Anybody Tried An Audio Booster?

[Critterhunter]

I like the Sony Studio Phones ($20 at Walmart) I use on my GT but with no volume control on them I have to turn it all the way down on the detector and also stuff a little foam into the ear muffs to get it just right. I've read of some Sovereign users say that the volume control on the detector should be at full and then the volume on the headphones adjusted to a comfortable level. The theory is that this will allow deep/soft signals to come through easier, though I haven't seen any specifics on why it would matter if the volume control is adjusted on the detector or at the headphones, but in general that's what I've heard people say.

Anyway, rather than buy a simple volume control to plug in between the headphones and the detector I figured I might look into one of those audio boosters that will raise all audio yet keep anything real loud (like surface coins or a large target) from getting real loud, limiting it's volume past a certain point. I just did a search on the net and can't find any devices for this meant specificly for a metal detector, or at least any small ones that would work well with being carried around while hunting.

The only one I could find was on Kelly Co's site and it's called the Depth-Doubler and is made by Champion. There is almost no information on this product and I can't find it on the web for further info either. I did run across a DIY project that looks interesting and can be built for less than $20, but I have yet to read into it to see if it will also block very loud audio which would be needed on a detector. Link is here...

http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/

Anyway, if anybody has any opinion on the Champion, knows of any other commercial ones that work well, or knows of any other DIY jobs please post a link. My main concerns are having it boost low audio but also blocking stuff from getting very loud, that it doesn't degrade the audio detail, and it would be nice to still be able to hear how deep the target is based on it's loudness. In other words, not making everything the same level of volume where you can no longer tell how deep the target it.

 

[Neil]

I like the Sony Studio Phones ($20 at Walmart) I use on my GT but with no volume control on them I have to turn it all the way down on the detector and also stuff a little foam into the ear muffs to get it just right. I've read of some Sovereign users say that the volume control on the detector should be at full and then the volume on the headphones adjusted to a comfortable level. The theory is that this will allow deep/soft signals to come through easier, though I haven't seen any specifics on why it would matter if the volume control is adjusted on the detector or at the headphones, but in general that's what I've heard people say.

Anyway, rather than buy a simple volume control to plug in between the headphones and the detector I figured I might look into one of those audio boosters that will raise all audio yet keep anything real loud (like surface coins or a large target) from getting real loud, limiting it's volume past a certain point. I just did a search on the net and can't find any devices for this meant specificly for a metal detector, or at least any small ones that would work well with being carried around while hunting.

The only one I could find was on Kelly Co's site and it's called the Depth-Doubler and is made by Champion. There is almost no information on this product and I can't find it on the web for further info either. I did run across a DIY project that looks interesting and can be built for less than $20, but I have yet to read into it to see if it will also block very loud audio which would be needed on a detector. Link is here...

http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/

Anyway, if anybody has any opinion on the Champion, knows of any other commercial ones that work well, or knows of any other DIY jobs please post a link. My main concerns are having it boost low audio but also blocking stuff from getting very loud, that it doesn't degrade the audio detail, and it would be nice to still be able to hear how deep the target is based on it's loudness. In other words, not making everything the same level of volume where you can no longer tell how deep the target it.

referring to your first paragraph here: the sov volume control is a target volume control which is different than the volume on your headphones. notice when you first click the sov on, via the volume control, and you hear your threshold, as you turn up the volume the threshold stays the same loudness. you can also test this by waving a target in front of the coil, say from about 7" away and slowly raise the volume control from minimum to maximum, you should see the signal come in louder. so the headphone volume would be for user comfort whereas the volume on your GT would be a target volume, how loudly a target comes through. hope this helps.

never tried a booster so cant comment on that.

 

[Critterhunter]

Hmmm, I never noticed that. If it's true then that's a very good thing- keeping the threshold at the same level but just boosting the target volume. I'll have to play with that and see just whats going on. I forgot to say when testing that deep sinker with the SEF coil (other thread) that I also played with the volume control. While the target was plenty loud enough to easily hear with the volume all the way down, it was very loud when I turned the volume to max. At that depth (11") on a "smaller" than coin sized target I'm very happy with this coil and the GT.

Even if using a amplifier would cause all your sounds to be at the same loud level one could easily check target depth by flipping to PP. The deeper the target the less area the coil will see it over and the tighter the target will be. Once it gets real deep I can't hear it in PP past say 9 to 9.75 inches maybe. I've also noticed that for best PP on the SEF coil when doing the "base of the V" at the top of the coil trick the best accuracy for spot on pinpointing is not when you no longer hear the target in PP fairly good, but when the ever so slight change in threshold stops which is about a half inch or so after the target it still reacting normaly in PP. It's just a slight and very soft change in threshold where this is. Most of the time I can probably stick a screwdriver into the ground and hit the target on the first try by using this method.

 

[biglry]

the sov volume control is a target volume control which is different than the volume on your headphones. notice when you first click the sov on, via the volume control, and you hear your threshold, as you turn up the volume the threshold stays the same loudness. you can also test this by waving a target in front of the coil, say from about 7" away and slowly raise the volume control from minimum to maximum, you should see the signal come in louder. so the headphone volume would be for user comfort whereas the volume on your GT would be a target volume, how loudly a target comes through. hope this helps.

never tried a booster so cant comment on that.

That is the way my Sov GT and two Excals work and why I run my volume control on the detectors at wide open.

 

[Critterhunter]

I should probably clearify why I'd even be interested in some kind of audio amplifier. The GT is PLENTY loud enough even on targets at the fringes of depth and even with the audio turned all the way down on it. Mainly I'd like to crank the volume control to full on the GT but yet have something to limit the loudest level on targets which are either shallow or large. I only want to do this because of the threads I've read that hint to the fact that the volume should be at full blast on the GT and then controlled via your headphones to insure the faintest of signals are heard, but again I haven't seen any explainations that would support people beleiving a low volume might not let those soft signals through. Just want to play it safe for best performance just in case.