanks Slavomir , yes the Ripper coil is the right coil for hunting small areas littered with iron trash and I like it . I have tested a little the Viper since I received the new one from the Garett support , this coil also works very well ; excellent iron filtering and reactivity on targets. The Viper will be the right coil for open areas like open fields , beaches etc I think ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abenson Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 44 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said: This is a very powerful claim. You are changing my perspective on Apex. Would like to see some reviews by folks using it in hot ground. Andy Benson (abenson on the forum) was not a big fan of Apex and I respect his opinion because we have very similar detecting philosophies and detector knowledge. I wonder whether his opinion would change with this coil and with the latest firmware update similar to how you turned around on this machine. Still not a fan of Garrett audio in general and the mediocre recovery really bothers me, but there is no other multiple selectable frequency machines at this price point. Single frequency is a key feature missing from Vanquish IMO (along with adjustable ground balance). If I was faced with a decision between Vanquish and Apex - no brainer I would select Apex sight unseen. It's possible I had a bad machine/coil I even said that once, so maybe the Apex didn't get a fair shake from me. But that's Garrett's problem, don't put out a machine until you got all the issues worked out. And there were clearly issues with a lot of Apexs. Based on the machine I had it wasn't evident that it had issues. But who really knows as I sold it. Some people love the Apex and its performance. I truly loved the feel and features of the Apex. But performance in IMO was not up snuff with other detectors in the same price range. I won't name brands since it's a Garrett forum. I think for someone with a budget the Apex is a fine choice for modern coin and jewelry hunting. But for me it ends there. I'm a relic, beach and gold nugget hunter. So the question I have to ask myself is; would I reach first for an Apex at any of my current sites? And the answer is no. Will i ever own another Apex? Maybe, once it's clear Garrett has all the issues worked out. Sounds like the latest update is a step in the right direction. At least they saw all the video's people were putting out and are making steps to improve. I think the dumbest thing a detector company can do is put their products in the hands of users and then not listen to criticism. I look forward to seeing what Garrett does with an AT series Apex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Herschbach Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 3 hours ago, abenson said: So the question I have to ask myself is; would I reach first for an Apex at any of my current sites? And the answer is no. Sometimes I think you guys think we are trying to sell you on detectors when we are merely discussing them. Apex is not my first choice in a detector, as I still consider it a mid-range product. That does not mean there is not a place for the detector, or people who would not love it. But in general you guys striving for absolute best splitting hairs performance, just take a pass and quit worrying about it. I keep struggling to find a way to discuss detectors that nobody claims are the absolute best, without it turning into “it’s not the best so it’s no good”. These forums tend to be very elitist, when in the real world lots of people sport mid range and even entry level detectors and do quite well. Garrett is a very popular brand in the U.S., but you’d never know it here as we let Garrett folks know their machines will never be as good as OUR machines. The basic idea seems to be each manufacturer should just make their best detector, and drop the rest. Because there is not a bit of room on the market for anything but the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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