Finally, Aptx-ll Bone Conduction Headphones For Equinox

[F350Platinum]

Been a long time since I posted anything here, I love my Equinox 600 but haven't had anything interesting happen lately until today.

I was going through Amazon deals and came across this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0C6LWNNF6

They're light, extremely comfortable, and inexpensive at the moment. They have a microphone but you can swing it out of the way. It isn't removable.

They paired with the APTX-LL B+ sign on the Nox right out of the box, I did a factory reset to wipe out the previous headphones I was using, and then pushed the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth button, waited for the Wi-Fi icon to disappear. Then I turned on the headphones and hung them on the detector and walked away. When I came back they were paired. 🥳

They're not all that loud even with the detector at full volume and the bone phones at full, but the point is they  work, for a minimum investment of $49. I generally hunt fields so the volume isn't much of a problem, YMMV.

Good luck, and happy hunting!

[DigInTheSand]

Hello F350.  Great to find your post!  I need some help please in understanding how to use an AfterShokz bone conduction headphone with the Eq.800.  Unfortunately, I find that over-the-ear phones make my ears too hot, especially in summer and I do not like phones that stick in my ears.  The manual (pg 54) really confuses me and so my questions are:

1.    Do I also need to set up and use the WM08 Wireless Audio Module (pg55) with the Bluetooth bone earphones? OR

2.    Do the bone earphones connect directly to the EQ800? (That’s going to be fun to figure out).

3.    The manual says, “Bluetooth technology has a high audio latency of 100 ms.  This can make it difficult to visualize the exact position of a buried target if you are detecting with a fast swing”.   (Not good – I need all the help that I can get)!

4.    Will the audio be loud enough for beach detecting?

Many thanks for your time, Jane

[F350Platinum]

3 hours ago, DigInTheSand said:

Hello F350.  Great to find your post!  I need some help please in understanding how to use an AfterShokz bone conduction headphone with the Eq.800.  Unfortunately, I find that over-the-ear phones make my ears too hot, especially in summer and I do not like phones that stick in my ears.  The manual (pg 54) really confuses me and so my questions are:

1.    Do I also need to set up and use the WM08 Wireless Audio Module (pg55) with the Bluetooth bone earphones? OR

2.    Do the bone earphones connect directly to the EQ800? (That’s going to be fun to figure out).

3.    The manual says, “Bluetooth technology has a high audio latency of 100 ms.  This can make it difficult to visualize the exact position of a buried target if you are detecting with a fast swing”.   (Not good – I need all the help that I can get)!

4.    Will the audio be loud enough for beach detecting?

Many thanks for your time, Jane

Yikes 😬

Hi Jane,

If you bought true Aftershokz headphones instead of the ones pictured above, AFAIK they will pair with the Equinox, but they sadly will not work. 🫤 You will hear tones when passing the detector over a target, but it will not be near or at the right time, causing you to dig in the wrong place.

APTX-LL Bone conduction headphones have a delay of ~40 ms, not 100. The item I posted above is using APTX-LL. They are the only bone conduction (and actually more "air conduction") headphones I have ever seen other than one by Panasonic that is no longer made.

Aftershokz are not APTX-LL. I wrote the company a couple of years ago hoping to interest them in making some for the zillions of people that own an Equinox, I have a 600. They of course told me that it was interesting but then ignored it. Meh.

Sorry to disappoint you, as a matter of fact I was one of the first to make this mistake when I started about 3+ years ago. 😬 Luckily I could return them. There are options like the SoundBlaster on-ear headphones that I use quite successfully:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08QRQMLVY

These are loud, very loud, and last 20 hours. They are great in hot weather. If the band is uncomfortable wrap it in athletic tape.

As for using the item I wrote about above, you could maybe use them at a calm lake or river on the off season, but definitely not at the beach in the summer, they're not very loud. I may bring my Equinox to Myrtle Beach in April and try them there, but I'm pretty much a Deus 2 guy now.

Do yourself a favor and search for "bone conduction" using the magnifying glass icon here, and you'll see all the stuff related to it. Put the words in quotes for best result. 🙂

HTH, GL, HH 🍀

[markinswpa]

F350 thanks for the link. I lost the bone conductors I had last year so will give these ones a try. I hope they pair with the legend. I had a pair of headphones that would not. Mark

[F350Platinum]

3 minutes ago, markinswpa said:

F350 thanks for the link. I lost the bone conductors I had last year so will give these ones a try. I hope they pair with the legend. I had a pair of headphones that would not. Mark

Hope they work, they will pair with the Equinox for sure. 🙂 

🍀

[Chase Goldman]

15 minutes ago, markinswpa said:

F350 thanks for the link. I lost the bone conductors I had last year so will give these ones a try. I hope they pair with the legend. I had a pair of headphones that would not. Mark

Just be aware that these are actually "air conduction" not true bone conduction phones.  A bit of misleading advertising on their part.  They do work great for situational awareness as long as they remain in the proper position on your head and near your ears.  Good luck. 👍 

[DigInTheSand]

On 3/6/2024 at 5:09 PM, F350Platinum said:

Yikes 😬

Hi Jane,

If you bought true Aftershokz headphones instead of the ones pictured above, AFAIK they will pair with the Equinox, but they sadly will not work. 🫤 You will hear tones when passing the detector over a target, but it will not be near or at the right time, causing you to dig in the wrong place.

APTX-LL Bone conduction headphones have a delay of ~40 ms, not 100. The item I posted above is using APTX-LL. They are the only bone conduction (and actually more "air conduction") headphones I have ever seen other than one by Panasonic that is no longer made.

Aftershokz are not APTX-LL. I wrote the company a couple of years ago hoping to interest them in making some for the zillions of people that own an Equinox, I have a 600. They of course told me that it was interesting but then ignored it. Meh.

Sorry to disappoint you, as a matter of fact I was one of the first to make this mistake when I started about 3+ years ago. 😬 Luckily I could return them. There are options like the SoundBlaster on-ear headphones that I use quite successfully:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08QRQMLVY

These are loud, very loud, and last 20 hours. They are great in hot weather. If the band is uncomfortable wrap it in athletic tape.

As for using the item I wrote about above, you could maybe use them at a calm lake or river on the off season, but definitely not at the beach in the summer, they're not very loud. I may bring my Equinox to Myrtle Beach in April and try them there, but I'm pretty much a Deus 2 guy now.

Do yourself a favor and search for "bone conduction" using the magnifying glass icon here, and you'll see all the stuff related to it. Put the words in quotes for best result. 🙂

HTH, GL, HH 🍀

Many thanks for your detailed reply.  Interesting and much appreciated.

[DigInTheSand]

Hello again F350.  Followed your advice and got myself a new pair of Creative SoundBlaster Jam V2 headphones.  They are so light, love it.  Will need to wrap headband as you said - they are quite hard.  This is embarrassing for me to ask you.  I am at a loss as to how to pair them with my EQ800 which are already paired to Minelab ML80 phones.  Before I ask any forum questions, I search and search, but can't find specific instructions to help me on this.  Hoping that this won't waste your time too much.

First - do I need to unpair the ML80 phones by using Factory reset? Then, to pair the new CSB phones:

• turn on Eq800
• then turn on Creative phones and then press wireless button on side of Eq
• and then?

I must be driving you mad, I'm sorry.  p.s. the Creative headphone manual really stinks.  Many thanks if you are going to reply. Jane

[F350Platinum]

5 hours ago, DigInTheSand said:

Hello again F350.  Followed your advice and got myself a new pair of Creative SoundBlaster Jam V2 headphones.  They are so light, love it.  Will need to wrap headband as you said - they are quite hard.  This is embarrassing for me to ask you.  I am at a loss as to how to pair them with my EQ800 which are already paired to Minelab ML80 phones.  Before I ask any forum questions, I search and search, but can't find specific instructions to help me on this.  Hoping that this won't waste your time too much.

First - do I need to unpair the ML80 phones by using Factory reset? Then, to pair the new CSB phones:

• turn on Eq800
• then turn on Creative phones and then press wireless button on side of Eq
• and then?

I must be driving you mad, I'm sorry.  p.s. the Creative headphone manual really stinks.  Many thanks if you are going to reply. Jane

Hey Jane, 

Nope this is what we are here for. 🙂

Just a slight adjustment:

Do a system reset

Turn the equinox on and wait until the Wi-Fi sign goes away and the Bluetooth "B" comes up, then turn the headphones on and listen for "power on" then "pairing".

If you hear it, Put them near the equinox, I hang them on it, and walk away. Make some coffee or tea or something.

By the time you come back they should be paired, with a B+ in the top right corner. 🙂 It can take more than 2 minutes.

If this doesn't work turn everything off and do it again. Worst case you might read the headphone instructions on resetting them, but it should work.

The procedure from then on is turn the detector on, then hold the big button on the headphones until you hear "power on". You'll look cool doing it! 😜

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, DigInTheSand said:

Hello again F350.  Followed your advice and got myself a new pair of Creative SoundBlaster Jam V2 headphones.  They are so light, love it.  Will need to wrap headband as you said - they are quite hard.  This is embarrassing for me to ask you.  I am at a loss as to how to pair them with my EQ800 which are already paired to Minelab ML80 phones.  Before I ask any forum questions, I search and search, but can't find specific instructions to help me on this.  Hoping that this won't waste your time too much.

First - do I need to unpair the ML80 phones by using Factory reset? Then, to pair the new CSB phones:

• turn on Eq800
• then turn on Creative phones and then press wireless button on side of Eq
• and then?

I must be driving you mad, I'm sorry.  p.s. the Creative headphone manual really stinks.  Many thanks if you are going to reply. Jane

You don't need to factory reset the 800 if you don't intend to use the ML80's again.  Just keep them powered off and away from the 800 so they don't try to reconnect.  With the detector powered on simply hold down the wireless button on the upper right side of the 800 control panel for greater than two seconds.  The Nox will enter a mode where it is searching for either the WM08 or a BT headset.  Then press the big multifunction button that comprises the entire outer portion of the right side earcup for 4 seconds and the Jam will enter paring mode.  It should then eventually connect with the Equinox.

I see Bob answered while I was typing.  Just to clarify, you can do a system reset as Bob stated as that will ensure you are starting at ground zero, but if you have custom programmed the Nox and don't want to re-do that, simply pressing and holding the Nox wireless button for 2 seconds should erase its memory of any other paired headphones and you should be able to pair as stated above.  If the simple wireless "reset" doesn't work then definitely reset the Nox and reset the Jams and start over as Bob advised or better yet, just do what Bob said in the first place.