Myers Depot Metal Detectors

MXT, XLT, DFX, or M5?

Auriemma

Auriemma

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
300
Location
South Eastern PA
A little help from the Whites knowledge base would be appreciated....

I have an opportunity to purchase one of these 4.
All used but in excellent condition.

MXT Tracker E-series
XLT Spectrum E-sreies
DFX
M5 (not Pro)

I would be using it primarily for dirt, relic/coin/jewelry hunting. I have other machines more suited to the beach. I like multi-tone, I am tech savvy, but prefer turn on and go with the ability to adjust if needed. Looking for accuracy and good pinpoint with depth.

Which one folks?
Thanks in advance.
 
I gotta go with the MX5 here. All the machines you listed are great rigs without a doubt and you can't really go wrong here. With the MX5 you're getting a newer machine as the MXT is the tracker series and not the all-pro or even pro, so it's definitely been around a minute. The DFX is super, but I wouldn't call it a "turn on and go" type machine. Once you get it set up you can leave it alone, but it's gonna take you a little while at least to learn it enough to set it up for optimal performance. The XLT is great as well, but you just don't have many coil options out there. The MX5 gives you a modern microprocessor controlled machine with a lot of options if you need em and lots of coil options. I think the MX5 is one of the most under-rated machines out there. These are my opinions of course, and YMMV! Good luck and HH!
 
Personally... I have used the DFX and MXT and prefer the MXT over it... its not a beach machine.. it is a very good machine for private property, relic hunting and cleaner park hunting... the one drawback of the MXT is it see's bottle caps as quarters but Rudy gave some good advice here:


http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=15664
 
I've had all 4 and currently have a dfx and mx5, I'd take the mx5, may change (probably not) in a couple months as I am still learning the dfx.
 
Dfx

Auriemma said:
A little help from the Whites knowledge base would be appreciated....

I have an opportunity to purchase one of these 4.
All used but in excellent condition.

MXT Tracker E-series
XLT Spectrum E-sreies
DFX
M5 (not Pro)

I would be using it primarily for dirt, relic/coin/jewelry hunting. I have other machines more suited to the beach. I like multi-tone, I am tech savvy, but prefer turn on and go with the ability to adjust if needed. Looking for accuracy and good pinpoint with depth.

Which one folks?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I still have my DFX works great , I found a lot of great stuff
dennis
 
I have the MXT......great machine good depth.....lots of tricks and lots of information about it out there..... but like Cfmct said it does see bottle caps as quarters.....mine is a nickel machine lol never found sound so many!!
 
I know of at least one long time detectorist who called the DFX the best jewelry hunter ever owned.
Click to expand...


That could have been me. All are great detectors and each has an area of hunting where it shines a little more than the other. Depth of the MXT is hard to beat. The XLT is a great detector but I found it to be a scaled down DFX. Not that that's a bad thing because it makes it more simple to operate. Heard good things about the M5 but never used one. I did, and still do, use a DFX. It has the ability to get great depth, but as was suggested it does take some tweaking to get there. Even then I don't think it would get the depth a well ran MXT would get, but! The DFX, in my opinion, is still the best jewelry detector on the market.

The very precise and accurate target ID is the key as is a good proper ground balance. If you get a VDI of 18-20 but no 21 you're going to recover a nickle. The DFX let's you know by means of a very close VDI number set that you've got something solid under the coil. Foil/Can Slaw/Tabs will cause the VDI to vary a lot on each swing. On a good target the DFX will maintain a good close 2-3 numbers VDI one EVERY swing. Now on deep target all bets are off. At that point experience is the better guide. And the sensitivity to small odd shaped gold and chains on the DFX is second to none.
 
I love my MX5, but have a feeling I would feel the same to the other Whites. Why wasn't I born rich instead of handsome and intelligent??:grin:
 
The mx5 is a great machine.All around good id, depth, defiantly fast,backlight and enough features that it should be priced higher than what it is.
I bought my mx5 as backup for the at pro at night, just for the backlight.
But the mx5 is taking the lead in all around use.Its equel to the at pro in performance, but has a much larger screen, auto ground tracking, and a good backlight.Some people have said negative things about the ground tracking, but I see no problems with mine.I'd sooner use ground tracking than a lock ground balance,its always precise.
I've never been a fan of concentric coils, but the stock coil on the mx5 Is very good, and I use it a lot.
 
Cfmct said:
Personally... I have used the DFX and MXT and prefer the MXT over it... its not a beach machine.. it is a very good machine for private property, relic hunting and cleaner park hunting... the one drawback of the MXT is it see's bottle caps as quarters but Rudy gave some good advice here:


http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=15664
Click to expand...

Craig,

Thanks for the plug. :D

Actually, crimped bottle caps are not a problem only for the MXT. It affects just about all single frequency VLF machines. But like I pointed out in that thread, bottle caps are easy to deal with. ;)
 
I agree with the MX5 choice and it's hands down the best detector out the the ones in your line up ... and it is the most under rated machines out there period ... I love mine for a great reason and thats cause it's a great machine ! IMHO , Woodstock
Oldsjunkie said:
I gotta go with the MX5 here. All the machines you listed are great rigs without a doubt and you can't really go wrong here. With the MX5 you're getting a newer machine as the MXT is the tracker series and not the all-pro or even pro, so it's definitely been around a minute. The DFX is super, but I wouldn't call it a "turn on and go" type machine. Once you get it set up you can leave it alone, but it's gonna take you a little while at least to learn it enough to set it up for optimal performance. The XLT is great as well, but you just don't have many coil options out there. The MX5 gives you a modern microprocessor controlled machine with a lot of options if you need em and lots of coil options. I think the MX5 is one of the most under-rated machines out there. These are my opinions of course, and YMMV! Good luck and HH!
Click to expand...
 
I'd ask him this then ... actually I have three things I'd ask . First thing is "how many detectors have you used ?" and this ... why did Whites move away from the DFX ??? I say to big a learning curve is the biggest reason ... and it's where you detect and how you detect that equals what you find when you detect ... not the detector you use ... e'nuff said , Woodstock
Smudge said:
I know of at least one long time detectorist who called the DFX the best jewelry hunter ever owned.
Click to expand...
 
woodstock said:
I agree with the MX5 choice and it's hands down the best detector out the the ones in your line up ... and it is the most under rated machines out there period ... I love mine for a great reason and thats cause it's a great machine ! IMHO , Woodstock
Click to expand...
I didn' t know beforehand it was gonna be such a great detector- I was just looking for a detector with pro features to use in special conditions. For me it's more than I expected.:cool:
 
woodstock said:
... why did Whites move away from the DFX ??? I say to big a learning curve is the biggest reason
Click to expand...

Good question. My guess is for competitive and profit reasons. The DFX design is a two frequency design, licensed from Minelabs. White's had to pay royalties and the DFX being two frequencies was at a disadvantage compared to the Minelabs, who processed three frequencies (don't want to get into a discussion of how many frequencies are actually processed in BBS/FBS machines).

Secondarily, the standard program settings on the DFX were quite conservative and needed tweaking to get more depth. But it was way too easy for the new users to actually make it worse rather than better. The DFX programming was too confusing.

This led White's to develop the V series, a three frequency machine with a snazzy color LCD interface and, being White's own design, no royalties had to be paid.
 
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