First Impression: SE vs DFX

[Digger]

Well I got my SE and did some hunting. Although I don't have enough time on the SE to give a good comparison to the DFX as far as a toe to toe, and I can give my first impressions.

Putting it together: It took all of 10 minutes to put it together out of the box. Everything seemed to fit good and tight and I had no problems with it(shaft) being loose as some had mentioned. Maybe in time it may change but at this point I'm very happy with it's construction. So ends my first concern.

Air Test: With the "factory settings" the air tests were just like the DFX. Same depth same signal strength. No surprises.

Test Garden: My test garden is about 2 years old and consists of 2 areas. Area 1 has a penny, nickle, dime and quarter at 4-5" and the other has the same at 7-8". The SE had no problems finding all targets from 4-5" but found none of the targets in the 7-8" garden. Not surprising since my test garden seems to have very bad ground. The SE performed pretty much as good as my DFX in the test garden. Strange as it may be the detectors that have preformed best in my test garden are Garrett's. In my test garden the ACE 250 did better than both my DFX and SE. I think the key here is being able to maintain a stable threshold. The SE would not maintain a stable threshold no matter how many times I noise canceled. The only time I had a threshold was when the coil was not in motion at all. The Garrett's seem to keep a solid threshold in any conditions.

First Hunt: We took the new SE to a new site which was a 3 block long area where the old building had been bulldozed. This was a big mistake, and I knew better, but my thoughts were I know enough about detectors to take a new detector anywhere. I was wrong when it comes to the SE. The tones were far too confusing as was the visual information in such a trashy site. I can say the SE is a beer can magnet. As my hunting buddies found possible good targets they would have me check them so I could better understand what my new detector was saying. All I could tell them was it sounded like a beer can. Most of these cans had been plowed into different sizes so they were all over my ID(Smartfind). Most of them read just like a penny. In all honesty I feel my DFX handles trashy areas such as this better. Mainly due to it's better visual ID'ing. With time this may change.

Second Hunt: I talked my buddies into going somewhere less challenging to test the SE. I needed a place where the trash was more predictable, and less abundant, and more coins were likely. We chose a school that we have hunted many times before with some luck. I found a 1903 Indian Head here with my DFX about a month ago. Things went much better. I could actually hear a threshold part of the time and was finally finding coins. At this site my understanding of the SE took a giant leap forward. Several times when my buddies had me check a signal I was actually able to give a better guess on the targets ID then they did. While I didn't find any old coins I was impressed with several finds. First was a signal that sound solid and my guess from the *cough* depth reading was 7". Roughly at this depth I dug a musket ball. The very next target, at roughly 6" was an old rim-fire 45 caliber shell like the ones we find at Fort Dodge. Makes me think this SE could be a relic monster.

Conclusion: I know I don't have enough time in the SE yet to make a full analysis, but I do think I can give a good "first time users" analysis. In my opinion the SE is not for the beginner unless an experienced SE users helps. I have no doubt the DFX is a more new user friendly detector. Pinpointing with the SE was right on the money as is the DFX. Depth was on par with the DFX, but the SE's *cough* depth meter leaves much to be desired. Actually I found the visual ID(SmartFind) pretty useless for the first time user. I saw no consistency in the visual information of the SE compared to the DFX. I hope in time this will change, but for the new user, visual information is far more useful than tone. As someone new to a detector I think the DFX wins hands-down when It comes to visual ID'ing. I now understand why SE users say it's all about learning the tone, because the visual information, at this point, is useless.

You hear people talk about the SE's weight as a problem. I can now say I know where they are coming from. After 4 hours of swing the SE both my arms are shot. Where the heck does all that weight come from? My DFX has 8 AA batteries and is built of metal but I can still swing it all day. The SE is built mostly of plastics but feels like swing a brick. After soaking my body in ointment last night I feel I will be able to do some more swing today, but my time is going to be limited this time around. I plan to take the SE to the best test site we have today where I plan to put the SE's "famed depth" to the test. I've cleaned this park with my DFX so now I'll see if the SE can pull the really deep stuff I know is still there.

All in all my first impression is the SE is on par as a top of the line detector. In time I'm sure I will understand the SE much better, but at this point I would say the DFX, for me, is the better detector. Now with that being said, the SE does show promise as a much better relic detector than my DFX. One thing I was a bit disappointed in was I saw a small 22 caliber shell on top the ground that the SE wouldn't pick up. I dig bunches of these with my DFX and they sound good and solid. I expected the SE to be more sensitive to these smaller targets.

Here is my take for the day:

 

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[madmacabre]

I really enjoyed this I don't know why anyone didn't comment.

Thanks for the review

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

I really enjoyed this I don't know why anyone didn't comment.

Thanks for the review

Reviews after one or two uses are usually taken with a grain of salt ....thus the reason for no responses... The visual id on the Se is dead on...depth easily can hit ten inches...no one answered because these are general comments after two times out. Just look at the difference in the first hunt comments and the second day comments...Wait till after 100-200 hours... I remember turning on both my dfx and se for the first few hunts... Writing a review and reading it a few months later gives you the chance to go back and see how much you have learned...

 

[Digger]

I agree Gregg, thats why I chose the subject of first impression. It's more a reference to the dreaded "learning curve" associated with both the DFX and SE. I've never understood the feared learning curve as both of these detectors can be pretty much turn-on-and-go detectors, although I think the DFX would be easier for a novice. But I'm sure having 30 years of metal detecting helps in this area.

After roughly 40 hours of intense side by side comparing I feel pretty confident in my ability with the SE. While I still give a slight edge to the SE when it comes to deep silver, overall the DFX, for me, is the more solid performer. I purchased a 6x10 DD coil for my DFX and it performed as expected. Both detectors seem to have the same depth capabilities here in Kansas, with a slight advantage to the DFX when it comes to the lower conductive targets such as gold. For me 9-10" seems to be the maximum depth on both detectors where you can somewhat reliably identify a good target.

Unfortunately, In my younger years I worked construction that haunts me today with a bad back. After an hour with the SE and I'm out of commission. I have chosen to stick with the DFX and sell the SE.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

I agree Gregg, thats why I chose the subject of first impression. It's more a reference to the dreaded "learning curve" associated with both the DFX and SE. I've never understood the feared learning curve as both of these detectors can be pretty much turn-on-and-go detectors, although I think the DFX would be easier for a novice. But I'm sure having 30 years of metal detecting helps in this area.

After roughly 40 hours of intense side by side comparing I feel pretty confident in my ability with the SE. While I still give a slight edge to the SE when it comes to deep silver, overall the DFX, for me, is the more solid performer. I purchased a 6x10 DD coil for my DFX and it performed as expected. Both detectors seem to have the same depth capabilities here in Kansas, with a slight advantage to the DFX when it comes to the lower conductive targets such as gold. For me 9-10" seems to be the maximum depth on both detectors where you can somewhat reliably identify a good target.

Unfortunately, In my younger years I worked construction that haunts me today with a bad back. After an hour with the SE and I'm out of commission. I have chosen to stick with the DFX and sell the SE. quote]









Digger...It is odd for me because I realize it is all in the balancing. Weight wise I believe the difference is not more than 4-5 ounces... I really enjoy mixing the two together...gives me a break from the same tones... I do agree up to now thr dfx seems to sniff out more jewelry... I am still having trouble even separating any gold responses on the Se. But for stability and depth the Se is working better for me here.

Dfx gets me around 7-8 inches max... The Se over 10 inches. I agree the dfx is probably easier to use as long as you understand the pinpointing and take advantage of the depth reading... I like the Se id because it does not bounce around as much as the dfx... I am talking about the digital display...it locks on..where as the dfx bounces around...I think this is what is confusing so many new dfx users... I used to go with the oh there is probably more than one target in the area theory...not anymore... not after the way the Se locks on and gives a consistent reading...

But if you sell your Se hopefully you get a good return on it... They usually sell very fast...good luck... I find the dfx sweeps clean the tot lots and areas I know the clad spills are at... Then pull out the Se for the slow deeper hunting...that works for me.... maybe a swingy thingy would help... I use a homemade version with a travel strap and a bungee...Gregg

 

[Iron Patch]

I really enjoyed this I don't know why anyone didn't comment.

Thanks for the review

Being someone that has used Explorers for a long time and understanding what it takes to get the most out of them, testing and opinions based on only a couple hunts does as much to mislead as help. In my opinion testing under those circumstances is only of interest to someone thinking about making a purchase and wondering about how their experience will be out of the blocks.

 

[Digger]

Again Iron Patch, that is why the subject of this thread is "First Impression."

I'll be the first to say I'm no expert with the SE, but I'm far from being inexperienced, and far from "a couple of hunts." I do know how to put a new detector to the test. I'm not saying that in time I wouldn't have gotten more depth, but I honestly doubt it would have been much more if any. From what I've read from other users the 10" I was getting from the SE is about as deep as I could expect in my conditions.

The SE without a doubt is as deep as any detector I've ever used. With sensitivity at max I was digging signals that were little more than a whimper, and the depth of those whimpers was from 9-10". I'm confident that there was little more I could do to enhance those signals more. Lord knows I tried and was really hoping the SE would get me that extra depth to get those really deep ones. The issues I had with the SE was not it's operation or depth, but it's weight & balance.

My first hunt was 5 hours and the second was 3 hours, after that I had to limit my hunts to an hour or so because of my back. I hunted virtually every day for at least an hour. For me in my conditions, I just didn't see enough added depth over the DFX to justify only being able to hunt for an hour at a time. If I were 20 years younger I would have continued to use the SE.

I have a standing invitation to anyone who would like to put their detector and skills to the test and happen to be traveling through Dodge City. I know the coins are there for the person and detector capable of getting deeper than 10".

Again, the SE is as good as they get in my opinion, but if I can't hunt more than an hour at a time It's not the detector for me. IF I was getting a lot more depth with the SE over the DFX, than I'd be happy limiting my hunting to an hour, but in my conditions that just wasn't the case.

I don't think my opinion would be "misleading" except in people new to the SE thinking they will get 10" from the SE right off the bat. To be perfectly honest, with current detector technology, I really believe 10", in this park, is as deep as any detector will get.