Any of y'all used a AT-MAX yet?

Tell me what y'all think about them say compared to a AT-PRO or AT-Gold.

will hunt this weekend. ran in my test garden. good depth in disc. crazy deep all metal. very similar to AT Gold but target response and ID feels not as sharp as Gold. Probably due to frequency.

Its nothing like a pro IMO. 1-2" in ground deeper in my garden than a pro.

disc air test quarter 14", nickel 14.5", dime 12.5". all metal way deeper. I would say 3-4" deeper but you'd think I'm full of it. maybe more!

I have a feeling its not going to be as good as gold in iron and seperation but havent tested. seems a little slower response



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2017 01:54AM by detectingMO.

That's some crazy air test depths Craig. You would think a quarter would air test better than a nickel with the frequency it's running on. I have been watching the forums and a few people seem to think it's not as stable as either the Pro or Gold. And a few seem to be having issues with the wireless headphones losing sync to the control box.

yeah i just tested and filmed. in air tonight i got 12 dime, 14 quarter, 15" nickel. +2" on each in all metal. in the ground all metal is more than 2" deeper I believe. i dont have targets deep enough to know for sure. I'll try to give it a few hours saturday with the headphones. I would think 2 tone all metal would be killer for relic guys. Similar to AT gold. At Pro is a smoother less than 8"park/cojn shooter. I prefered the gold over the at pro though even for parks and coins. I like its raw scratchy tones.

I received my Max this past Monday and got out with it for about 4 hours Friday. My digging partner has a Max, too. We are still quite limited as to site availability right now but that will be changing soon when tobacco is disced under and corn and beans are harvested. Very dry conditions, too. Not much in the way of meaningful finds to report yet, but am impressed by how hard it hits very small non ferrous at moderate depths. Case in point, only the rim (less than 1/8" length wise) of a 22 casing at 5 inches. Screaming signal. A small shard of what might be a thin sliced cross section of a CW projectile (rifling mark) at 4 inches was also very loud and solid. VDIs seem pretty solid to me on non-ferrous targets. Did not dig any aluminum, now that I think of it. Don't know if I just didn't cover any of it, or if the audio signal generated was not to my liking. Will have to keep an eye on this. Partner's sense of the Max's performance was also quite favorable.

Wayne

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

Gain is jacked way up on the Max. Gold users wanting more options, different freq, and a little more punch will be in heaven. Pro users that didnt like the gold will really not like the max. Its not the shallow smooth toned pro thats for sure. If park hunting with max dial it back 2-3 bars sensitivity.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2017 09:29PM by detectingMO.

I figured that dialing it down to 2-3 bars would put at being either equal or hotter than a AT-PRO that has the sensitivity maxed out Craig.

88junior Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I figured that dialing it down to 2-3 bars would p
> ut at being either equal or hotter than a AT-PRO t
> hat has the sensitivity maxed out Craig.

pretty much. doesnt lose much depth upper half sensitivity.

I run mine 4-6 bars on sens and it's very deep and smooth it hits hard on very small targets like brass, copper and silver... 22 shell casings 6-8" deep with loud and clear signals. Nickels at extreme depths ..I feel with the Gizmo added to the stem at elbow make detector balance very very well.. as good as f75 the nel thunder weighs less than the stock Garrett coil if you use the Garrett coil cover and no cover on nel thunder.. couple days ago I found a Sterling silver necklace about 8 inches deep with the thunder .. only had one clasp .. at first I wasn't too sure about the ATMAX but now after using for 40-50 hours I really like it... Lots of power bangs hard on non-ferrous targets.

basstrackerman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I run mine 4-6 bars on sens and it's very deep and
> smooth it hits hard on very small targets like bra
> ss, copper and silver... 22 shell casings 6-8" dee
> p with loud and clear signals. Nickels at extreme
> depths ..I feel with the Gizmo added to the stem a
> t elbow make detector balance very very well.. as
> good as f75 the nel thunder weighs less than the
> stock Garrett coil if you use the Garrett coil cov
> er and no cover on nel thunder.. couple days ago I
> found a Sterling silver necklace about 8 inches de
> ep with the thunder .. only had one clasp .. at fi
> rst I wasn't too sure about the ATMAX but now afte
> r using for 40-50 hours I really like it... Lots
> of power bangs hard on non-ferrous targets.

Yeah, people are complaining on my depth test youtube videos about jumpy ID. My targets are tough for any detector and very jumpy on almost all of them. Max is not different in that sense. Past 6" ID's get a little jumpy. Welcome to metal detecting. But yeah, the gain is cranked so it's actually much smoother lower sense and still deep. It does have a little bit of crackly pops in audio in this highly amplified static or non-good targets. More apparent with the wireless headphones of course. BUT, again, the more sens and disc you run the worse it is. Compared to F75 I think the disc on the new DST F75 is smoother and as deep but the AT Max all metal is world class deep. Like remember the original F75 LTD's switched over to all metal from boost mode deep? yeah, like that. Max is definitely a relic machine first IMO.

I do have hunt video yet to post. ID is pretty darn good in it. targets where 2-5" though and lots of trash since I was learning the ID's. Then people will say it only finds trash. lol



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2017 01:45PM by detectingMO.

I got to play with one at the shop. I went in and saw it, and grabbed an AT Pro while I was at it. After seeing a few videos, I was convinced they were too close to the same to really make a difference in performance. Wrong. Either I found a hot one or something is up. Both machines had stock coils on them, in Pro Zero mode. The Max blasted away at everything, up to several inches further away in air testing than the Pro. It is heavier than the Pro though. You can feel it when you hold them at the same time.

I ended up buying the Max and ran it by my bullet site on the way home. The wireless headphones had a little life in them but were not fully charged. I did not hunt long as I had other places to be. In my initial run of the bullet fields, I ran it Pro Zero without any iron disc. I also tried All Metal but found it to be too noisy on this particular ground....simply from ground feedback noise. Pro Zero was relatively quiet. I did dig a few tractor parts and some fence wire that fooled me with those squeeker sounds. I left without digging a bullet so I'm not sure if I just didn't get over top of one or what. The place is getting extremely tough to find bullets without a pulse detector and I know other people are hunting it now too; there were dig hole evidence since I had been there a couple weeks ago.

The headphones are extremely comfortable. I like those a lot.

I do have sort of a crackling/static sound on the tones...I think it is from the machine itself though because with just the speaker I can hear sort of the same thing. Could have been from the headphones not being fully charged though.

This machine flies through my test garden with flying colors. It is one of the few to get my 10 inch dime with a coil of this size...most machines require the bigger coils to do it. Very impressed. 10 inch silver dime and it even IDs it correctly.

Air testing will knock your socks off.

If I had to make two nit picky complaints, it would be the S rod configuration and of course, the connections for the coil and headphones. I've never been a fan of the connections or S rods.

Yep, nothing like an AT Pro. At Pro is a super smooth quiet and not very deep machine. The Max is really amped up! Noisy and deep.

detectingMO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yep, nothing like an AT Pro. At Pro is a super sm
> ooth quiet and not very deep machine. The Max is
> really amped up! Noisy and deep.

Exactly. I have not used any of the AT machines but I did stay at a Holiday inn last night. It does remind me of the first edition t2 and f75. Sparky and a very very powerful all metal mode. But with one exception, it is alot easier to tame down than the t2 or f75. I seen a post where someone said he got a scratchy tone with 82-83 numbers but mostly jumpy and scratchy tones and dug it only to find a rusty nail. Yes with scratchy tones and jumping numbers then 99%of the time it will be junk. I have dug alot of junk just to test that theory. My whites we're bad for making me dig most everything also f75 falsed alot on rusty nails but with great sounding tones and decent numbers. I keep trying to force a bad Target to be a good one ...seems to me the ATMAX is more accurate as to what is in the ground.. my opinion in my Ohio dirt of course.. if had alot of detectors that have found a very deep Target or 2 and have posted about it.. but this ATMAX has found alot of very deep, I mean impressively deep goodies on a regular.. it's at least as deep as any of my F75's and maybe more so. I did some comparison with my detectors and very quickly traded them both so my nephew could get one... I use the stock coil, 5x8 and the nel thunder coils. But from my standpoint, it's as deep as the two detectors I had or deeper, with very accurate Id and power to spare in a water proof package. So far I like it.

I ventured out after the headphones had been on charge for 4hrs with the red light still on.
On site, soft moist earth with stubble I set up the AT Max.
It GB'd easily @ 84, I set a very slight Threshold, Custom mode with the Foil pixel notched back in, Iron Disc @ 23, Sens @ 7 (from 8)
At 8, it was mildly over sensitive with rapidly changing numbers and unsettled audio.
Popped the paired headphones on, reduced the Volume a bit (via the headphones) and it ran very smoothly.

As I walked, I heard the 'snap crackle & pop' of ferrous and it seemed to be very quick at processing the various bits from nails to larger bits.
It was so good and confident, I didn't feel that Iron Volume lent anything to the equation. I used it only twice on sounds that had a positive 'pop' and always circled the signal.
It was very fast at discing out the iron, faster and better than the AT Pro.
It's general operating sound is steady and absolutely stable.

Once adjusted to your height and with the coil perfectly flat to the surface swinging was a breeze with my arm strapped into the arm rest (strap just taut over a lite jacket sleeve) and I like the feel and angle of the new rubber hand grip. But I think those few people with overly 'LARGE' hands might think it a bit small?

A small coin hit well @ 59 and was full rich and tonal. Another signal was very unusual and if any of you have experienced this let me know. A non ferrous medium tone that changed in tone up ever so slightly and down again as I scanned in a circle? Target was a tiny sliver of aluminium or silver TID 49
Another larger signal was a flat square (postage stamp size) of bronze. I forget the TID number?

Back light was on now and it still just hummed along and was very pleasant to listen to with Threshold 'just on!'
It is heavier. More solid than the AT Pro. Why heavier? Bigger boards? Built in 'Z-Lynk?'

Absolutely not a squeak out of it with everything on including backlight with the 'AT Pro Pointer' on... AT Pro used to 'pip' when it was turned on.

It felt very intuitive but just remember to hit the 'Shift' button to make the adjustment you want.
Previous AT experience is an advantage and I loved the AT Pro when I tested it a year ago.

I think I'm going to like the Max a bit more?

Headphones are back on charge now to be ready for tomorrow.
I'm fooling around with a new GoPro attachment just to get steady screen shots that will accompany a second camera so I hope to have some decent video to put up by the weekend.

Des D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2017 08:45PM by Des D.

Max vs G2+
Nail Board and harm of discrimination.

[youtu.be]

To heavy for me but more depth!

Can't offer up any opinions...yet. I have one coming in on the afternoon train...lol.

Hunter GT was enjoying that way too much lol
Personally i couldn't run a detector with disc set like that, i much prefer a simple 2 tone and set the tone break to suit say the nail in the video, i need to hear the iron.
I'd guess the Max would be a deeper unit than the G2+ ???


vfp7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Max vs G2+
> Nail Board and harm of discrimination.
>
> [youtu.be]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/22/2017 01:39PM by ghound.

Ghound it's depending on soil conditions on which would have more depth the higher frequency machines in my dirt seems to go deeper than the lower frequency machines.

'Ghound, the G2+ can be quite deep in some instances!

It's capable of reaching to a depth of around 10 - 11 inches [ more often ] than the ATPro and ATMax can.

I'm surprised there's not more on here about the ATMax!

It's selling well and there should be way more reporting?"

ghound Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hunter GT was enjoying that way too much lol
> Personally i couldn't run a detector with disc set
> like that, i much prefer a simple 2 tone and set t
> he tone break to suit say the nail in the video, i
> need to hear the iron.
> I'd guess the Max would be a deeper unit than the
> G2+ ???
>
>
> vfp7 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Max vs G2+
> > Nail Board and harm of discrimination.
> >
> > [youtu.be]

lol...if you can't enjoy it why do it? n

AT Max is def deeper than a G2+ in soft soils...or an air test. In my old Colorado nasty soil the 19khz machines did better than most however.

Was a stuggle for a Deus to get past 5 inches....dug the coin live on video to prove it. Gold Bug Pro hit it no problem.

There are different ways to test and set it up.... just showing one popular way. Break the nails and then go.

Take all videos with a grain of salt. A mine full if need be. People find great stuff with a wide variety of detectors all the time. This is just my personal take on things...and I try to make that clear. Happy hunting.

My YouTube - [www.youtube.com]
Website - [www.thehuntergt.com]

Am coming up on 2 months with mine so far.

It is the machine that I love to hate.

It air tests scary...and I know in good to mild ground it will retain a lot of that air test depth.

BUT

And it's a big butt....normally I like big butts but this is the exception. Hahah

But....once it gets in mineral, that depth gets severely cut down. And I mean severely. More than most other machines for some reason. In this regard, it reminds me a lot of the Nokta Relic...it also air tested very well but did not do so well in the ground here, and in that regard, done the same thing as the AT Max does....things like bullets, coins, buttons beyond a certain depth will hit hard into the iron range. In this video I have the bigger coil on but what you are hearing in it, is a bullet at the fringe of going into the iron range. If this would have been the stock coil, that bullet would have been a total iron signal. The bigger coil let it come through with a stronger signal.

[youtu.be]

In the last couple weeks, I have got a newer machine in my arsenal...a newer T2 Special Edition. This one does have the DST feature BUT it does not act like any of the other DST models I have used. The others were neutered....would only hit a Civil War minie ball out to around 11 inches in an air test in disc mode. This one will go to 13.5 in air with the stock coil and 2 tone. If I put it in boost mode, that jumps out to nearly 16 inches. I have a very good one and it has been running circles around that AT MAX in the relic fields and woods.

If any of ya'll are interested in the Max, mine is for sale. Comes with stock coil, wireless headphones, blue waterproof headphones, and a like new Cors Strike 12x13 coil.

Will sell it all for $600 or just the detector itself with wireless headphones (minus the waterproof ones and the extra coil) for $500. I've gotta get the wife a new 88 key keyboard for Christmas and that will help me get one for her.

Thanks for the info Daniel, very interesting results.


Daniel Tn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Am coming up on 2 months with mine so far.
>
> It is the machine that I love to hate.
>
> It air tests scary...and I know in good to mild gr
> ound it will retain a lot of that air test depth.
>
> BUT
>
> And it's a big butt....normally I like big butts b
> ut this is the exception. Hahah
>
> But....once it gets in mineral, that depth gets se
> verely cut down. And I mean severely. More than
> most other machines for some reason. In this rega
> rd, it reminds me a lot of the Nokta Relic...it al
> so air tested very well but did not do so well in
> the ground here, and in that regard, done the same
> thing as the AT Max does....things like bullets, c
> oins, buttons beyond a certain depth will hit hard
> into the iron range. In this video I have the big
> ger coil on but what you are hearing in it, is a b
> ullet at the fringe of going into the iron range.
> If this would have been the stock coil, that bulle
> t would have been a total iron signal. The bigger
> coil let it come through with a stronger signal.
>
> [youtu.be]
>
> In the last couple weeks, I have got a newer machi
> ne in my arsenal...a newer T2 Special Edition. Thi
> s one does have the DST feature BUT it does not ac
> t like any of the other DST models I have used. T
> he others were neutered....would only hit a Civil
> War minie ball out to around 11 inches in an air t
> est in disc mode. This one will go to 13.5 in air
> with the stock coil and 2 tone. If I put it in bo
> ost mode, that jumps out to nearly 16 inches. I h
> ave a very good one and it has been running circle
> s around that AT MAX in the relic fields and woods
> .
>
> If any of ya'll are interested in the Max, mine is
> for sale. Comes with stock coil, wireless headpho
> nes, blue waterproof headphones, and a like new Co
> rs Strike 12x13 coil.
>
> Will sell it all for $600 or just the detector its
> elf with wireless headphones (minus the waterproof
> ones and the extra coil) for $500. I've gotta get
> the wife a new 88 key keyboard for Christmas and t
> hat will help me get one for her.

Nice report on the Max Daniel. I know you like the Hoover Boys videos. They are Max crazy. Well they are even on the box. In their milder dirt they make that Max look good with their third party large coils. I liked the AT Pro in the iron, but hated the depth. People claim the Max is deeper. In my personal opinion Garrett is going to lose out to the new Minelab because of the multi frequency thing. They could have beaten everyone to the punch but decided to stick with pretty much a Pro on steroids from the way people describe it. Salt water hunters are going to make Minelab rich. Well until Nokta/Makro come out with their version. But that Minelab price will be hard to beat. Something I never thought I would say. I'll wait until Spring before hopping on a new detector. By then new models and reports should be out.

No plans to get At Max.

Actually kinda dissapointing with seeing just how little Garrett moved the goal posts with the years since the At Pro was released.

I mean Makro could have took the At Pro and turned it into a Max it seems in about 6 months.

And had it ready for folks to buy.

The Max is for sure deeper than the AT Pro. That's why I said if a person liked the Pro, they will also like or love the Max. The Max is probably what the Pro should have originally been, if that makes sense. I like the bigger number readout but wish they would have gone with a different housing all together. The little icons are still hard to see on the display. The coil and headphone connection points are still a PIA to get to and makes it tough to quickly swap out coils. The audio is still deafening while using the underwater headphones though; even with a volume control on the detector now. The setting of 1 on volume control is roughly equivalent to the AT Pro's volume, which was enough to cause hearing loss with those blue headphones. I had to wear rollup ear plugs with the AT Pro and would have to with the AT Max, unless using a different pair of headphones. With that said, I think the Max is somewhere closer to the depth of the AT Gold than it is the AT Pro.

Speaking of the Hoover Boys, I have been giving them down the road about not using the Max a lot in their videos. Kurt always uses it, and Bob started out using it but then went back to his AT Pro, but he does flip flop back and forth in some videos...the same with Leo and Bill, although Bill doesn't find a whole lot compared to the other guys. Brad made the cover of the box and is all in their marketing brochure but he went back to his F75 really quick and went right back to spanking them all with finds. I think the only reason he was using the Max in the latest video was partially due to me ragging on them about their poster boy being on the AT Max box and not even using the Max in their videos. Kurt responded to it and said they were under no contract or obligation to use Garrett machines exclusively and could use whatever they wanted. I responded and said that it really didn't matter whether he was obligated or not, that when people see Brad on the box and all through the brochures, then see him not even using the Max in the videos, that it speaks a lot without them having to say a word. And it really does.

Daniel, what are the typical Max ground balance #s in your soil?

Marcomo -- It has a wide range that it does. From points 75 and up, it goes into a finer range of numbers to allow for more precise balance. Instead of whole numbers, it goes into . numbers....like 89.8 or 89.1. Then, if you auto balance, it does a GB window range to help compensate if it thinks the ground is severe enough that it changes a lot....it will auto widen or shrink the window. With that said, my good ground balances in the 89 range with a narrow GB width. On the T2, this will be 2 bar ground. In my bad ground, the Max balances in the low 90s but has a really high (wide) GB window...usually around 88 in the width window....and on the T2, will be 3 and 4 bar dirt. I'm not too sure the Max is accurate with this though...cause I have been in some ground that balanced at 90 on the Max that was still 2 bar dirt on the T2, and both machines could still detect accurately in the ground, even getting a 10 inch dime with somewhat steady ID. Whereas the dirt that it balances at 90, but the T2 says is 3 or 4 bar...both machines suffer in ID and they begin reading things as iron at just 5 to 6 inches.

Meaning that just because the Max says it is 90 GB, does not mean the dirt is severely mineralized.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2017 04:53PM by Daniel Tn.

Thanks, Daniel. Even your good ground sounds like fairly bad ground.

Here is a new video that my wife and I did today (Friday). We had some time to kill and I wanted to go dig so I talked her into coming with me. It features the T2, AT Max, and CTX 3030. We dug a few more bullets but I thought the video was long enough as it was, and kind of redundant. The good news is, I have permission for 2 new farms that I have never detected and have high potential to produce some relics besides shot bullets. I hope this is going to be a good year for relics.

[youtu.be]