First day with the Minelab Equinox 600. To get to know the machine I will carry the AT PRO and swing both machines over targets. How do the VDI compare. What are my initial thoughts on the machine. Did I find anything good? You betcha. Thanks for watching everyone......
Oh man, another comparison video not making the comparison it sets out to make, and drawing conclusions that aren't supported by the evidence. Nothing wrong with getting excited about a new detector. Have at it. Get excited! But, let's look seriously about this detector comparison claim.
You marvel at how quiet the NOX is compared to the ATPro. Apples and oranges. You were running fully open on the ATPro. ProZero mode with nothing notched out and hearing everything from 1 to 100. With the Nox you had iron and low foil silenced/notched out. Park 1 default. Plus, in Park 1 sketchy deep high conductor squeaks get processed as iron, which are notched out in your settings. Sensitivity looked pretty high on the ATPro. Before the end of the 4 targets you were running way under 20 on the Nox. Yes, the Nox is going to be quieter in comparison. Turn iron descrimination up to about 35 on the ATPro and sensitivity down another click or two, and it'll quiet down, too. Or, switch over to Park 2 on the Nox, press the horseshoe (iron audio) button, and let me know if it's quieter than the ATPro. For the new user in most parks, the Park 2 setting with iron audio on would result in 50 tones of pure insanity.
You used headphones for the Nox and not the ATPro. Hardly a valid comparison or way to compare deep target audio. Also the viewer can't compare the audio characteristics between the two machines. We never heard the Nox in the entire video.
You did have some discussion about finding a target with a "better" machine (Nox) and then zeroing in on it for the second machine (ATPro). Perhaps that second machine wouldn't have found it on its own. Correct observation, but irrelevant to the comparisons in the video. If the ATPro wouldn't have stopped a coin hunter on those targets, then wouldn't that be a good thing? They were junk, right? Regardless, you could have supported your observation by backing up 10 or so feet and swing normally with the AT Pro and Nox to see whether and how the signal stood out. Not a perfect test, but something.
I admit that I already know the Nox can find good targets the ATPro can't, or can't find as easily, and can even dig less trash in the process. The video didn't show how, when or why.
An objective viewer can conclude the following: You thought you had four deep coin signals with the Nox. The ATPro correctly reported them all of the signals as not worth digging for coins. Not one of those AT Pro signals were the kind of sketchy deep coin signal I'm looking for on the ATPro. If you had been swinging the ATPro you would have saved yourself digging four deep junk targets. The ATPro won the comparison in the video hands down.
Instead, the ATPro goes into the trunk never to return even after you find a few of those elusive great coin signals apparently undetectable by several other machines. Signals that would have proven the Nox's superiority had you retreived the ATPro and heard nothing in the signal to suggest a coin target! Not even a dime signal you "knew" was a coin was enough to go grab the ATPro and give it a swing. Instead, we're supposed to believe you and your buddies have hit every square inch of dirt and therefore the only explanation is that the ATPro couldn't have found a silver 6" dime or that hunk of a half dollar sized coin. Unless you grid about 8 different ways using a string line, and then repeat all of it again with different settings and swing speeds, then you haven't hit it all.
Your desire for the Equinox to be better is pretty obvious. But, you haven't used it enough to know how and why. At the end of the video you said you didn't dig any foil. You forgot the foil in Target 2. The Nox is what got you thinking it was a good steady signal in the coin range. The ATPro was bouncing and giving a non-diggable signal between and not even overlapping American nickels and pennies. On Target 4 the Nox showed a consistent 21-23. The ATPro was jumping, and (at best) was trying to settle on 53 when you were teasing a tiny spot. Yet, somehow you concluded the ATPro "beeped just like there was a coin". No, it didn't. That's what the Nox did to stop you to dig in the first place. After just two or three targets you're befuddled why the Nox is causing you to chase signals coming off of junk. You overlooked the conclusion that the ATPro is correctly not giving good coin signals for targets that aren't coins.
Like you, when I first got the Nox I chased a lot of deep signals that seemed OK, but turned out to be junk. That improved with experience, including using the correct settings for the conditions. That flexibility is what makes the Nox the better machine and not anything shown in the video. But, for 99% of people who just want to get out occassionally and detect, and have 600 bucks to spend, they could buy either machine. The ATPro might even be better for that group. They might have skipped over those four deep junk targets and had time to get their coil over that silver dime.
Regarding the arm cuff, I dig hundreds of targets and have no problem slipping my arm in and out of the cuff and strap. I slide out while putting the detector down, and slide in while picking it up. One smooth motion and the strap makes a huge difference. I can't think of the last time I undid the strap. Probably the last time I had on long sleeves.