The Real Skinny About Headphones

[grouser]

this is ONLY when you plug directly into the unit right,,,, NOT when you use the wireless????

 

[Goodrat]

Wait, hold on, I am messing up. Forget that Timber mod. That would only work for killer B's because Timber's make the tip negative.

 

[Goodrat]

I assume there is a wireless module? Hmmm. What is the problem with that?

 

[Goodrat]

Here is what I would do to Killer B's. I need A Ghost diagram to look at that one.
What about adapters? What is the result with those?

 

[Digga03]

its obvious minelab are sticking firm that they are right and are not going to fix the headphone problem being had by many and that is up to them not sure its a good add for them but that has nothing to do with me thats up to them. so their options are an adaptor which is not doing so well for me with the extra join it creates fuzz in the audio as the 2 plugs spin in op directions, for those not inclined to mess with their phones or who don't know how our only option is to wait for headphone manufacturers to catch up with this machine.

for me its not about who is right or wrong its about inferior sound (adaptor) then time waiting for new phones to come on the market and lastly more money spent on new phones.

so who is right who is wrong doesn't matter what matters to me is facts i have inferior detecting sound (fuzz in sound with adaptor) then i have to wait to spend more money on new phones these are the facts for me so who is right or wrong doesn't matter it all boils down to the facts.

for those that like the koss phones or have phones that work you do not have to worry but their are others who have this headphone problem while we consider and understand your position we who are not in your position hope you can consider ours.

cheers

 

[Goodrat]

Here is a thought.. Get a 1/4" y-adapter. The kind that are about a foot long or less with wire and not just one solid adapter. Connect the main end in the machine, then one Y end to your phones, the other Y end to a stereo plug with the sleeve to ring shorted. If that works, forget the shorting plug, cut off that socket and short the appropiate wires on that end of the Y.
Adapters like this are more flexibe and less likely to get scratchy.

 

[mcb613]

I second that ZOFCHAK, sounds like a cop out. Why do all headphones work with all other machines. I guess it was the easiest excuse so they wouldnt have to recall or fix all the new units sent out. Wish they would have discovered this before release. Incidentally, I installed a mono plug on my AccuSounds, and they work fine. The volume setting needed to be max'd and the aftermarket plug isn't as nice a factory, but it was easy. HH

 

[Digger]

Why do all headphones work with all other machines. I guess it was the easiest excuse so they wouldnt have to recall or fix all the new units sent out. Wish they would have discovered this before release.

First off, it is incorrect to say that all headphones work with all other machines. I can't unplug a set of headphones from my White's MXT or XLPro, plug it directly into my E-TRAC or X-TERRA, and expect them to work. I'd agree we'd all like our headphones to shut off the internal speaker. But you just can't use the "standard mechanical jack" on the CTX 3030 because the waterproof headphone interface is ...well...number one, waterproof........and number two, pinned, not jacked. Would you prefer they did it like they do on the Excailibur? Whoops! No speaker! How about the way it is done on the White's Surf Master PI? Whoops! Headphones only! And now, in addition to the CTX 3030 having an internal speaker,a "land jack" and a waterproof jack, they incorporated a wireless module into the mix?

Most land type headphones only have three wires. It takes two of them to operate the headphone speakers. So if you have three and use two of them for the audio signal, that leaves the third one for signalling the detector to shut off the speaker. And that seems to be precisely what Minelab did. They used the Sleeve lead for signalling to shut off the speaker. Do you seriously think that a group of engineers intelligent enough to design and build a detector as sophisticated as the CTX 3030 didn't do it this way by design?

Its easy to sit on the sidelines and say they didn't discover it "before release". Or that "it was the easiest excuse so they wouldnt have to recall or fix all the new units sent out". But when you consider the total sum of possibilities....... mono, stereo, compensation networks, no compensation network, waterproof, wireless etc...... vs the actual requirements....stereo, waterproof, wireless........I think the solutions available for those who's headphones don't shut off the speaker are relatively easy (and inexpensive) to obtain. JMHO

I would be interested to hear how you would have designed it differently.

 

[wildherre]

Randy, That was an excellent post... I myself have several sets of very high quality headphones that don't turn the speaker off but recognized the need for what Minelab has done as you just explained ..Every CTX sold has come with a set of headphones that work 100% correctly .. Right now I am enjoying using the WM 10 which has no issues with any of them.. I also have several hundreds of dollars of coils and lower shafts that don't work, not to mention a couple of Sunray probes, but have made the choice to move on... This new detector is soon to be if not already the machine that all others will compared to for coin-hunting and beach use.... I'm very impressed with the performance of the CTX after a couple weeks of use and have no doubts about it being worth the hassle of swapping out a few accessories.... wildherre....PS anybody looking for FBS coils & lower shafts please contact me...

 

[earthmansurfer]

Digga03 - I'm using the adapter right now and I have clear sound with it. I wouldn't say it fits super tight, it wobbles a bit if pushed but the contacts are solid. Can you try exchanging your adapter and buying one from somewhere else? I eventually will rewire the headphones or find another solution as Goodrat had previously mentioned as I don't want to damage the headphone module.

Goodrat - I look forward to your wiring diagram for the Gray Ghosts I will get my neighbor to do the soldering work for me then.

I think it may be possible for Minelab to write a software fix, even though they aren't as fault as Digga03 said, it would still be nice of them to do so - you know, sort of out of the goodness of their hearts . Here is the thread with my findings: Potential Software fix My strong suspicion is that the machine is listening for a signal to shut the speaker off, it merely needs to listen on a different pin now.

wildherre - I have no problem with coils from FBS machines not working, but the technology has changed - there is now a chip in the coil for pre-processing, so it is fair. Headphones are a bit different. The same headphones that work in the WM10 module don't work in the headphone module, that is a bit weird. Minelab is saying it's in the wiring and they are right, but it's a convenient excuse. The WM10 module is using a "spring" to activate where as the headphone module is listening for a signal. Have you compared the Koss headphone sound quality to GG, etc? It is a world of difference, I mean amazingly so. I'll have to try the Koss more, but the sound and fit seem inferior to my other two headphones.

Albert

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Why do all headphones work with all other machines. I guess it was the easiest excuse so they wouldnt have to recall or fix all the new units sent out. Wish they would have discovered this before release.

First off, it is incorrect to say that all headphones work with all other machines. I can't unplug a set of headphones from my White's MXT or XLPro, plug it directly into my E-TRAC or X-TERRA, and expect them to work. I'd agree we'd all like our headphones to shut off the internal speaker. But you just can't use the "standard mechanical jack" on the CTX 3030 because the waterproof headphone interface is ...well...number one, waterproof........and number two, pinned, not jacked. Would you prefer they did it like they do on the Excailibur? Whoops! No speaker! How about the way it is done on the White's Surf Master PI? Whoops! Headphones only! And now, in addition to the CTX 3030 having an internal speaker,a "land jack" and a waterproof jack, they incorporated a wireless module into the mix?

Most land type headphones only have three wires. It takes two of them to operate the headphone speakers. So if you have three and use two of them for the audio signal, that leaves the third one for signalling the detector to shut off the speaker. And that seems to be precisely what Minelab did. They used the Sleeve lead for signalling to shut off the speaker. Do you seriously think that a group of engineers intelligent enough to design and build a detector as sophisticated as the CTX 3030 didn't do it this way by design?

Its easy to sit on the sidelines and say they didn't discover it "before release". Or that "it was the easiest excuse so they wouldnt have to recall or fix all the new units sent out". But when you consider the total sum of possibilities....... mono, stereo, compensation networks, no compensation network, waterproof, wireless etc...... vs the actual requirements....stereo, waterproof, wireless........I think the solutions available for those who's headphones don't shut off the speaker are relatively easy (and inexpensive) to obtain. JMHO

I would be interested to hear how you would have designed it differently.

"I can't unplug a set of headphones from my White's MXT or XLPro, plug it directly into my E-TRAC or X-TERRA, and expect them to work."

Digger looks like you got it right. Your post says you can't move any headphones to any Minelab, seems the common denominator is Minelab!
I can move all my headphones to any machine in the arsenal accept Minelab. I still can't use the mono adapter and get anything to work not even to detectors speaker. Not all the speaker problems are the same issues.
BCNJ

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

This is just becoming crazy!The first issue was the WM-10 would not work with any headphones . A Minelab rep told me to reboot to factory setting and try it. It worked. Then I could never get the headphones to work with the unit directly even with a mono plug. I did not wish to reboot because of a saved hunt program. I finally downloaded it through exchange 2. Today I factory rebooted again and now I can use the headphones with a mono adapter. I guess I have to do the software update again since I am back to originally ship software. I will call Minelab Monday and see what's up. I can't have to keep rebooting the detector each time its having a bad day! I did not check to see if the WM-10 still works! I'll do that after I hunt today.

 

[Digga03]

This is just becoming crazy!The first issue was the WM-10 would not work with any headphones . A Minelab rep told me to reboot to factory setting and try it. It worked. Then I could never get the headphones to work with the unit directly even with a mono plug. I did not wish to reboot because of a saved hunt program. I finally downloaded it through exchange 2. Today I factory rebooted again and now I can use the headphones with a mono adapter. I guess I have to do the software update again since I am back to originally ship software. I will call Minelab Monday and see what's up. I can't have to keep rebooting the detector each time its having a bad day! I did not check to see if the WM-10 still works! I'll do that after I hunt today.

wow Buried Crap NJ feel for ya sounds like your having a not so fun time, i know what i would be doing sending it back get another one have to remember its not just a metal detector any more if its not working out of the box as you would like or as it should no amount of rebooting is going to fix it, had a computer like this wrestled with it for 3 years in the end i just tossed it away and got a new one didn't matter what i did it just wasn't right guess i need to be grateful i just have a plug problem (adapter) i am not uploading the update or doing any reboots till they work this stuff out this is a whole new ball game now.

 

[Digga03]

Digga03 - I'm using the adapter right now and I have clear sound with it. I wouldn't say it fits super tight, it wobbles a bit if pushed but the contacts are solid. Can you try exchanging your adapter and buying one from somewhere else? I eventually will rewire the headphones or find another solution as Goodrat had previously mentioned as I don't want to damage the headphone module.

Goodrat - I look forward to your wiring diagram for the Gray Ghosts I will get my neighbor to do the soldering work for me then.

I think it may be possible for Minelab to write a software fix, even though they aren't as fault as Digga03 said, it would still be nice of them to do so - you know, sort of out of the goodness of their hearts . Here is the thread with my findings: Potential Software fix My strong suspicion is that the machine is listening for a signal to shut the speaker off, it merely needs to listen on a different pin now.

wildherre - I have no problem with coils from FBS machines not working, but the technology has changed - there is now a chip in the coil for pre-processing, so it is fair. Headphones are a bit different. The same headphones that work in the WM10 module don't work in the headphone module, that is a bit weird. Minelab is saying it's in the wiring and they are right, but it's a convenient excuse. The WM10 module is using a "spring" to activate where as the headphone module is listening for a signal. Have you compared the Koss headphone sound quality to GG, etc? It is a world of difference, I mean amazingly so. I'll have to try the Koss more, but the sound and fit seem inferior to my other two headphones.

Albert

yep will give that a go new adaptor see how it goes like i posted above this is a new ball game and minelabs 1st try at a true computer so its going to have bugs after reading some of the posts i need to be grateful the adaptor is my only problem and we are the guinea pigs hey and am sure they are working on fixing all this stuff and maybe the people waiting are smart ? but it is a great machine iron the bugs out it will be a excellent machine.

 

[Goodrat]

Or just something like this and cut the one plug not needed.

[attachment 235950 twomono.jpg]