Head phone comparison between Sun Ray gold and Rat phones

[digitrich]

I started with the Sun Ray Golds on my SE and I like those fine but they wouldn't work on my F-75. I thought maybe I shorted a wire or something. So I ordered a pair of Rat head phones so I would have something to use while I sent in my Sun Ray's. Anyway I compared the two and with the Sun Ray Pro's, I can run my threshold volume1 point lower than the Rat phones and still hear it. At the same setting on the Rat's, my threshold is inaudible. The sound quality on the Sun Ray's is also better, the Rat's seem flatter, not as poignant sounding. However, the Rat phones wear more comfortably over longer periods of time. After about a continuous 9 hours of detecting, the Sun Ray's kind of smoosh my right ear, I have big ears, so you may not have this happen to you. But the Rat phones don't. The longer cord on the Rats is nice as well, you can stand up with the detector still lying on the ground. But the reasons I paid for over 100 dollar headphones were: 1. sound quality 2. Performance....... and in both categories, Sun Ray wins hands down especially in performance. A difference of 1 point of volume on the threshold may be the difference of a deepy that would pay for the headphones entirely. I just bought a second pair of Sun Ray's for my other SE (wife's). My second, new pair, doesn't work with my F-75 either and I am pretty sure it's the actual head phone jack on the F-75 now, as it also has other problems, I am sending it for repair. I haven't tried the other brands of head phones yet----wonder if they'd let me plug them into my SE and then I could check how low I could get my threshold volume and it still be audible to me. There is something to do at a competition hunt.

 

[mattockman]

This is a welcome post to me...I was just researching about some new head phones....and the 2 you mentioned is what I was looking at....thanks!

 

[jeff & Maria]

I use the Sun Rays 100% of the time. They seem crisper with sound and fit me nicely. They work fine in my Explorer however I need to pull the connector about 1/4 inch out when I use them on the XLT. The jacks are different slightly. On the Ratphones I need to switch the cord and plug the opposite side in on the White's machine. Try switching the cord of the Ratphones on your F75.

 

[digitrich]

The Rats work on my F75. Thanks for your better explanation on the Sun Rays ......"crisper", exactly. Now, on your Explorer, try and see if there is a difference in your threshold volume level you can hear between the two sets of headphones. It will amaze you. Every book I've read on metal detecting says:"Threshold volume is supposed set to be barely audible, so you can here the really faint signals", well on my SE, one point of threshold volume is allot. I have even turned the threshold down to just below audible and then tried changing the tone of the threshold to see if there was one I could here better; no luck though. With the Sun Rays, the Rats and even the Koss, the SE came with, I can hear my threshold plainly at 7; in my garage, that is. But in wind, surf, or with cars and trains going by; only the Sun Rays work at that setting, otherwise, I have to turn it up to 8 for the Rats and Koss. In a real quiet place I can turn the threshold to 6 on the Sun Rays and still hear the threshold. What really disappointed me, was there isn't a whole lot of difference in sound quality between the Rats and the Koss the SE came with. That, I wouldn't have expected.