Has Anyone Used A Gold Snitch Booster?

[phrunt]

Has anyone used a Gold Snitch Booster? 

I've seen a number of happy users on Facebook but a Google of them doesn't give much information.

They're available at Prospectors Depot in Australia here

Looks a nice tidy unit, two AA batteries which I prefer over the 9 volt of some other boosters on the market, realistically most are just a simple 9v amplifier circuit like the cheap 9v Guitar amplifiers you can buy for a few bucks that would do the job nicely of just boosting detector audio, you could knock up with some components from Jaycar in no time, they even have 9v home beginner electronics kits to make these amplifier circuits.  For the US people Jarcar is a bit of a Radio Shack type place.

I've been quite happy with the SP01 Steelphase, well beyond a simple guitar amplifier, I was never a fan of the alloy housing though, have to have it up near my shoulders to use on the GPZ with the Concentric coils so liked the Gold Snitch was in a plastic housing.  The SP01 also modifies the audio to improve the signal, not just an audio amplifier which I like especially on its 2nd mode, I basically have no interest in basic amplifiers for my audio, I can make one myself, I want something that in some way improves or modifies the audio in some way, which the SP01 does.    The Gold Snitch appears to do something similar, according to the marketing it uses noise cancelling technology to give the clearest signal.

My sp01 went back for warranty repair at one point when it didn't put out any audio when turned on anymore, it's also had a slight high pitched hiss noise since new, I figured that might be remedied with the warranty as I mentioned it but it returned with the same noise, I tend to have sensitive ears to these high-pitched hisses, I get them on my GPX 6000 headphones too whereas most don't seem to notice it so It will be interesting if I can hear any undue background noise on the Gold Snitch.

Anyway, I've got one on the way now so I'll report in with how I go with it, I'd like to hear if anyone else has used one and likes it.

[DSMITH]

What exactly is that supposed to do phrunt ???

I take it you have to use wired headphones with it, or will it work with a Wireless Bluetooth transmitter also

[phrunt]

30 minutes ago, DSMITH said:

What exactly is that supposed to do phrunt ???

I take it you have to use wired headphones with it, or will it work with a Wireless Bluetooth transmitter also

You could use it with a Bluetooth transmitter for wireless connectivity, although if it were me, I'd be using it AFTER the wireless stage, not before.

For GPX 5000 I'd go GPX / Bluetooth LL transmitter / Bluetooth LL receiver / [Insert Booster here] /corded headphones or speaker.

As I often prefer to use speakers, amplifiers like the SP01 and this Gold Snitch are often beneficial. 

Description from the retailer: 

Gold Snitch audio enhancer uses the latest noise cancelling technology to give the clearest signal. With awesome power to make detecting possible for people with hearing difficulties. Running on a 3 volt system the two AA batteries give around 30 hours run time.

[Aureous]

Stuart makes a pretty good amp, I know 2 ppl who have one and they are very happy. I also like the 2x AA battery idea, reminiscent of the old days. Will give it a go myself before the years out to use on my 5000.

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

I've used Doc's Treasure Screamer years ago (with the stock yellow koss water proof Hp's).. It only worked for me on the Excalibur in all metal mode. Anything else... all it did was make the audio blare. Only reason it worked in all metal on the excalibur was because you can tune the excalibur , in all metal like a PI. Your not really getting any extra depth, all it does is bring out the faint disruptions of the threshold to where you can hear them better. Once I learned how to make a good set of head phones the amp was no longer needed. Stock yellow koss phones with a nickel at 4 inches Db rating is around 85. With my head phones the Db jumps to 110+

 

I like how Doc's explains how to setup a PI for use in the picture

 

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Joe is right .   This is nothing but an audio volume booster.  If you simply have high quality (crisp, loud, full-range, etc...) TO BEGIN WITH, then :  No need for after market gimmicks like this.

[phrunt]

Well, my Gold Snitch arrived yesterday, I must say its volume levels took me by surprise, I near blew my head off when i turned on the Algoforce with some headphones connected to this thing in my house, it gave me a heart attack, with the headphones I was using I ended up having to turn the volume knob on the gold snitch to a very low level, it truly has amazing boosting power, so much more than my SP01 does.

Turning it on with the volume turned to basically its off position has no high-pitched hissing sound like these amplifiers seem to often produce but you do hear the audio is powered on sort of sound you get with headphones when connected to a powered source but no abnormal background noise.   Crystal clear sound.

It seems great build quality.

Has a nice metal belt clip on it.

I think it's going to be awesome on my GPX 5000 with the twin GME SPK 07 speakers on it, 

Early days but first impressions are it's going to be a beneficial tool for the toolkit.    Next thing is sorting it out so I've got wireless and seeing how it performs in that scenario.

Let's just say this thing can be so loud it can make your ears hurt, so when in use volume levels would never be a problem no matter what mother nature throws at you, even detecting next to this highway would be a breeze.  I think it would be impossible for someone to use this booster on full volume, impossible.

 

[DSMITH]

37 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Well, my Gold Snitch arrived yesterday, I must say its volume levels took me by surprise, I near blew my head off when i turned on the Algoforce with some headphones connected to this thing in my house, it gave me a heart attack, with the headphones I was using I ended up having to turn the volume knob on the gold snitch to a very low level, it truly has amazing boosting power, so much more than my SP01 does.

Turning it on with the volume turned to basically its off position has no high-pitched hissing sound like these amplifiers seem to often produce but you do hear the audio is powered on sort of sound you get with headphones when connected to a powered source but no abnormal background noise.   Crystal clear sound.

It seems great build quality.

Has a nice metal belt clip on it.

I think it's going to be awesome on my GPX 5000 with the twin GME SPK 07 speakers on it, 

Early days but first impressions are it's going to be a beneficial tool for the toolkit.    Next thing is sorting it out so I've got wireless and seeing how it performs in that scenario.

Let's just say this thing can be so loud it can make your ears hurt, so when in use volume levels would never be a problem no matter what mother nature throws at you, even detecting next to this highway would be a breeze.  I think it would be impossible for someone to use this booster on full volume, impossible.

 

it will be interesting to hear from you on how it works with a wireless set up, also how you hook it up to use wireless

[Dirty Detector]

Hey Simon, How'd the Gold Snitch work? Are you still using it?