Headphone Help - What to Do...

[Shayne]

Forgive me if this question has been thoroughly covered before - my search results were not much help. Anyway, I am new to the Garrett series of detectors - primarily use Minelab. I recently purchased an ATX, it arrived about a month ago when I was deployed and I am finally getting a chance to play with it. First and foremost, what was Garrett thinking when they designed a proprietary headphone connector - particularly since the stock headphones appear cheap and are incredibly uncomfortable. I thought that the Koss headphones that came with the CTX3030 were sub-par. Nevertheless, I purchased a standard headphone adapter cable from Garrett in hopes that it would solve my problem - allowing me to use aftermarket headphones. Now ---- the problem is that the external speaker won't turn off when the aftermarket headphones are plugged into the Garrett adapter. I am at a loss.....What aftermarket headphone configurations are you guys/gals using with your ATX? Thanks......

 

[Treasurehunter1967]

I personally bought the Gray Ghost Amphibian head phones and really like them. These are for both land and water use. They have a pair made especially for the Garrett Detectors and iWork perfectly with the ATX. As far as comfort, I they work great for me. However, I do get hot when using them on warm days, this might not be an issue with the land use Gray Ghost headphones, but I do not have any experience with those myself.

Anyway, hopes thus helps. Good luck hunting!

 

[WaterWalker]

The speaker audio is turned OFF via an electronic circuit when the ATX (and ATPro/Gold) sense the presence of Newer Garrett headphones.
If the headset you wish to use do not match the impedance of the Garrets, the speaker will NOT turn off.
The OLD BLUE Garrett headphones, even with the correct connector, will not turn the ATX or ATPro speakers OFF either. They will function and will not cause any damage, but the speaker will not be turned OFF.
The Garrett supplied land headphones are spec'd at 8 ohms in the current catalog. That being said and that is true, and your headphone are 400 ohms -- that might be the cause of your speaker audio staying on. The corrective action would be to use a set that are 8 ohms.
The NEW BLUE Garrett headphones are mow being made to function with the Infinium, and AT-series of detectors. But they do not have a volume control as the Gray Ghost Amphibians do.
In other detectors that use a 1/4" headphone jack, the jacks employ a mechanical disconnect to the speakers.

I could not find any spec on the Gray Ghost Amphibians or the Garret Blue headphone .
I hope this helps you.

 

[Shayne]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I was hoping to use my lightweight Bose headphones with the 1/4" adapter. They are incredibly comfortable, have great sound and work well with my CTX. I hate having to buy yet another set of headphones - I already have two sets of Koss (Minelab) and one set from Garrett that came with the ATX - all are basically new and just taking up room in my closet! Any electrical geniuses out there that can tell me what I need to make the 1/4" adapter work?

 

[WaterWalker]

Buy the adapter, unless you have the Garrett connector and wire cut from an old set of headphones.
Dealers and others are selling them for about $40, IF I remember correctly.

 

[Shayne]

Finally gave in and purchased the Gray Ghost Amphibian headphones. I hope to make it to the beach in the next week or two, so I figured I better get them ordered since they have to travel all the way to Japan. Now - if I could just find an 8" mono coil for a decent price.