X-Terra 70 vs MXT

[poptab]

Any passionate opinions on the Minelab X-Terra 70 vs White's MXT 300?

 

[rifleman]

Both are great detectors. I have to give the nod to the X-Terra. The lighter weight alone makes a big difference in hunting time. The available coils in different freq's are a bonus also. 30 hours of running time on 4 AA batteries helps cut costs. The X-Terra's different modes are the final reason to buy one. Both detect deep and work well. I feel the X-terra is just enough better that it rates # 1

Good hunting, John K

 

[Digger]

As a coinshooter, I have them both and use them both. Simply a matter of different tools for the job. There are many similarities in the "performance" of the two detectors, with a few differences that help me chose which one to use at a specific site. I will pull out the MXT with either the 4 X 6 Shooter DD or the HotFoot DD for those areas where I am wanting to achieve a bit better target separation than I can get with the X-70. Since you mentioned the MXT 300, that Super 12 sized coil does cover a lot of ground in one sweep. But covering more ground in a given amount of time isn't usually a concern for me. Ergonomics aside, if I had to chose on over the other, the X-70 gets the nod for several reasons. Those reasons include (but are not limited to) notch discrimination, multiple audio tones and the ability to set and adjust my GB manually. JMHO HH Randy

 

[nero_design]

* Minelab X-Terra 70 ... a good VLF allrounder (for both Coins, Relics & Nuggets).
[size=small]Plenty of people are using this VLF detector to find Gold nuggets & Coins & Relics.... including myself. It's pretty effective finding small gold or specimens which other machines overlook. It has a dedicated Prospecting Mode and is one of the first VLF machines to handle the hot Mineralizes soils with a good deal of stability due to the VLFEX processor. Runs at 18.75khz when utilizing specific nugget-hunting coils and operates on 4 x AA batteries. 2 Year Warranty.
Weight: 2.9lbs (1.3kg)[/size]


* Whites MXT ... a good VLF allrounder (for both Coins, Relics & Nuggets).
[size=small]People over the world are using this VLF detector to find Gold nuggets & Coins & Relics.
This detector is designed USA and is extremely popular on the milder soils of the United States and Europe. The MXT E-Series is possibly in line with the X-Terra 70. It runs at 14khz and operated on 8 x AA batteries. 2 Year Warranty.
Weight: 4.55lbs (2.06kg)[/size]


Based on the information above, you'll notice that the MXT weighs almost TWICE as much as the X-Terra 70 (even without batteries) although both detectors have much the same in the way of features and are clearly in competition with one another. Surprisingly, much the same way super-subcompact-cameras are easily carried everywhere, the lighter X-Terra 70 becomes the more useable favourite for many people just because the lighter weight makes detecting less of a chore and more of an outdoor "funsport".

I can attest that the added weight of all my other gear (2 liters of frozen water, full shovel, first aid, spare batteries, crowbar, geo-hammer, energy food, spare coil, gloves, safety glasses, pick-axe, bugspray, gold pan, knives, pulse induction Pinpointer, cameras etc etc) makes the decision for me as I use the X-Terra 70 as a Prospecting tool and need to be able to swing it for hours on end in extremely difficult terrain after walking many miles on foot up and down steep mountains. To carry the equivalent of two X-Terra 70's would just about make me collapse in 45C+ degree heat (118F).

The two detectors use the popular AA batteries although the Whites uses 8 compared to the X-Terra's 4. I'm told that the depth indicator on the Whites MXT is fairly ineffective. Others have complained more about the visual interface being a problem on the same detector. A few users of the White's & Garrett's complained that the settings would ignore items like gold or silver chains and even clusters of coins which the detectors either overlooked or screened out for having an unidentifiable shape.

I know of so many users of the X-Terra 70 who have used that detector to find very exotic and valuable coins and relics. The most recent story was recounted to me just two hours ago in relation to a property owner who found an 1800's English penny in Australia (near where I am) in absolutely pristine condition. It had been immersed in a leaked pool of machine oil over the century which kept it completely unaffected by the elements and is worth about $5K. I've found a very valuable Australian 1884 Gold Sovereign with my own X-Terra 70 but I dare say that both the Minelab and the Whites machines could easily find either target with either Detector. So the competition will be where tough environmental conditions give one detector an edge over another. Quite a lot of professional Relic hunters use the X-Terra 70 in Europe to great effect. The X-Terra 70 outperformed the other brands when used for Prospecting in Alaska - if the latest articles in the Gold & Treasure magazines are true. I like the light weight of the X-Terra 70. I can balance it on my fingertip and it's light enough to change hands all day long to prevent muscle fatigue. I like the pinpoint feature which is not motion based. I like the Auto Ground Tracking and the full manual control as well as target ID stability, the ability to detect very small targets at good depth, good discrimination, salt environment capability with Beach Tracking... and the ability to just turn-on-and-go.

So with so much in common, what benefits does one offer over the other? I'd venture to suggest that the patented VFLEX Processor in the X-Terra 70 will offer more signal processed stability over the Whites. Both are VLF (very low frequency) detectors but due to the larger frequency range available on the X-Terra 70 (three different coil frequencies are available), this offers considerable more versatility over the 14kHz Whites.

It's interesting to note that Whites have updated the MXT and the new differences are clearly designed to compete toe to toe with the Minelab X-Terra 70.
Firstly, they updated MXT by adding a "matte finish" (why?) and Secondly, there's now a larger 300 mm coil attached. Apparently it offers an additional 1" depth over the previous incarnation. Again, this is not much of an upgrade in my opinion but it may convert a few who were on the fence to begin with.

The best detector is always going to be the best detector you can afford at the time. I believe that Whites, Fisher, Garrett and Minelab always offer excellent products. So no matter which brand you buy, the quality and technical inception will always be there. I like the Minelab detectors myself and I find the technical specs on their designs are always sound since their detectors need to work effectively on the difficult Australian soils. Whilst I don't think you'll go wrong with either the X-Terra 70 or the Whites MXT, if I were offered one of each for free, I'd go with another X-Terra 70 without hesitation.

Cheers,

Marco

 

[Canewrap]

Granted, this is an Xterra forum, but there are few misconceptions about the MXT I have to address here. I have both machines as well, but have only started using the Xterra 70. While heavier, the MXT is actually better balanced if you set it up right. I'm finding myself having to get a shorter rod for the X-70 to get it better balanced and if I get their 10.5" I'll probably have to do further mods to get better balance. Also, the MXT has a wider variety of coils available. As to the depth indicator being off, its spot on with the stock 9.5" coil I have, and is consistently off with some of the other coils, so it can be adjusted for (wish I could have said the same for the F75 I got rid of). I'm fairly convinced that the two detectors are pretty equal in performance, with the nod to the X-70 for having a few more features. If I were a coinshooter I would choose the X-70 in a heartbeat, but I'm a relic hunter and will be doing some fairly in-depth comparison over the next year. Truth is, I only wound up with the X-70 because I felt I had to get rid of the F75 and didn't want to just sell it and give up, so I thought I'd try a machine I was curious about. I'm simply offering up my experience in an effort to give a balanced view of the two machines.

 

[bfodnes]

I agree.

The MXT has a feature i like to see in the Terra 70 or any new upgrade.

That is no lock ID nrs in one of the prospecting modes or both.

Minelab,,, put on your reading glasses... lol

 

[khouse]

It's true that the Whites machines are better balanced than the Xterra's. But your still holding 4 plus pounds. I'm sure if you attached 1 pound under the stand on the Xterra's they would balance as well as the Whites and still be lighter. But like I said your still holding the weight in your hand no matter how perfect the balance. I can say that swinging the Xterra is much better than swinging a pro Whites all day long. I'm not sure why Whites just doesn't make their units run on 4 AA batteries? This would size the components down smaller and make the whole detector lighter. I'm all about light weight.

 

[Canewrap]

I, too believe in lightweight. That's why I'm exploring other options. I started with a couple of Tesoros and while I like them I was digging way too much trash and felt like I was missing targets if I ignored the broken signals that suggested iron. I agree that if Whites would find ways to lighten up the MXT they would reclaim any lost market share as I believe its one of the best machines I've used (still learning XT-70) and its fairly simple to operate. I think one of the reasons people aren't more drawn to the XT-70 is because it is a bit more complicated. That fact doesn't bother me and I see a lot of potential for me in this machine. My experience with the F75 was less than stellar, so I'm looking foward to really getting to know this machine.

 

[khouse]

If Tesoro stuck a TID on the Vaquero then they would have one heck of a machine. I tried the F75 but it seemed to me the control head was wiggly on the stem. I also didn't like where the off/on dial was. That was all it took for me. I'm sure it a good detector though. I hope the trend is more power and lighter weight. With cell phones that do everything why can't we have detectors that small? Add some carbon fiber rods and we should have detectors that are powerful and weigh about 1.5 pounds! I think the Xterra 70 is as close as we can get right now.

 

[Steve(MS)]

I think both of you have touched on why I wanted to buy the X-terra. First I wanted a detector that has good over-all performance, manual GB, tones, meter and it needed to be lightweight. It also needed to be very good quality. If you think about it there are only a few mid-price detectors out there that will meet those requirements, for me it was a no-brainer.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I noticed that a Whites rep replied to somebody asking about a new light weight Whites unit. There is one under development and I think he said that it is currently called the T6. It is supposed to be an upmarket Prism 5 with new bells and whistles. Just scan through the last 7 days of posts over there and you will find the thread. Just remember, it's not ready to come to the market yet, and if it don't measure up, won't go into production.
Mick Evans.

 

[khouse]

If it doesn't have a GB feature and full notch reject or accept then they shouldn't release it.

 

[willy]

I might be opening up a can of worms here, but I find the all-metal prospecting mode on the MXT to be better. Was just up the Coquihalla doing some prospecting and had real problems with the ground tracking on the X-70.. couldn't seem to maintain a decent lock and the tracking was much too slow (beach or regular mode), leading to some pretty wild signals. The MXT, going over the same type of ground, tended to recover faster. Also, the Vsat on the MXT (along with, to a lesser extent, ID in prospecting mode) made for much more pleasant hunting. Granted, this ground also tends to tear apart PI's so I can't expect much. ..Willy.

 

[nero_design]

That's good to know, willy! I'll try to commit that to memory. Is that the new MXT or the earlier versions you were using?
What's it like using a PI detector there? You indicated they have a hard time.

 

[willy]

I had one of the early MXT's and found plenty of gold up in Alaska with it.. then sold it. Before doing so, I poked around on the Similkameen/Tulameen/Coquihalla rivers with it. It was real tough sledding and figured a PI would solve my problems.. NOT!! Ended up with an X-70 and found it to work pretty well in the disc. mode, but still had some problems. Did a side by side comparison with my buddy's newer MXT (both with the 5x10" coil) and found that the MXT recovered a lot faster after hitting one of those football to house sized hot-rocks. The X-70 can't seem to tune them out and moving the coil away causes the detector to give off a tremendous overshoot response and to put the GB all out of whack. It takes quite the while to settle down and the ears get a real beating in the meantime. ..Willy BTW, PI's would read the literally billions of hot-rocks as a good low conductor. With a VLF they'd mostly read as iron in disc. mode.

 

[nero_design]

Hey willy, Since you've experienced these detectors at the site first hand, I'm curious to hear more about how they compared.
I'm eying off some Minelab Pulse Induction detectors which claim to have good discrimination but I've been a little hesitant since I've been of the impression that the discrimination (on some models) is not as good as the VLF detectors. On the other hand, the VLF detectors like the X-Terra 70 tend to rise in pitch over even modest patches of minerals and different density deposits in the soil. For this reason, the PI's ignore the patches of soil that an X-70 user would almost certainly be forced to dig. Hence a PI user can cover much more ground in shorter time than a VLF user.

I saw that one European user actually uses an X-Terra 70 alongside a GPX-4500. The technique he uses is to walk around with the GPX-4500 and mark any signals on the ground with a can of fluorescent chalk-paint. Then he goes back over the marked spots on the ground with the X-Terra 70 and digs the targets that the X-Terra suggests are good. If the X-Terra 70 doesn't detect a signal on a target previously marked, he ALWAYS concentrates on those most since they're deeper than the X-Terra can detect and therefore are likely to be a good find.

I've considered doing something similar by removing the middle shaft section (with the bend in it) from my X-Terra 70 and thus cut it down to a shorter hand-held version. I was thinking about sticking it in my backpack to keep it with me... whilst trying a similar thing on the Goldfields here whilst working with a PI detector. If the technique works out as well as I suspect it will, Minelab will either sell a whole lot more "dual sets" of Detectors ... or they'll have to come out with a GPXT-5000 (LOL!).

Back to the X-Terra and the Hotrocks... I don't know why you found the recovery time slower. I'm assuming we are talking about say a second or two longer, right? And the GB should not have been affected by the signals from these targets unless the Detector was left in Ground Tracking mode. I know the lesser PI detectors will certainly treat hotrocks as legitimate targets, including most of the PI Pinpointers. One of the reasons the PI detectors from the GPX range are so successful is that they ignore most hotrocks and mineralized soils. And I know from a recent article that a single X-Terra 70 outperformed the Whites MXT users in the Gaines Creek expeditions this year. Considering that the soil there is almost completely neutral (except for black sand), that's interesting. The biggest downside of the more powerful detectors is that they'll find tiny gold very deep but they'll also detect other things you don't want. All day digging in summer heat for a thimble or a nail is not pleasant. And the deeper the signal, the further you have to dig!

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

He didn't say that it was a Prizm, but rather seem to imply by saying upmarket Prizm, that it would be a light weight unit. Time will tell.
Mick Evans.

 

[willy]

Well, we played around with a brand new GPX on the Coquihalla this past spring and it just lurrrved them hot-rocks (or hot-boulders) and could pick them up at truly impressive depths. Had the same problem with the Infinium I had a couple of years ago. A fair number of these rocks seem to 'bleed' rust and will actually have other rocks adhering to them. There's also a greenish rock that tears up detectors, and a black one that seems to be solid magnetite or sumthin'. A little ways from where we were camped there's an abandoned (hardrock) jade mine and the ground there made the X-70 go berserk. It wouldn't balance to it and' while the autotune would eventually quiet the detector down, it would give off a horrendous overshoot response as soon as the coil was moved. Taking out of tracking didn't help since the ground was sooo inconsistent and would require re balancing (is possible) every foot or 2. Even going super slow didn't help since the detector would still sound off when approaching one of these patches. Switching over to disc. mode (all-metal) would often give off a rapid fire series of iron 'hits' on the little hot-rocks. The solution would be to disc. out low iron and the last few segments.. but kiss the small gold goodbye. In regards to Gaines crk and such, there probably is an advantage to using an X-70 over the MXT, but the ground here is a totally different story. ..Willy.

 

[Michaeldoc]

What do you mean by no lock NRS? My mind is blanking????

 

[Steve(MS)]

I think the nrs refers to numbers, if so he was referring to having the VID work in prospecting mode.