Metal Detecting Headphones… are they a necessity, if so, what is the Argument for wearing Headphones whilst Metal Detecting…
I think the answer to the question is a definite yes, but there are several answers to this question, here are the immediate ones that spring to mind, even out in the middle of a field, somewhere with no one around you, i think you should wear headphones, the main reason for my theory is like so many have said before me, and it is true, very rarely do we get a perfectly still day, so most days we get a slight breeze or it can be very windy, & when you’re detecting in windy conditions, the headphones will block out the majority of wind, If it’s raining, again they’ll keep the noise out, headphones will help you hear first-hand that faint whisper of a signal direct to your ears, and not have it whisked away by the wind, that is the main reason for headphones, a signal being directly delivered to your ears will enhance your finds rate, & i believe the headphones will even help you detect slightly deeper due to the fact you will be able to hear those whispers, and signals that say “am i dig ‘able or not” so you start to investigate, these are the hard to hear signals, that get away from you sometimes….
Also, headphones allow you to make educated guesses as to the sounds your ears are picking up, those low grunt sounds of the iron and those high squeals for that quality dig me signals, your recovery rate will help increase those finds by not having to check and recheck that small signal to see if it was there or not…
If you are detecting with people around you, it is common courtesy to wear headphones, as they do not want to be distracted from the signals your metal detector gives out & maybe constantly sounding off over the iron, worse still if your detecting in parks, on beaches or areas where the public are, then wearing headphones is a matter of common courtesy, and again allows those coins which might be side on or just within reach of the metal detectors capability’s to be heard, with the all allusive jewellery making a faint but welcome gesture through the headphones…
Can any headphones be used for metal detecting…
The answer to this is yes, i believe it should be ok, you might want to check your detector to see whether it has either a stereo or mono output, most headphones today have switches that allow you to switch between the two… In-ear Buds Should be avoided, & like everything in life you get what you pay for, dedicated metal detector headphones invariably have a stereo or mono switch to enable you to switch between the two to find out what your detector operates on, i think the only thing i would add to this is please try and use a full cup set of headphones as these keep out most if not all the ambient noise from outside, & this is what you are after…
As we rely on the sound of the detector for our good, bad or indifferent sounds, we can achieve this by blocking out the excess noise from outside, which allows us to get a direct & personal sound delivered directly into our ears for our brain to analyse…
Something worth considering & for some, it is an important factor, when looking for headphones you might want to check to see if they have volume controls on your headphones, “some metal detectors don’t have volume controls” so if you plug in “headphones without volume control” your ears might get a bashing, these headphones on the right don’t have a volume control, but have never been a problem of being too loud, the only problem i have with them is going over a roman or an old house site where there are lots of iron you cannot turn down the volume to help sift through the signals…. So if you can get headphones with volume controls, make sure the rotary volume controls are on each ear, this helps you to balance the headphones to your own needs, thus ensuring your headphones and detector are fine-tuned together with everything optimised to your hearing… One final thing, most metal detectors will have a ¼ inch female input, so the male jack should be the same ¼ inch -input, some detectors benefit from either a straight or 90-degree jack, i try to go for a 90-degree angle as i find it allows the curly lead to have less stress when out in the field…
Wireless Headphones are they better for Metal Detecting?
Some of the better Metal Detecting Headphones out there;
Many of the dedicated manufacturers of headphones for metal detecting, have a good reputation, otherwise they would still not be in business today… But like everything that you buy, it needs to work for you & still needs your approval, me personally i use a very battered old pair of Predator headphones from Crawfords Metal Detecting shop, these are over 25 years old, yet they work through the wind, rain snow you name it they are brillant, i do have a spare pair of headphones which are the Grey Ghosts made by Detector-Pro, another excellent set of headphones, but look at the price, and so they should be, i tried the Jolly Rodgers, and my ears, brain or something could not get used to the scratchy sound they produced, yet for others they work perfectly, so it all boils down to a personal choice…
But, now here is the but, i have acquired a set of Jolly Rodger ultimate’s, i am using these to see how i get on, and so far i have no complaints, the sound is soft, which might be their downfall, i like the harder sound in my ears, these are very relaxed, due to the sound limiters inbuilt, so you don’t get any loud harsh noise’s, the speakers are not scratchy, typically lightweight so very comfortable, mmm might have to eat my words once i can get past the soft sounds…
Some detectors benefit from the aftermarket sales and small time producers of headphones, for example Malcom Potter [- Big Mal or Minelab Mal -] who is a metal detectorist and Minelab owner and user who producers headphones solely for people with Minelab Metal Detectors…
Northeast Detectorist 
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