WM 08 Module gotta laugh or cry

nagant

Hero Member
Apr 21, 2017
765
932
iowa
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Golden micromax, compadre. ML EQ 800
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All Treasure Hunting
i was looking at dealer sites and this thing goes for $259. the only time i looked at mine was to get the serial no. for the warranty. I mean once you put a blutooth button on it would seem a little silly. I know you can use your favorite phones with them but get over it, your still on a cord but subject to the same lag time (unperceivable to me). $259, boy i bet dealers cant wait for us to trade them in for a coil. Maybe a coil cover and a tee shirt. Minelab should also sell the detector plain with coil choice or a 2 coil bundle. Meanwhile my WM08 has lots of leg room in that box in the closet.
 

AurumHunter024

Jr. Member
May 10, 2018
72
63
CO, 4 corners
Detector(s) used
ML Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I totally feel ya on this issue...

However, If you can sell the WM08 module, the detector cost is almost the same as the 600.

I've no use, what so ever, for the WM08 module!
 

vferrari

Silver Member
Jul 19, 2015
4,910
8,376
Near Ground Zero for Insanity
Detector(s) used
XP Deus with HF/x35 Coils and Mi6 Pinpointer/ML Equinox 600/800/ML Tarsacci MDT 8000 GPX 4800/Garrett ATX/Fisher F75 DST/Tek G2+/Delta/Whites MXT/Nokta Simplex/Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
If you want to use your own headphones "wirelessly" then just pick up a BT APTX LL transmitter/receiver module (about $30 US) and the appropriate adapter (these modules usually have a small 1/8" jack) and you have a much more compact and flexible alternative to the WM08 that performs just as well, plus you can plug the module into another detector and use your ML BT wireless phones (or 3rd Party BT phones) on another detector. That is what I do with my GPX. The WM08 does have one redeeming feature other than its resale value - it uses the same proprietary charging cord as the detector - which means that if you hang on to the WM08, you at least have a spare charging cable if you lose or break the original one, otherwise you are up the creek until you can get a replacement.
 

Whyme

Silver Member
Aug 22, 2007
3,731
5,451
Western New York
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CTX-3030, Equinox 800
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All Treasure Hunting
I use and love the WM08. I couldn't use my Gray Ghost Rattler headphone without the WM08!
 

pulltabfelix

Bronze Member
Jan 29, 2018
1,006
1,624
North Atlanta
Detector(s) used
Currently have CTX3030 and Vanquish 440.
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
I bought old used Telex headphones to use with my wm-08 on my 800 on eBay for $6.00. I still had to shell out $42 for the 1/4 phone plug to 1/8" adapter to keep everything water proof. Now I have about 10 feet of cord I have to tuck in my pocket to keep it out of the way when hunting on land and when wading in water I have the wm-08 pinned to my shirt collar. My big beef is with the ML-80 wireless headphones. The audio frequency range of these headphones seems to be way biased toward the lower bass frequency. They Sound like an audio system with the treble turned all the way off and the bass turned all the way up. I am not interested in hearing all signals sound like iron or mid tones. thus I bought the used telex earphones that have nice crisp high tones. So I guess we all do work arounds for the minelab goofs or short cuts to get what we want. If minelab had a good purpose for the audio quality of the ML-80 I would like to know what it was.
 

tcornel

Sr. Member
Aug 11, 2011
454
643
NE Ohio
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030, 17" & 6" coils, Equinox 800, Propointer AT, Stealth 920i, Lesche Sampson and digger.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I went to the WM-08 setup to get rid of the lag on the Minelab supplied headphones. Still the WM-08 is pretty inconvenient because it, for me, has to attached to the front and not on the rear belt. It loses its signal when attached to the my belt in the back. When attached to the front I have to watch out for cell phone interference.

No matter because the 800 is now relegated to backup duty to the 3030. It is a nice machine for the money but cannot match its big brother.

I really don't understand why they did not just use the WM-10 module. I can receive the detector signal on that one from 20 feet away!
 

sprailroad

Silver Member
Jan 19, 2017
2,577
3,980
Grants Pass, Oregon
Detector(s) used
Garrett A3B United States Gold Hunter, GTA 1000, AT Pro, Discovery Treasure Baron "Gold Trax", Minelab X-Terra 70, Safari, & EQ 800, & Nokta Marko Legend. EQ 900.
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All Treasure Hunting
$259 for the WM08 is a bit steep. When I was looking at the EQ's, I felt I NEEDED that thing, because I wanted to use my favorite headphones, well...….I will admit, I REALLY like the wireless, for 30 years I've always been "wired" to the detector. I used the WM one time, worked fine, but it is stored away. I did buy a pair of "backup" wireless phones, just in case I somehow lost or crunched the ones that came with the 800. So I look at it this way, for the $250 difference, I do have a prospecting mode, and for whatever reason, I can go single Freq. in 20 or 40, and I do have advanced options if I so choose, so I'm OK with it. I have a friend who bought the 600, and the phones that came with it are a piece of junk. I did buy him a set of wireless phones, and he is now one happy camper. All in all, these EQ's are quite a dandy machine. And V is right, I do have a extra charging cable that can be plugged into a car adapter and charged while driving IF I should ever need to.
 

vferrari

Silver Member
Jul 19, 2015
4,910
8,376
Near Ground Zero for Insanity
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XP Deus with HF/x35 Coils and Mi6 Pinpointer/ML Equinox 600/800/ML Tarsacci MDT 8000 GPX 4800/Garrett ATX/Fisher F75 DST/Tek G2+/Delta/Whites MXT/Nokta Simplex/Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I went to the WM-08 setup to get rid of the lag on the Minelab supplied headphones. Still the WM-08 is pretty inconvenient because it, for me, has to attached to the front and not on the rear belt. It loses its signal when attached to the my belt in the back. When attached to the front I have to watch out for cell phone interference.

No matter because the 800 is now relegated to backup duty to the 3030. It is a nice machine for the money but cannot match its big brother.

I really don't understand why they did not just use the WM-10 module. I can receive the detector signal on that one from 20 feet away!

I know the CTX ID's deep silver better than the Equinox and has better visual ID (but I hunt more by tone) so if you are primarily a silver seeker in ideal trash conditions I get it. What else have you found the CTX does better? The Equinox with its lower weight, higher recovery speed, better mid-conductor performance would have me using it as my primary all around machine and the CTX as the backup for deep silver ops. Also, I am seeing a number of new Equinox users who are selling off their CTX machines in the various classifieds, which is actually a little surprising.

ML sure loves to make incompatible wireless systems. The WM08 and WM10 you mentioned plus their Pro-Sonic Wireless system that includes a transmitter and receiver for $10 - $20 more than the WM08 or WM10, but is incompatible with either. Don't know how ML sells any audio accessories at those prices.
 

tcornel

Sr. Member
Aug 11, 2011
454
643
NE Ohio
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030, 17" & 6" coils, Equinox 800, Propointer AT, Stealth 920i, Lesche Sampson and digger.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I like the CTX better for target ID at all depths, iron presence on the screen with accept and reject symbols, better depth, ease of charging the battery and remote. The ability to show 2 targets at the same time. One charging plug on the CTX as opposed to 3 on the Equinox if using their bluetooth headphones. The Equinox has faster recovery times but it is diminished if you lower recovery speed to gain deeper targets. More durable shaft and parts which comes into play in the water. It is heavier, of course, but I use a detecting buddy and that negates the weight difference.

I use 5 tones on both. With the Equinox I am never very certain what I am digging as target ID's seem to be all over the place. So it is more like OK....non ferrous target so dig it. I like being able to have a good idea of what I am digging (or not digging) especially as the day goes on and I want to be more picky in my targets.

I plan on using the Equinox in iron infested sites and/or at the beach (dig everything environment).

I think the primary reason some people are selling off the CTX is the weight difference or quite possibly the Equinox is an easier machine to use.

I know the CTX ID's deep silver better than the Equinox and has better visual ID (but I hunt more by tone) so if you are primarily a silver seeker in ideal trash conditions I get it. What else have you found the CTX does better? The Equinox with its lower weight, higher recovery speed, better mid-conductor performance would have me using it as my primary all around machine and the CTX as the backup for deep silver ops. Also, I am seeing a number of new Equinox users who are selling off their CTX machines in the various classifieds, which is actually a little surprising.

ML sure loves to make incompatible wireless systems. The WM08 and WM10 you mentioned plus their Pro-Sonic Wireless system that includes a transmitter and receiver for $10 - $20 more than the WM08 or WM10, but is incompatible with either. Don't know how ML sells any audio accessories at those prices.
 

Echoplex

Sr. Member
Feb 28, 2015
391
1,009
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800, MXT All Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I sold my module on eBay for $179 when they first announced the new price a few months ago. Not bad. Made my 800 much cheaper. The "used" price has gone down, but still worth selling if you don't foresee ever using the module.
 

choppadude

Hero Member
Dec 23, 2012
557
430
Twin Tiers NY
Detector(s) used
XP Deus X2, CTX 3030, E Trac, T2, AT Pro, AKA Sorex, Makro Kruzer, Minelab GP3500, Nokta Impact
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I paid $80 for a WM08 that someone never used and then bought a set of Miccus SR71 headphones new for $65 so now my EQ600 is set up just like my EQ800
 

vferrari

Silver Member
Jul 19, 2015
4,910
8,376
Near Ground Zero for Insanity
Detector(s) used
XP Deus with HF/x35 Coils and Mi6 Pinpointer/ML Equinox 600/800/ML Tarsacci MDT 8000 GPX 4800/Garrett ATX/Fisher F75 DST/Tek G2+/Delta/Whites MXT/Nokta Simplex/Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I paid $80 for a WM08 that someone never used and then bought a set of Miccus SR71 headphones new for $65 so now my EQ600 is set up just like my EQ800

Good to have spares, but if you already had the 800 accessories, why didn't you just use those with the 600? You can even set up the included headphones to pair with both the 600 and the 800 depending on which machine is turned on at the time.
 

TomNWMI

Full Member
Feb 5, 2006
201
103
NWMI
Detector(s) used
X-Terra 705, Equinox 800, Musketeer, Tek G2, Omega and a Fisher ID Edge
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I bought old used Telex headphones to use with my wm-08 on my 800 on eBay for $6.00. I still had to shell out $42 for the 1/4 phone plug to 1/8" adapter to keep everything water proof. Now I have about 10 feet of cord I have to tuck in my pocket to keep it out of the way when hunting on land and when wading in water I have the wm-08 pinned to my shirt collar. My big beef is with the ML-80 wireless headphones. The audio frequency range of these headphones seems to be way biased toward the lower bass frequency. They Sound like an audio system with the treble turned all the way off and the bass turned all the way up. I am not interested in hearing all signals sound like iron or mid tones. thus I bought the used telex earphones that have nice crisp high tones. So I guess we all do work arounds for the minelab goofs or short cuts to get what we want. If minelab had a good purpose for the audio quality of the ML-80 I would like to know what it was.

I tried using the headphones to listen to TV with the Roku app and my DVR with the Android app.... nearly unintelligible. LOL However I do like them with the 800 and use them occasionally on hunts.
 

choppadude

Hero Member
Dec 23, 2012
557
430
Twin Tiers NY
Detector(s) used
XP Deus X2, CTX 3030, E Trac, T2, AT Pro, AKA Sorex, Makro Kruzer, Minelab GP3500, Nokta Impact
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Good to have spares, but if you already had the 800 accessories, why didn't you just use those with the 600? You can even set up the included headphones to pair with both the 600 and the 800 depending on which machine is turned on at the time.

I wanted 2 complete units because my son detects with me sometimes so we can both run Equinoxes. I have cross paired headphones before when I left the headphones to the EQ800 at home so I paired the Miccus HP to the 800 and then repaired to the originals when I got home. I have also paired the wireless phones to my I Phone to receive calls while out in the field.
 

vferrari

Silver Member
Jul 19, 2015
4,910
8,376
Near Ground Zero for Insanity
Detector(s) used
XP Deus with HF/x35 Coils and Mi6 Pinpointer/ML Equinox 600/800/ML Tarsacci MDT 8000 GPX 4800/Garrett ATX/Fisher F75 DST/Tek G2+/Delta/Whites MXT/Nokta Simplex/Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Makes sense. I should have thought of that. Def getting clone h/p or a used WM08 or even a bluetooth APTX LL transceiver are the way to go versus getting the ML accessories at the ridiculous list price.
 

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