Poor Hearing & Threshold Effect

[DFXer]

I'm 67 years old and had a hearing test a few months back. I tested slightly worse than for someone my age so I had a discussion with the doctor and it had implications for my metal detecting. What makes hearing worse in older people is background noise superimposed over what you are really trying to hear. The background corrupts the important audio just like ground mineralization corrupts the audio of good targets in the ground.

I relic hunted with my SE in all metal, ferrous sounds and a healthy threshold. The issue here is that the threshold is a background noise that is not friendly to old ears. Recently I tried hunting with the threshold just below my audio level and I liked it. It is particularly good in trashy areas where you have a combination of threshold and the usual SE all metal drumming.

I feel that I can pick out the iffy targets better with the threshold suppressed and sensitivity lowered slightly to cut the iron sounds. This is only true in trashy areas and in clean soil I go either way.

Silent search is not a bad way to go and my Fisher CZ20 has it designed in.

Just a thought for the senior citizens!

Paul

 

[stasys]

Hello DFXer.I hunt usually for relics and last what I learn with my one year experience that I dont use fresh hold at all anymore, but I hunt in ferrous and all open screen. If you not scare to hear everything under your coil its very good stile to hunt, but for this you have to use good ear phones like koss 30 or better, or you will lose your last hearing. good luck

 

[bill67]

Thanks for the tip ..... It makes a lot of sense....... I believe you should set your sensitivity with the threshold audible and once you get it right then lower the volume on the threshold ........ I'll definitely try it...... I had a hearing test about 30 years ago the Doc said I needed hearing aids yesterday ..... but I'm still too vain to get some...... Too many drag races, concerts, guns, etc when I was young ....... I did get a pair of Pro Golds and I like them better than my Koss 30s.........

 

[jazzman]

I had the same problem as you. Too many rock bands for too many years. I am going to suggest you do what I did. Even with good headphones I was missing a lot of targets. I got hearing aids (whch really help around the house, unless my wife has something for me to do) and with the hearing aids in, I turn down their volume until I don't get any feedback. Then I adjust the volume on my Pro Golds for a comfortable level. I now am hearing twice as many signals as I used to and I don't have to adjust the sensitivity or threshold at all. It is amazing to hear targets in areas I thought were clean!

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Heck some of the deepest units around have no threshold and are silent search..What I do is put the threshold on where I can't hear it and go from there. Even Jimmy Sierra one of our foremost detector people sort of stumbled when asked in a video rel threshold and extra depth...Sure it tells us the amount of trash in the ground when it nulls but extra depth your guess is as good as mine
Personally I don't want the buzzing of a bee locked in my headphones but opinions differ. At 72 my hearing is not the best but my ability to hear tones and differentiate is excellent and certainly is a plus with Explorers and Sov's...