SunRay headphone advice

[mmolnar]

I need headphones for my Omega and have been told these are among the best. Anyone care to share your experience with them? Good or bad? Are they heavy, comfortable for several hours wear, hot or not in summer weather, etc.

Thanks

Matt

 

[BarberBill]

I've seen lots of praise on forums for SunRay phones. I don't happen to use them myself so can't give any personal experience comments.
BB

 

[MarkCZ]

I have the SR's and I have the Omega. I don't know that with that combo the SR's are going to give you a lot of advantages.
The preset volume level of the Omega is about right for normal hearing (a good level) With that being said you don't have much use for the volume limiter.
Now, I wouldn't bother with crap like the Cal-Rads or the ones they make under different names.

Some times I use Ear-Buds with mine if I'm only hunting fresh drops and to maybe only three to four inches deep coins.
Now, if your hunting an older site and searching at MAX depth then I would think a good set of over the ear cup phones would be better, but I still don't know if your going to get the $130.00 value out of the SR's

On the other hand, the SR's would work on your next detector and on that one you may find the SR's electronic options more helpful.

Mark

 

[mmolnar]

Thanks. I'm really just looking for a good, comfortable set of phones to use with the Omega and my CZ7. The limiter sounds attractive because you can turn up the volume for weak sounds without blowing out your ears on the strong signals. Unless I'm understanding this wrong.

I've heard good things about the original gray ghosts as well. Wish I lived close enough to a store to test them all.

 

[wvrick]

I have one set and a 2nd on the way wired for my CTX. I looked at a few over the last two weeks and stayed with what I was already using. I liked the High output 150 ohm speaker elements which are sensitive enough to pick up even the faintest of signals. Aluminum case construction with polymer cones for moisture and sweat protection. Dual knob volume controls so you can adjust both sides, leather ear cuffs and extra long cord.

 

[MarkCZ]

Thanks. I'm really just looking for a good, comfortable set of phones to use with the Omega and my CZ7. The limiter sounds attractive because you can turn up the volume for weak sounds without blowing out your ears on the strong signals. Unless I'm understanding this wrong.

I've heard good things about the original gray ghosts as well. Wish I lived close enough to a store to test them all.

If the detector has enough volume to blow out your ears then you are correct, but the Omega isn't going to do that and the headphones don't have any type of amplification.
Now, I like my SR's and with something like my Tejon, or my Coinstrike they are almost a must, but not so much so with the Omega.

Now, there is another downside to them with detector that has a lot of volume and modulated audio if you use the limiter, a lot of the modulation effect gets lost in the clipping of the audio so much so for detectors like the Tejon and the Whites XLT that you never hear the modulation effect.
To date the Omega has the best modulated audio of any detector I've ever used without the need for a limiter.

Mark

 

[digginLa]

I use Jolly Rogers with my Omega and other detectors, they seem to work just fine for me. They're not to expensive around $80.

 

[mmolnar]

Mark,

You mentioned the downside of using the limiter. It can be switched off, correct? Just wondering about that because I may find it useful with one detector and could switch it off with another. Is this correct?

As for the Omega, the only thing I know is that when I plugged in some headphones with no volume control it was way too loud, unusable. What I believe you're saying is that, once adjusted for volume, the Omega's high and low points are well modulated. Am I correct in this?

Thanks

 

[MarkCZ]

Mark,

You mentioned the downside of using the limiter. It can be switched off, correct? Just wondering about that because I may find it useful with one detector and could switch it off with another. Is this correct?

As for the Omega, the only thing I know is that when I plugged in some headphones with no volume control it was way too loud, unusable. What I believe you're saying is that, once adjusted for volume, the Omega's high and low points are well modulated. Am I correct in this?

Thanks

Yes! it can be turned off, but that little item no doubt shoves the price of them up a fair amount.

Mark

 

[mmolnar]

True

 

[mmolnar]

Ordered and received the SunRay Golds. Very nice build quality and features. Not much can be added to what has already been said about them. A couple of things that stand out to me:

1. They attenuate outside sounds VERY well.
2. Very good build quality. Nice leather. Love the volume knobs with the detents.
3. Coiled cord is nice and long and supple. Much better than vinyl.
4. The limiter has a profound effect on my Omega. I like it. Time will tell how this works in the field with real life detecting. House tests don't mean a lot.

Thanks for the input from everyone. I went on the recommendation of Bart at Bigboyhobbies as well as the general reputation. It's a tough call when you can't actually try them all first. I am liking them though and think they do me well.

 

[MarkCZ]

Ordered and received the SunRay Golds. Very nice build quality and features. Not much can be added to what has already been said about them. A couple of things that stand out to me:

1. They attenuate outside sounds VERY well.
2. Very good build quality. Nice leather. Love the volume knobs with the detents.
3. Coiled cord is nice and long and supple. Much better than vinyl.
4. The limiter has a profound effect on my Omega. I like it. Time will tell how this works in the field with real life detecting. House tests don't mean a lot.

Thanks for the input from everyone. I went on the recommendation of Bart at Bigboyhobbies as well as the general reputation. It's a tough call when you can't actually try them all first. I am liking them though and think they do me well.

The idea of the limiter is to be able to run the detector volume Max and then let the limiter clip off everything above ear blowing, so you can use the limiter with the Omega, but its not going to do a lot to help you, the Max volume on the Omega is nowhere over the top. But, you can play with it.

Mark

 

[mmolnar]

I'm sure you're right about that. Perhaps it will be of more use when they're on my CZ7.

What settings do you find most useful with the Omega? On my CZ7 there is no ID in all metal mode, so I never use it. There's just too much junk in the ground in most places where I hunt. The Omega should open up new possibilities with all metal.

 

[MarkCZ]

I'm sure you're right about that. Perhaps it will be of more use when they're on my CZ7.

What settings do you find most useful with the Omega? On my CZ7 there is no ID in all metal mode, so I never use it. There's just too much junk in the ground in most places where I hunt. The Omega should open up new possibilities with all metal.

I've never ran any detector in all metal mode because of the same problem with to much junk in the ground, you can use the meter, but trying to ID every hit every few inches is to much for me. I run some form of discrimination because I'm usually hunting for coins with the Omega, I set the sensitivity to just below the noise level just below 70, this year I'm hoping to get into the noise a little for some extra depth.
I set the discrimination to the upper side of foil, with no notches set.
Default Tones.
And so for I've only ran the 11" DD coil.

Mark

 

[mmolnar]

Sounds good, Mark.

What do you mean by default tones? Is that D1?

Matt

 

[MarkCZ]

Default Tones = the tones it powers up to when you turn it on (D3)

Mark

 

[mmolnar]

Got it. Thanks.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

John Smith does the Warranty work for the Sunray and the Killer B series of headphones. I recently had to send my Killer B II's back for repair. John received them Wednesday afternoon, Fixed them Thursday and had them on the way back to me on Friday. That kind of service in the modern age is almost unheard of.

 

[mmolnar]

That's good to know. Customer service ranks high on my list of priorities when I make a purchase. Especially involving technical items that I may not be able to repair myself.