Minelab headphones

[PurpleTurtle]

I have an Xterra Elite that came with Killer B Thresher headphones. Those headphones broke (They never returned my call) so I bought new submersible Minelab Koss (yellow color) headphones.
The sound is terrible. The tones aren't crisp, the sound levels are quieter, and in general they sound as though the headphones are submerged underwater, in a bag of water, with my head in a separate bag of water. The sound has a disconnected feeling to it.

Is this how Minelab headphones sound? Aside from the Killer B headphones, what are premium alternatives that are worth a thing?

 

[vegasplayer]

Killer B headphones how did you break them ? did you register them ? they have 2 yr warranty
i would use no other.

 

[Sand Hunter]

I have an Xterra Elite that came with Killer B Thresher headphones. Those headphones broke (They never returned my call) so I bought new submersible Minelab Koss (yellow color) headphones.
The sound is terrible. The tones aren't crisp, the sound levels are quieter, and in general they sound as though the headphones are submerged underwater, in a bag of water, with my head in a separate bag of water. The sound has a disconnected feeling to it.

Is this how Minelab headphones sound? Aside from the Killer B headphones, what are premium alternatives that are worth a thing?

I can personally & highly recommend a set of custom waterproof headphones from Tony Eisenhower. Tony's standard set have thinner white cups. But for me, I wanted the quietest and loudest headphones I could get, so I could hear whisper signals & threshold nulls over all the screaming, tow planes flying overhead, diesel go-fast boats whizzing by the coast, etc. So, Tony made me a set of his diver's headphones using his larger blue cups. All his headphones are waterproof, the only difference with his diver's version is that he drills a couple holes at the bottom of each cup, to allow water to empty faster. I always wash all my gear with fresh water after every hunt, so the holes allow the water to drain from the cups faster. When hunting, I put electrical tape over the holes to help keep wind noise out.

Tony's larger blue cups provide more noise attenuation, i.e., are quieter. He also added his impedance matching circuitry which provides louder volume, which was exactly what I was looking for, quieter phones AND louder tones. His phones are extremely comfortable as his headband splits into 2 sections, which spreads the band out on top of the head. They fit tightly over the ears, and I purposely tried shaking my head to see if they would fall off, but they stuck to my ears like glue. I've worn them for hours hunting on the beach and forgot they were on my head. He makes his phones for a variety of detectors, including Minelab X-Terra Elite, NOX's, CTX303, etc. Although I also have an X-Terra Elite, these blue cup phones were for my Dual Field PI, which was modded by OBN to use a Minelab CTX3030 waterproof connector, so he used that connector and my phones connect perfectly.

BTW, the insane thing is that you can get a set of his custom waterproof headphones for about $10 more than what the stock, crappy Minelab waterproof headphones cost, so getting his phones is a no brainer. Tony doesn't have a website, so you'd need to contact him via email. AND, if you put something like "Tony, Sand Hunter on the Friendly Forum referred you" in the emails subject line, he'll see that and just might give you priority. Just saying, lol. Here's his email: [email protected].

 

[itsaring!]

I have an Xterra Elite that came with Killer B Thresher headphones. Those headphones broke (They never returned my call) so I bought new submersible Minelab Koss (yellow color) headphones.
The sound is terrible. The tones aren't crisp, the sound levels are quieter, and in general they sound as though the headphones are submerged underwater, in a bag of water, with my head in a separate bag of water. The sound has a disconnected feeling to it.

Is this how Minelab headphones sound? Aside from the Killer B headphones, what are premium alternatives that are worth a thing?

The yellow minelab headphones suck. Plus the wire casing rots.

 

[OBN]

The yellow minelab headphones suck. Plus the wire casing rots.

X-2

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Koss *used to be* good, a few decades ago. Crisp high fidelity, etc.... But then they went downhill. I guess they purchase components from the "lowest bidder", and farm out the manufacturing to the "lowest bidder", which can therefore change from one year to the next. And at some point the identical product was not the same as the prior product of the same exact name, model, etc....

 

[PurpleTurtle]

Killer B headphones how did you break them ? did you register them ? they have 2 yr warranty
i would use no other.

The bail around one of the ear pieces snapped where it connects to the headband. I bought the stuff off another guy but everything was practically new. Heck, the skidplate on the coil didn't even have a scratch. At this point, everything is 6-7 months old. So it's not like anything is antique.

I did a field repair on them by lashing strips of waterproof gorilla duct tape around the broken piece. It works but the repair spot digs into my skull.

 

[PurpleTurtle]

The yellow minelab headphones suck. Plus the wire casing rots.

Thanks. Good info.

 

[PurpleTurtle]

I can personally & highly recommend a set of custom waterproof headphones from Tony Eisenhower. Tony's standard set have thinner white cups. But for me, I wanted the quietest and loudest headphones I could get, so I could hear whisper signals & threshold nulls over all the screaming, tow planes flying overhead, diesel go-fast boats whizzing by the coast, etc. So, Tony made me a set of his diver's headphones using his larger blue cups. All his headphones are waterproof, the only difference with his diver's version is that he drills a couple holes at the bottom of each cup, to allow water to empty faster. I always wash all my gear with fresh water after every hunt, so the holes allow the water to drain from the cups faster. When hunting, I put electrical tape over the holes to help keep wind noise out.

Tony's larger blue cups provide more noise attenuation, i.e., are quieter. He also added his impedance matching circuitry which provides louder volume, which was exactly what I was looking for, quieter phones AND louder tones. His phones are extremely comfortable as his headband splits into 2 sections, which spreads the band out on top of the head. They fit tightly over the ears, and I purposely tried shaking my head to see if they would fall off, but they stuck to my ears like glue. I've worn them for hours hunting on the beach and forgot they were on my head. He makes his phones for a variety of detectors, including Minelab X-Terra Elite, NOX's, CTX303, etc. Although I also have an X-Terra Elite, these blue cup phones were for my Dual Field PI, which was modded by OBN to use a Minelab CTX3030 waterproof connector, so he used that connector and my phones connect perfectly.

BTW, the insane thing is that you can get a set of his custom waterproof headphones for about $10 more than what the stock, crappy Minelab waterproof headphones cost, so getting his phones is a no brainer. Tony doesn't have a website, so you'd need to contact him via email. AND, if you put something like "Tony, Sand Hunter on the Friendly Forum referred you" in the emails subject line, he'll see that and just might give you priority. Just saying, lol. Here's his email: [email protected].

Now that you mention that name, I recall his stuff being the talk of the town many moons ago. I also had a Dual Field PI maybe 10 years ago? Maybe 12?

 

[rc2125]

Yes the Koss one's are terrible. None sound better than Threshers, now with Killer B name on them (black ones).

 

[Linesider]

I can personally & highly recommend a set of custom waterproof headphones from Tony Eisenhower. Tony's standard set have thinner white cups. But for me, I wanted the quietest and loudest headphones I could get, so I could hear whisper signals & threshold nulls over all the screaming, tow planes flying overhead, diesel go-fast boats whizzing by the coast, etc. So, Tony made me a set of his diver's headphones using his larger blue cups. All his headphones are waterproof, the only difference with his diver's version is that he drills a couple holes at the bottom of each cup, to allow water to empty faster. I always wash all my gear with fresh water after every hunt, so the holes allow the water to drain from the cups faster. When hunting, I put electrical tape over the holes to help keep wind noise out.

Tony's larger blue cups provide more noise attenuation, i.e., are quieter. He also added his impedance matching circuitry which provides louder volume, which was exactly what I was looking for, quieter phones AND louder tones. His phones are extremely comfortable as his headband splits into 2 sections, which spreads the band out on top of the head. They fit tightly over the ears, and I purposely tried shaking my head to see if they would fall off, but they stuck to my ears like glue. I've worn them for hours hunting on the beach and forgot they were on my head. He makes his phones for a variety of detectors, including Minelab X-Terra Elite, NOX's, CTX303, etc. Although I also have an X-Terra Elite, these blue cup phones were for my Dual Field PI, which was modded by OBN to use a Minelab CTX3030 waterproof connector, so he used that connector and my phones connect perfectly.

BTW, the insane thing is that you can get a set of his custom waterproof headphones for about $10 more than what the stock, crappy Minelab waterproof headphones cost, so getting his phones is a no brainer. Tony doesn't have a website, so you'd need to contact him via email. AND, if you put something like "Tony, Sand Hunter on the Friendly Forum referred you" in the emails subject line, he'll see that and just might give you priority. Just saying, lol. Here's his email: [email protected].

From my experience the “diver” model are mush noisier. With that drain hole and the mesh style pads the wind can blows past and pick up the sounds. So “divers” i would only recommend for under water. If you had another pair that wasn’t divers u can hear the difference. What i had to do with my divers was put a dab of hot glue right over the holes. So if i wade above water the sound is still low and that hot glue easy to peal oof to rinse and clean.

 

[Sand Hunter]

From my experience the “diver” model are mush noisier. With that drain hole and the mesh style pads the wind can blows past and pick up the sounds. So “divers” i would only recommend for under water. If you had another pair that wasn’t divers u can hear the difference. What i had to do with my divers was put a dab of hot glue right over the holes. So if i wade above water the sound is still low and that hot glue easy to peal oof to rinse and clean.

I do 2 things to reduce noise with my Diver's headphones.

1. I cover the drain holes with electrical tape when I'm hunting, then remove when I rise the phones with freshwater.

2. I always wear either my glasses or sunglasses when hunting. I noticed that if I put my glasses on first, then headphones on my ears, the shafts from the glasses creates a small break in the ear pad seal, which allows noise to get in. So now, I put headphones on first, get a solid & tight seal, then my glasses. But I angle the shafts of the glasses up so that the plastic curved things that normally go over my ears, now rest on top of the cups. The glasses are snug, but for additional insurance, I plan to get one of those straps designed to hold glasses & keep them from falling. They sell them in all the stores that sell beachy stuff.