Threshold volume to hear or not to hear that is the question

[laplander]

Now that there are several machine out and about what is the general consensus on threshold volume? To me 0 {default in park, field and beach} is to low even with head phones.

Maybe I'm old school but to hear the small/deep targets I was always under the impression you should hear a very faint threshold.
I am using 5 with the factory headphones, what is yours at?

Laplander

 

[Digger]

If I am using any discrimination at all, I like to run with a barely audible threshold. That way I can hear the rejected targets null out. If I am in All Metal, it doesn't make much difference. However, I still like to have that bit of audio there, just so I know everything is running smoothly. (e.g. NC is OK) Then again, like you, I'm old school too! In fact I am getting so old (school) that what is barely audible to these ears now probably would have been loud 45 years ago! HH Randy

 

[Ksdirt]

I ran threshold on my etrac at a totally iron infested place and if there is iron in the ground you won’t hear the threshold...so I rarely herd it ....today I took the 800 to that place and ran threshold (always just enough to hear it)....and I heard threshold more often and found more stuff....

 

[dewcon4414]

Lap.... i think the default was intended again as a starting point to keep the machine stable and easier to hunt with for those just starting out. ML manual even says they recommend using 0....... UNLESS YOU WANT TO HEAR BLANKING. This may well be misleading to those starting out. We know how important running a bit of a threshold is to hearing those deeper weaker targets....... and the blanking can tell us a lot about whats going on under the coil. As a beach guy i know how important it is to find concentrations of targets out there. Default for beach disc is -9 to 0....some of the targets in that range will be non-ferrious and could give you a bit different reading especially in the -5 and up range on small targets. Personally ...... im going with what i know on this one...... run a weak buzz because from 0 to where you start to hear the threashold is like 4 or 5 for most of us old guys.

Dew

 

[Cutaplug]

To me running with no threshold would be like seeing a vdi with no audio I would just feel like something is missing. It's essential in evaluating the ground conditions, specifically the amount of trash. Imagine this scenario. You go to a site with recovery speed set at 5 and have a full threshold. You can lower recovery speed to a much lower number and increase your depth capability quite a bit. You visit a different site and your threshold is constantly nulling out and even non existent. In that scenario you can increase recovery speed due to high trash content and potentially sneak out targets located in between junk. This is just a basic rundown but learning how to quickly evaluate the ground and then adjusting your detector to reach it's full potential is what will allow you to find more targets that others have missed.

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Now that there are several machine out and about what is the general consensus on threshold volume? To me 0 {default in park, field and beach} is to low even with head phones.

Maybe I'm old school but to hear the small/deep targets I was always under the impression you should hear a very faint threshold.
I am using 5 with the factory headphones, what is yours at?

Laplander

If it's like the X-Terra 705, the headphone volume setting vs Detector volume setting may have a bearing on where the threshold number ends up at for that barely audible threshold. Try setting the headphones wide open and use the detector to adjust the volume. That 5 setting may well change to a lower number.(?)

 

[Jackpine Savage]

To me running with no threshold would be like seeing a vdi with no audio I would just feel like something is missing. It's essential in evaluating the ground conditions, specifically the amount of trash. Imagine this scenario. You go to a site with recovery speed set at 5 and have a full threshold. You can lower recovery speed to a much lower number and increase your depth capability quite a bit. You visit a different site and your threshold is constantly nulling out and even non existent. In that scenario you can increase recovery speed due to high trash content and potentially sneak out targets located in between junk. This is just a basic rundown but learning how to quickly evaluate the ground and then adjusting your detector to reach it's full potential is what will allow you to find more targets that others have missed.

And/or decrease sensitivity as well.

 

[UtahRich]

My 800 should arrive this week.

Having been primarily FBS since 2000, I'm going to start with a slight threshold hum. Believe it will be helpful learning audio and the discrimination / separation capability of the equinox.




Rich

 

[john4840]

My 800 should arrive this week.

Having been primarily FBS since 2000, I'm going to start with a slight threshold hum. Believe it will be helpful learning audio and the discrimination / separation capability of the equinox.




Rich

I use a threshold also. Force of habit from the days when I use to run my 6000 d series 1.

 

[trojdor]

I also use a light threshold...
Along with the trash nulls, I find I can hear instability showing up first in the threshold.
And I'm definitely also 'old school'. (Although my wife would say that's one word too many.)

mike

 

[FAL guy]

I plan on a decent threshold volume as soon as my EQ800 gets here.

The manual says "For typical treasure detecting locations where there is often a large amount of trash in the ground, constant audio blanking may be disruptive.
Minelab recommends using a Threshold Level setting of 0 (off) for Park, Field and Beach applications, unless you want to hear audio blanking."

I want to hear what's going on.

 

[eriks]

Just started using 50 tones to try and improve my sound identification, I think I'll add a little threshold next week, Weird not hearing coming from sov/excal.