Thanks to John Howland for the following product review. For the record John and I will review anything. Just send it along with a bottle of Bowmore 25 Year Old Scotch, and we’re good to go.
Now ‘Ere’s a Good Thing…
John Howland
Re-wind your minds back a few months to the piece I wrote about ‘W3 Pro Lite’ wireless headphones from the California-based manufacturers, Deteknix. Done that? Ok, let’s progress. You’ll probably know that W3’s are exceptional wireless and virtually delay-free units that have proven to be Major League winners on both sides of the Pond. Even so, there’s a ‘But’ and it’s this:-
Whereas W3 Pro Lite headphones ‘sit on’ the ears and are lightly held in place, they tend in the main to become unsuitable in wild, winter, and windy conditions; easily becoming airborne if the wind gets under the peak of the users’ baseball cap and offer little ear protection from the cold. My beachcombing pal Jack Dey – old ‘Golden Testicles’ – wears a woolly beanie over his W3s so as to keep them fast when there’s a blow.
Although the lightweight W3 Pro Lite ‘phones are bang-on for summer being light, cool, and near sweat-free; winter conditions are another ball-game entirely especially if you’re a year-round beachcomber who toughs it out with the winter breakers.
Recently, the men-in-white-coats at Deteknix’ came up with the solution in the shape of a receiver unit (£40.00 UK) that’s fitted with a ¼” ‘female’ plug socket enabling the use of your favourite ‘full-over’ headphones; the types that stay put in the windiest conditions keeping your ears warm and snug from the winter’s biting winds. “What if my headphones are fitted with a 4mm jack?”. Er…er…well, use a jackplug adapter. Simples.
So all you need to go wire-free is to connect your favourite headphones to the receiver unit and drop it into an inside pocket of your detecting jacket and Hey Presto! they’ve transmogrified into wireless headphones; then switch on the transmitter unit – attached to your metal detector – and you’re now fully wire-free! Brilliant!
If you’d like to know more and live in the Olde Worlde then give Tony Hunt a bell/email at:
Detectorbits: (http://www.detectorbits.co.uk/)
Tel 01202 870079 or Mob 07968470494 (9.00am – 10.00pm Mon – Sat)
232, Wimborne Road West
Stapehill Wimborne,Dorset BH21 2DY
If you’re one of George Washington’s rebels, then try :
Deteknix Inc
1211 Center Court Dr. Suite 103
Covina, CA U.S.A. 91724
Tel: +1 (626) 559 7742 (Mon to Fri 9:00AM – 5:00PM (PST)
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Hmmm…
Since narcissism is fuelled by a greater need to be admired than to be liked, psychologists might use that fact as a therapeutic lever – stressing to patients that being known as a narcissist will actually cause them to lose the respect and social status they crave…..Jeffrey Kluger
I’ll see y’all in the bar!
John
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Stout Standards 
Hey Ricardo!
What’s all that BS about ONE bottle of Bowmore 25-yr old? It’s TWO, got it? TWO!
Thanks for that update, that is a terrific idea. You plug in your own headphones and keep the cord in your jacket pocket, thereby getting to use your existing headphones. Maybe I will have to upgrade to wireless soon
So there are two units? One transmitter and one receiver?
Yes, it is a two part package – one plugs into your headphones the other into the metal detector.
Hi Tony
If you’ve already bought the W3 Pro Lite package, you need to buy a another receiver unit if you want to adapt your non-wireless headphones and that adapter costs £40.00. So in total give a take a couple of ££s the WHOLE PACKAGE comes to about £120.00 which is way less that any manufacturers’ dedicated system.
I don’t how or why, but rumours are doing the rounds that the Deteknix system is being used on the XP DEUS LITE to good effect.
£80 NOT £40 Unless there’s a discount through these pages!!
Yeah Howland…what’s the scoop?
I bought my receiver unit in the UK from Tony Hunt….£40.00. FORTY POUNDS!
http://www.detectorbits.co.uk/ and I ain’t even on commission!!!!!
John,this link is in the review, but the item is indeed double the price you quoted….
No it ain’t. You can buy the receiver unit as a separate entity from Tony Hunt in the UK for £40.00. The entire unit – transmitter and receiver costs £80.00.
I don’t know…..this is the old man in me talking. This is much too much baggage for me and I frequently wear a T-shirt (this is Texas remember), with no handy pocket.
I’m still waiting for wireless headphones to be standard fare with EVERY detector, and the first mfg to do it will be score big points and bucks. JMO…..
BUT you need both to make it work….
Thinking my Bowmore is not going to arrive…..
I”ll give it one last go.
If you want your favourite non-wireless headphones to go wire-free, that complete kit costs £80.00.
However, if you ALREADY HAVE the W3 Pro Lite outfit (comprising wireless headphones and transmitter) AND then you want to convert your favourite non-wireless headphones, you require an ADDITIONAL headphone receiver unit costing £40.00 which utilises the signals from the transmitter supplied with the W3 Pro Lite outfit.
This means you will end up with: 1 pair of wireless headphones; 1 transmitter unit (the W3 Pro Lite outfit); and 1 receiver unit (£40.00) to convert your non-wireless headphones.
Now I’m going for a LARGE Scotch!
Got it…thank you for clarifying.
Yeah, I got it too… thanks for the information and update!
Dick is right, this is something that manufactures should make available with a new Detector….make life easier….more options to choose from. It would be nice to order a machine and you can pick and choose the extras or not. Like we do for automobiles.
I may be wrong but Whites and Makro are the only ones offering it now. V3i and Racer 2. Thinking maybe this should be a goal or marketing issue for every manufacturer. We all want lightweight and we all want ease of use. “Ease of use”…did I just say that?
Of course this may well be something ALL the manufacturers ARE working on. I just haven’t heard anything nor have I heard the subject debated out there in Tekkie land.
Hi Tony:
The problem is, so the jungle drums have it, is that the only wireless system without a target delay response comes courtesy of XP who hold the patent.
However, Detectnix have developed a system where the delay is so minimal as to be near perfect. I have used the Detectnix system on my ATPro and both Jack and I cannot discern any response delay – the pin-pointing is spot on.
Hi John, the delay is not the issue – as I stated in the past it is the power in my headphones that helps me hear the soft or sweet signals. So this new unit that plugs into my existing headphones is a much needed improvement and I again thank you for updating us about this new product.
Cheers, see you in the bar!
Long on the JD; short on the ‘7’. Cheers!
Finally…Deteknix headphones are available from Mick Turrell at Berkshire-based (Nr Newbury) Leisure Promotions:-
http://www.leisure-promotions.co.uk
01635 597975
…are also available…