Picked up a used M6 first impressions compared to my Dfx

[Trackerman]

Well i picked up a used whites M6 . I currenlty use a whites dfx and will be comparing the two in this review.
first off the M6 is a deep machine in some casses. I went to a local park and hunted in the grass and sand box.
First the grass i set the sens at the recomended initial setting but it wasnt that deep on that setting it was seeing
coins at about 4 or 5 inches max on the recomended sensitivity setting. I noticed the id display ids quarters pretty well
and pennys ok but dimes and nickels seem to not read as acurrate on the m6.This machine does not lock on coins as well
as the whites Dfx. Its much harder to id coins and pull tabs on the M6 Vs on Dfx. Also i turned the sensitivity up to about 100
to get more depth. At that point the m6 was getting targets pretty deep id say up to 6 to 8 inches at least. Now i will tell you i
think the id display on the m6 is pretty much usless other than quarters at shallow targets.I did hunt in the single tone vs the 7
tone because its more simple for me until i really learn the machine. The M6 has a very loud speaker by the way but i guess
its better thats loud than not loud enough.Targets hit loud and clear at times where others are faint. Overall i like the machine
but it will take some time for me to learn it well. Now for the m6 pros and cons. It has pretty good depth wich will allow you to
find those older targets. I also like the silent search no threshhold and it seems pretty quiet in general when hunting grass or
sand wich it was designed for. It also gets good battery life wich i like and from what ive read the 14klhz frequency is supposed
to be good for gold jewlery guess time will tell. I found one dollar fifty in quarters and one newer dollar coin not bad i guess.

Now m6 dislkies where poor target id acurracy at anything deeper than 2 to 3 inches pinpointing could be better and volume is a bit loud.
The Dfx has a way better target id system and is way more acurrate at iding coins and rings and the pinpointing is better.
Depth is pretty close dfx vs m6. Also the m6 seems to like foil abit more than the dfx wich is good for gold. Also i set the disc setting down a little to the first letter on the disc setting wich was the letter N for nails thats where gold chains and charms where poping clearly. So i will tell you for coin shooting the Dfx is a better machine. For gold jewlrey hunting only time will tell.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Kind of like comparing apples and oranges but luckily we like apples sometimes and oranges sometimes.

 

[plidn1]

I bought a used M6 also thinking it would be a great back up for my MXT.
I tested it every day for a month before I sold it. It is not an MXT. I tested it with a 5.3 and a 4 X 6 DD.
I too thought it was a hot detector getting very good depth. On the outside 9" on coins but average 6 to 7" on coins and jewelry.
I found a lot of good targets with it, BUT, I also found it would not ID. It would never lock on a target, VDI's would jump all over the place. If you don't dig everything, you will pass over targets.
I thought that maybe because it was used, that it needed to be tuned up. Maybe that was not the case.
I felt that it was a disappointment for what it was supposed to be.

 

[William1221]

Larry would you care to give a comparative review on the 2 detectors? .I'm interested in 1 or the other."Kind of like comparing apples and oranges but luckily we like apples sometimes and oranges sometimes."

 

[Larry (IL)]

The M6 is a single frequency detector designed as a simpler version of the MXT, a turn on and go, used primarily as a coin/jewelry hunter.

The DFX on the other hand was White's flagship for many years, dual frequency, programmable and can be used as a general purpose detector for coins, jewelry, relics and some prospecting, it is very good for beach hunting in wet and dry sand. The learning curve is what I would call extended for the DFX but once learned, the DFX is very flexible for hunting in difficult ground and EMI conditions.

The key for choosing either is whether you want something to find coins and jewelry and simple to learn or something more challenging and versatile.

 

[Trackerman]

Well hunted today sunday for the second time with this M6 and let me tell you as far as coins are concearned i must confess i was wrong. I hit a park i go to on ocasion and found 3.25 cents in clad . Most of it was quarters some dimes and about 10 nickels.. This machine hits nickels pretty hard im impressed.Second day out i got the hang of the M6 . On solid louder hitting targets those are primarley the good targets on this machine. Though there were some faint ones that were deeper that were good. The M6 likes a slightly slower swing to find good targets. Didnt find any jewlry but im highly convinced that if there were some there it would find it.
As for the target id i still say the Dfx's is still better. This M6 is a real pleasure to use once you get the hang of it. It took me 2 days
to really get a feel for it. Its true what manny people say about this M6 it is a coin hog. i didnt believe it until i saw it pull that change out of a pretty well hunted park that i frequent. I cant wait to find some rings with this beast. Im convinced the M6 is a very smooth quiet
effciant coin and jewlry hunter. Highly recomned. Hell i like its just as much as my Dfx Now.

 

[cosmic]

If in 7 tones listen for a slight static in the tone.. If present, it's probably trash.. Good objects give a clear tone...

 

[Trackerman]

Cool thanks will do

 

[LaDigger]

In my observation, setting the M6 sensitivity over 100 is like turning up gain on other Whites. It hits louder and deeper, but will chatter a little. You probably already know that the volume is directly tied in to the sensitivity knob. Setting the sens. below 70 ish , and you may not be able to hear coin size targets past 6 in.deep because you are also turning the volume down, ( one of the things I don't like about the M6). I like to keep my sensitivity all the way up and disc. all the way off and multi tones on. Although you will get a little stronger hits on the same target in single tone, I think the advantage of coin hunting with multi tone on in trash is worth the little difference . I use headphones so the speaker volume doesn't come into play. Old nickels can read 12-16 vdi. , like buffalos.Dig some of those if they are vdi deeper than 6 ". One thing I did find out, and this is my opinion, is that when I had the 12" whites coil on the M6, it seems that if I hit a deep hi tone and hi vdi coin size target, when I had the ground balance set to auto, the big coil seemed to think the small target was part of the ground matrix and would wash it out when I was trying to work up the target, The vdi numbers would degrade and I would lose the target entirely in alot of cases. . So if you use the 300 coil ,and to some extent the stock coil , , keep this in mind on small deep targets.With all that being said, I will always have an M6, Its an awesome detector for the price range, and has lots of coils available to use on it. Don't be surprised if you find more coins and jewelry in the next 6 months with the M6, Than you did with the DFX in the last year.I'll call that a prediction. HH

 

[Phillip_in_NM]

I would agree with LaDigger's prediction, especially in the jewelry area. After I got my Etrac, I forced myself to put down the M6 for 6 months so I could give the Etrac a fair shake. While the Etrac has been fun and really does find deep silver, it doesn't hold a candle to the M6 in terms of jewelry found. Thus far, I have found 14 pieces of gold jewelry with the M6 (none yet with the Etrac!). Now when I hunt areas where I'm likely to find gold - beaches, parks and modern gathering places, I grab the M6, older places I grab the Etrac.

I used the DFX for 2 years before getting the M6. I think my biggest problem with the DFX was all the settings. I never had any confidence in the machine because I was never completely sure that I had all the settings right. I was never sure that I hadn't changed one setting which affected one or two or three other settings. Never had that problem with the M6. Turn it on, set the ground balance and go! I'm biased toward the M6 too because of all the firsts it gave me - first trade token, first shield nickel, first gold ring, first gold cuff-link, first buffalo nickel, first barber dime (found 8" down with the 4x6 coil!!!).

I use the 4x6 coil almost exclusively. It is light and easy to swing, gives great target separation and is deep enough for me - like the 8" silver dime.

If I'm fresh and the day is pleasant, I'll always set the sensitivity over 100, knowing that I'll have to put up with more noise, but certainly get more depth.

If I'm tired and the day is excessively hot or cold, I'll set it quite a bit lower, knowing that I'll dig fewer targets, but knowing that I won't be kneeling to dig for trash.

Two things I've noticed about the M6 especially...if the VDI is in the gold range and it doesn't change (or only changes by one number) regardless of the angle at which you scan it, it can very well be gold. Another thing is that if it is solid on 74, DIG IT - it WILL be interesting.

If VDI is 80 or 81, it's a dime; 76-79 could be dime or copper penny.

That's my $0.02.

 

[clondike clad]

The M6 is a way underated coin hog a MXT it is not but for gold rings and coin it will hold its own with any detector.
The V3i is the big dog but the M6 is not a puppy MOST coins are 8" or less and that m6 will pick them off.
Gold will hit hard with the M6....the big plus over the V3i is how quick you can learn the M6..
We all know the V3i is very a deep hunter But most of the coins I find are under 8" deep with it.
FOR THE COIN HUNTER THE M6 IS A HARD TO BEAT DETECTOR USING THE 5.3 AND THE 6X10 COIL.

 

[Trackerman]

I really like the M6 it is a real coin hog. I went out today and found some clad and a small charm but no gold yet. I did find a nice gold ring with my dfx a while back and hope the m6 likes gold rings and jewlry as much as the dfx does . Guess time will tell . I run sens all the way up until it starts to chirp then back it off a bit. I also run it single tone because its easyer for me. I run the disc all the way down to the first letters where gold chains sound off. Only time will tell of its really a gold getter.

 

[BC-10]

I have recently got myself an E-trac. I am in the UK and I noticed with my M6 that if it said it was a coin - then it WAS definitely a coin (although incorrect id for uk coins but a coin nontheless). Also, a hot rock was definitely a hot rock etc. I found the i.d. to be extremely accurate, better than any other detector I have used. Also,at the moment I am not convinced that the E-trac is a better detector. More complicated and more settings yes, but not necessarily better. I have been using the E-trac and giving the M6 a wide berth just for the same reason as Phillip in Mn is (or was). But, I am just not getting the same satisfaction or results that I was getting with the M6. Could be just me I suppose in that I am better at the M6 - but - I am very close to knocking the E-trac on the head and going back to the M6. At this moment, I am not convinced that the E-trac is better than the M6, really. At least not for me anyway. Maybe I have to be realistic and just admit that I am a Whites man after all. Not a bad admission by the way as I am really yearning to get back to the M6 in truth.

 

[Trackerman]

The Etrac seems like a pretty nice machine im surprized. I dont really like Minelab except for the etrac and there newest machine and the excaibur water machine of corse.. Im surprized the m6 can hold its own against an etrac though. I will say the one thing I dont like about the m6 is that for rings its gives you a very vauge idea on the target id and the id jumps around alot making it very hard to identify a ring. Where on the dfx id signagraph makes it pretty easy to identify rings and locks on them much better and doesnt jump around too much. On coins the m6 ids well enough . But from the amount of nickels foil and pull tabs im hitting with it gold should pop up sooner or later.

 

[khouse]

Tip - Once you get a hit with a jumpy TID simply reduce the sensitivity on that target until the ID is stable. Sometimes it's a little ans sometimes a lot. Then sometimes it doesn't help. But most of the time it does.