Looking for advice for a new MD

In the 3 to 500 range the vanquish and simplex are the best. Those machines are both very good. . In iron ,water I'd pick the simplex. In woods,parks,not so trashy places I'd pick the vanquish. If pinpoint feature isn't a must for you then I'd pick the 340, if pinpoint feature is a must then get the 440.
Simplex and Vanquish will do pretty much everything the higher prices machines from the same companies do imo.

I just bought a Simplex. It’s one the way, so I can’t give you real experience. But, I did lots of research and settled on this one.

woodbutcher said:

In the 3 to 500 range the vanquish and simplex are the best. Those machines are both very good. . In iron ,water I'd pick the simplex. In woods,parks,not so trashy places I'd pick the vanquish. If pinpoint feature isn't a must for you then I'd pick the 340, if pinpoint feature is a must then get the 440.
Simplex and Vanquish will do pretty much everything the higher prices machines from the same companies do imo.

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X2 on this

Thanks, Coinboy! I love your videos, BTW. I have a couple questions for you and anyone else reading this thread.

1) How does notch discrimination work on a single frequency MD?

2) In a lot of the videos I've watched, when the MD goes over a target, the numbers in the display seem to bounce around a lot, and often are not steady even within a short range, but none of the folks doing the reviews seem to comment on these numbers. I gather they are related to the the target that was hit, i.e., coin, jewelry, iron, pull tab, etc., but are these numbers more like guidelines instead of reliable determination of the target?

All of my detecting experience is with a couple of PI beach detectors (an older White's Surfmaster, and then a White's Surf PI Pro, so I've never used anything but PI).

Thanks for the reply, keep up your great videos, and HH!

If your going to hunt saltwater beaches i'd probably not consider the simplex it's not so competitive on the salt,i have 6 different detectors and the apex has quickly become my favorite i'm sure the vanquish is good too but i prefer to buy American made products when possible

txnnet said:

Thanks, Coinboy! I love your videos, BTW. I have a couple questions for you and anyone else reading this thread.

1) How does notch discrimination work on a single frequency MD?

2) In a lot of the videos I've watched, when the MD goes over a target, the numbers in the display seem to bounce around a lot, and often are not steady even within a short range, but none of the folks doing the reviews seem to comment on these numbers. I gather they are related to the the target that was hit, i.e., coin, jewelry, iron, pull tab, etc., but are these numbers more like guidelines instead of reliable determination of the target?

All of my detecting experience is with a couple of PI beach detectors (an older White's Surfmaster, and then a White's Surf PI Pro, so I've never used anything but PI).

Thanks for the reply, keep up your great videos, and HH!

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Thanks! Even though I don’t recommend using it, here is an article that will explain it. Scroll down to the notch discrimination section: https://allmetalmode.com/metal-detector-terminology/ and yes the target id is just a guideline. I would still dig something if it had a bad I’d but a good tone. What I would do is listen to the tones much more than paying attention to the numbers.

I have the Simplex and I really like it. I have had a lot of different machines and the Simplex is a very competitive machine. It is easy to use and is very good for what you pay for it. I think for the situations you were describing that you would be very happy with it. It works well in trashy areas and the target separation is very good.

In that price range, I'd get the Vanquish 540. It's multi-frequency so it does great at saltwater beaches.

hddeuce03 said:

In that price range, I'd get the Vanquish 540. It's multi-frequency so it does great at saltwater beaches.

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Except it's not waterproof (or even rain proof without some sort of cover), and things can and do happen. Have you tried a Simplex at the beach? I think if you GB at wet sand, or even with coil in the water, I'm thinking it would work good. And when you get back home, just take the garden hose, and rinse it all off.

Ask 10 different people and you may get 10 different answers as to which one is best. In the field experience is the best way to determine if a detector is any good. Getting a decent detector and taking the time to learn all about it from many hours in the field will get you better results over time. Fortunately there are a number of good detectors out there in the price range you're looking at.

Bill - De said:

Except it's not waterproof (or even rain proof without some sort of cover), and things can and do happen. Have you tried a Simplex at the beach? I think if you GB at wet sand, or even with coil in the water, I'm thinking it would work good. And when you get back home, just take the garden hose, and rinse it all off.

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I've had my Vanquish at the beach many times in the past year without issues. My friend had a Simplex and said it was awful at the beach so he got rid of it. If I go into the water, I use my Equinox (the Vanquish is my backup/wifes machine).

For me personally, multi-frequency is the way to go.

If you want to detect salt water beaches, wet and dry sand and maybe shallow surf without submerging the control box, the Minelab Vanquish models or the Garrett Apex will handle the ground conditions better than the Nokta Makro Simplex due to their simultaneous multi frequency and salt mineralization capabilities.

If you want a brand new submersible detector under $500, the Vanquish and Apex can handle a little rain but they are not rated as submersible waterproofed like the Simplex.
You can find a used Minelab Equinox 600 for less than $500 that can be submerged gently and will do very well in any salt or high mineralization environment. The Equinox is a much more advanced version of the Vanquish.

All of these detectors mentioned so far can discriminate ferrous and non-ferrous targets in zones or in individual numerical target ID segments very easily. The Vanquish 340 ($199) has the crudest form of discrimination with five 10 digit zones in its -9 to +40 target ID range and the Equinox has the most advance since all fifty of its -9 to +40 target IDs can be individually discriminated out.

Very few induction balanced VLF detectors have rock solid target IDs throughout their detecting range depending on the size of the target, its depth, orientation, proximity to other targets and level of ground mineralization. Jumpy numbers are normal. Some detectors are better than others depending on price. For new, under $500, the Vanquish series will be hard to beat.

The "new" simultaneous multi frequency system on the Garrett Apex is very inferior to the simultaneous multi frequency system on the Minelab Vanquish. Minelab has been making and drastically improving simultaneous multi frequency detector operation for over 20 years. Their Multi IQ simultaneous multi frequency detectors have very accurate target IDs once you learn them.

I like to support US companies just as much as most Americans but the comparison between the Apex and the Vanquish purely as functioning detectors (I have tested and used both) is not remotely close as far as cutting edge simultaneous multi frequency technology. But, I am really glad that Garrett has finally produced a SMF detector and hope for a much better one in the future.

So, if you aren't going to be dunking this new detector I would go with the Vanquish or Apex. If you need to submerge it, the Simplex or a used Equinox are your best choices.

I looked at those two before I made a decision. I could not get past the fact that the simplex uses a rechargeable internal non-removable battery. What if you forget to charge it, than what do you do? I like being able to change out batteries with the Vanquish 540 if that problem arises.

aj0421 said:

I looked at those two before I made a decision. I could not get past the fact that the simplex uses a rechargeable internal non-removable battery. What if you forget to charge it, than what do you do? I like being able to change out batteries with the Vanquish 540 if that problem arises.

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Well for one, the Simplex runs about 9 hours on a single charge, and that's a pretty long day for most.
But why not keep one or two of these in your pocket. https://www.amazon.com/Miady-10000mAh-Portable-Charger-Charging/dp/B07XFBN7HX/ref=pd_ybh_a_28?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QVAB8769NZDM1YXZ4MR0

You can run the Simplex while powered by a "juice pak", so no down time waiting for built-in battery to charge.

jmaclen,

Thanks for your insight. My White's Surf PI Pro is a more than adequate detector for wet and dry sands, and is waterproof. Sure, I dig lots of pull tabs, nails, wire, and other junk, but I also have found a gold diamond ring, and I don't have to worry about rain or dropping it accidentally in the surf while I dig. But I do want to search other places, and some of them have a lot of iron trash that I'd rather not spend my time (hours and hours with the White's) digging up rusted pieces of iron. Can you please help me understand how the Vanquish multi-frequency system is superior to the Apex? I respect your advice, and I'm not trying to challenge your opinion, I am just trying to understand the limitations of the Apex and advantages of the Vanquish. Many thanks for your reply, and I hope to see another.

i agree with everthing jmaclen said except i liked the apex better than the vanquish where i used them the apex was better on the blacksand i go by sound never look at numbers maybe he feels the vanquish had more stable numbers