metal detector sounds

Hi all found this link thought it was interesting let me know what you think .

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&...sounds&usg=AFQjCNE-Hq2VAqvYa8o3FaISqkVJ7NBWmw

I've been considering doing a similar thing for the GPZ.

But I think it would be a bigger job and even more complex than I could handle.

Nice info though pete and definitely worth a look and listen.

I think the author sums it up best himself in one sentence:
"Please bear in mind that they are only a very small sample and in reality gold has a large variety of sounds."

Different metals do have different sounds, for instance certain microphone pre amps have different audio properties due to the metallic core of transformers used (if they are transformer balanced output pre's) and or the type of metal being used in the transformer windings, such as silver wound or nickel wound. Iron transformers for instance can sounds fantastic on electric guitar, silver wound transformers can sound fantastic on single coil pickup guitars, acoustic guitar and snare drums due to the inherant brightness of the sound of the silver windings.

The sound of iron on a gold detector is the easiest to pick as it has a bit of fuzziness to the sound, that's why iron sounds great in a mic pre while recording electric guitars. Anyway, now things like ironstone encrusted gold comes into the equation, thinking it's iron and walking away due to a fuzzy signal could make you decide not to dig that nice lump of iron encrusted gold. Rejecting a bright signal could see you walking away from a nug with a higher silver content.

I've been an audio engineer for over 20 years, thinking you can pick the gold signal is rediculous, maybe it can be done sometimes but that is more to do with luck, maybe if nuggets were always the same size, shape and composition it would be doable but they are not. I can't pick the difference and will happily admit that fact. Shotgun pellets always sound very similar too but nuggets can sound just like them. Best way to discrim when gold detecting is with your eyes after digging the target out of the ground.

I have picked the "mellow gold signal" quite a few times out detecting and I have rejected the sound of a nugget once that I thought was trash only to have a mate dig it and get the nugget I rejected lol.

Brillant now i can get my detecting fix on the lounge on the days i wish i was swinging. I wonder how the missus would feel about me playing the audio in the the bedroom :lol:

It is interesting and i will probably study it more and see how well my sdc mimics it , i always try to pick what a signal is and with reasonable success, but every now and then i could bet i know what the signal is and when i dig it it shocks me to find its gold.

In my opinion the smooth duller signals that are consistant from every direction are gold but i have been fooled by squashed lead a few times, also retrieving a ferrous target often lets a gold target become audible .

aussiefarmer said:

In my opinion the smooth duller signals that are consistant from every direction are gold but i have been fooled by squashed lead a few times, also retrieving a ferrous target often lets a gold target become audible .

Click to expand...

There are just so many possibilities I agree, shape of a target, composition, masking by other targets.

Even with the very best discrimination such as on a CTX3030 blending of signals and masking by other junk targets can still make you reject a good target.

And don't forget about the ground having an influence on target response. Deep targets are never the same twice and put that target in really hot ground and you end up with a nail on it's end sounding like a nugget and a solid chunk of gold sitting upright that sounds like a shallow piece of junk. Dig everything!

I've heard all those sounds and dug them all with anticipation, some days/holes are happier than others. Next time I'm out I'll still dig'em because each one has a sound that says dig me. The only one to be discounted from the dig process is the surface hot rock, I still like the sound when I hear it though. The only other 2 that could be excluded and not mentioned in the test process but continue to elude me is the surface specie/nugget, 1 day it will happen I hope it's sooner rather than later.