900 Vs Manticore -help?

[TroyLPN]

I'm thinking very seriously about cancelling that Manticore pre-order and just getting a 900. I could probably have one of those next week vs waiting maybe months for that elusive Manticore. Do I really need a target trace when 90% of my hunting is in Florida sand?  Do I really need something that will go 16 inches down vs "only" 14? Most of those gold pendants and earrings I scoop up down there with my 800 are 1"-4" down. If the Manticore will help me get more of the 4"-6" small gold items, then yeah, I'll probably wait for it. But I couldn't care less about digging 16" down for a crusty green clad dime.

The 900 seems to have the leakage and coil ear issues fixed and it has the expanded target ID range that I've missed ever since I sold my DFX.  My main reason for still going for the Manticore would be EMI issues, which it does seem to handle a lot better, judging only from you-tube videos.  We have a lot of cell phone towers on the taller buildings at our beaches.  Some areas are barely even hunt-able with my 800 because of it.  Anybody here upgraded from an 800 to a 900?  Does it handle EMI a lot better, about the same, a little better?  How about going from an 800 to a Manticore? Have you seen the big reduction in EMI noise that some of those you-tubers say they have?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated. I'm on the fence and I need some input from people who already have these detectors. Thanks, ya'll!

TroyLPN

[midalake]

20 minutes ago, TroyLPN said:

Do I really need a target trace when 90% of my hunting is in Florida sand?  Do I really need something that will go 16 inches down vs "only" 14? Most of those gold pendants and earrings I scoop up down there with my 800 are 1"-4" down.

There is good truth to what you are asking and thinking. One standout to maybe consider is gold chains. I did see a very impressive test where I know for a fact my 800 Equinox would have not even been close.
I find lots of chains and have more experience than most with this area. 
I hope to get a test done sometime soon on chains done with direct comparison to the Equinox. Until then I would keep eyeballing a few you tube vids for clues.  

[Chase Goldman]

I'll know more about 900 EMI handling vs. 800 and D2 next week...

[Txquest]

Looking forward to your report,Chase

[abenson]

From what I have seen in the videos and when comparing the manual between the 900 and the Manticore there are a few things that stand out about the Manticore. Target trace is one of them, But do you really need it? I can see it being real useful for coin hunters. As a relic and gold nugget hunter I real see no need for it as I'm digging odd shaped and lead targets quite a bit and those probably are going to show up all over the screen. For beach hunting it's debatable and could be useful.

Iron limits are the other thing, although very similar to iron bias it is a lot more adjustable. However, at this time I see it being a lot more confusing to people that helpful. Obviously, getting to know how and where to set iron limits will come with time on the detector and it could be a steep learning curve for those that want to adventure outside the stock settings.

As far as depth and separation abilities of the 2, IMO there is very little difference. I doubt the Manticore is 2" deeper than the 900. Probably more like 1/2" difference if that, when they are both set up right. Separation abilities are going to be similar from what I have seen. It's all going to be about setting the machine up in the right mode for the target conductivity range. I don't think I've seen it confirmed or denied anywhere (could be wrong) but I'm betting the 900 is running multi IQ+ just like the Manticore.

EMI is the big question but appears the 900 and the Manticore handle it better than the 800 from what I have seen. When you push noise cancel on them they actually mitigate it. On the Equinox 800 it never seemed to help much. But I will have a 900 tomorrow and my park near by has terrible EMI the 800 and D2 have always had an issue in. So if I get some time tomorrow I may head over to that park with the 800 and 900 and see how they handle the EMI.

In a lot of the videos I have watched when the 900 and Manticore are being compared is that the Manticore seems to be a little more sure about those deep or closely spaced targets. The signal sounds brighter and more solid compared to the 900.  But overall I think the 2 are very close in performance, it just comes down to whether or not the $500 is worth that slight advantage. At one point I'll have both and will probably cut it down to one or the other once I have used them for awhile.

[PSPR]

I think performance between the 900 and the Manticore is very close.  The two things that turn me off to the 900 aren't even performance issues.  First, that red screen backlight would drive me crazy.  I don't see the TID and other indicators as clearly (judging from the videos) and I don't like it.  Second, I am more of a visual information processor than a tone processor.  So, the TT screen will be very important to me when processing a dig/no-dig decision.  Of course, on the beach you just scoop everything that isn't iron so visual queues aren't that important.

[TroyLPN]

6 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

I'll know more about 900 EMI handling vs. 800 and D2 next week...

Chase, please let us know what you find out. I take those you-tubers with a grain of salt.  Seems like most of them have at least slightly ulterior motives.

5 hours ago, abenson said:

 

EMI is the big question but appears the 900 and the Manticore handle it better than the 800 from what I have seen. When you push noise cancel on them they actually mitigate it. On the Equinox 800 it never seemed to help much. But I will have a 900 tomorrow and my park near by has terrible EMI the 800 and D2 have always had an issue in. So if I get some time tomorrow I may head over to that park with the 800 and 900 and see how they handle the EMI.

 

Seems like noise cancel on my 800 actually makes it even worse about half the time.

3 hours ago, PSPR said:

I think performance between the 900 and the Manticore is very close.  The two things that turn me off to the 900 aren't even performance issues.  First, that red screen backlight would drive me crazy.  I don't see the TID and other indicators as clearly (judging from the videos) and I don't like it.  Second, I am more of a visual information processor than a tone processor.  So, the TT screen will be very important to me when processing a dig/no-dig decision.  Of course, on the beach you just scoop everything that isn't iron so visual queues aren't that important.

Yeah, that red backlight was another thing that I didn't like about it. I hardly ever use the backlight but a pink screen would probably be harder to see.  Why, Minelab? Did somebody on the development team lose a bet or something?

[GB_Amateur]

Do you have to cancel your Manticore order or be committed to receiving it, or do you just mean if you go with the Eqx900 you'll cancel then, only wanting to commit to one new detector?  (I'm assuming my dealer -- Gerry In Idaho here -- will contact me when my name comes up and ask for either $ or a cancellation at that time.)

If EMI is your main concern then IMO you should wait for multiple reports on both new detectors.  EMI isn't the same for everyone or everywhere, as you likely know.  Same can be said about ground -- the M'core might beat the 900 more in Florida sand than Western high desert.  But if the 800 already gives you the depth you want then anything extra the M'core results in may not be worth it.

Same with the 2-d (ferrous vs. conductive) display although I really wonder if people who haven't experienced that (or similar, such as the Minelab CTX) are in good position to judge without trying it first.

$600 is meaningful to me, too, so I understand anyone who is asking these kinds of questions.  On top of that it does seem that the 900 is readily available while there's still a wait for the Manticore.  Time may be awaistin'....   (FWIW I'm being patient, but I really, really want that 2-d plot!)

 

[TroyLPN]

15 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Do you have to cancel your Manticore order or be committed to receiving it, or do you just mean if you go with the Eqx900 you'll cancel then, only wanting to commit to one new detector?  (I'm assuming my dealer -- Gerry In Idaho here -- will contact me when my name comes up and ask for either $ or a cancellation at that time.)

 

 

I've been pre-paid in full on that Manticore order since October.  I'm guessing if I decide to go with the 900 and cancel I'll get a refund fairly quickly? It would really help if my dealer would tell me where I am on his list.  Every time I ask he tells me about his distributor...MineLab...hopefully this month, and so forth. I really feel like I'm getting the run-around from him.  Why can't he just tell me "there are x amount of people pre-paid ahead of you"?  Why is that so hard?  Truthfully, it's one reason I'm considering just cancelling it.

[phrunt]

The Manticore is being advertised as handling EMI better, it has the long press EMI noise cancel feature too, the Nox 900 no mention of anything to do with improved EMI performance, it sounds to me like it's the same as the 800 in that regard, if it was improved they'd be using it for marketing.

The Nox 900 makes a lot of sense for people that already have a suite of coils for their 800, especially including aftermarkets like Coiltek.  It's very tempting for me to get a 900 as I have 4 coils for my Nox but then I'd always want the better model anyway and I love target trace, it's a brilliant feature on the CTX and for those that have never used it before or it didn't work well in their soils with FSB2 they really don't know how valuable of a feature it can be for cherry picking.  The Multi-IQ+ handling soil conditions better than FBS2 should give Target trace ability to those that have never seen how good it is before.

The coil ears are only improved on the 11" coil that comes with the new Nox, the ears for other coils are still the same at this stage including the 6" that comes with the 900.  I' m sure they'll roll out the newer ears on all coils when stocks run out of the old ones so eventually even Nox 600 and 800 will come with the new ears coils.

I'm confident the Manticore will be better in just about every way over the Nox 900, there is a reason it costs more and it's not just the fancy screen and target trace.  If you're on the fence it's best not to get the 900 straight away and wait until actual user reports start slowly rolling in for both, that way you can make a more informed decision. 

Dealers are getting the run around from Minelab, they know about as much as we do when they'll get their order it seems.