As already mentioned, the AT Pro is water proof. The ACE Series are not. The AT Pro has modulated audio, the ACE does not. A lot of hunters prefer the modulated audio, as the deeper the target, the weaker the signal. With the ACE, the weak signals are amplified giving them the the same level of audio. Modulated audio allows the hunter to gauge the depth of a target based on it's audio. With the ACE, you have to do a visual check to see what the depth is. I have many hours on both detectors. They both can get good depth, same size coil comparison. Both are sensitive to tiny targets. The ACE will false a little more when touching twigs during the coil swing, and the swing speed is a little slower on the ACE 400, but both of those issues are minor and don't prevent you from getting good targets. The AT Pro is a little more accurate with IDing targets, both shallow and at limited depth. The ACE 400 will read common clad a number or two higher beyond 3 inches, but learning this allows the user to get a fairly accurate guess on a probable target. Both detectors, once properly learned, will find you a lot of coins, jewelry and relics in a variety of places. And using the notching system on both models will
not give you less depth like the discrimination knobs do on other makes of detectors. On Garrett's, when removing the different notches, you just lose the audio for that specific notch. On the rotary types on other makes, you lose increasing amounts of depth as you further advance turning the knob to discriminate more targets.
So, be careful when someone tells you a different metal detector is deeper. There are so many variables which can affect the depth of a machine such as settings, coil size, coil type, environment, operating frequency, size of target, conductivity, and user's skill . There are many more. Depth should not be the number one reason for getting a detector. If you truly want depth, get a Pulse Induction detector which will surpass all other detectors in depth, especially in extremely high mineralized soils. But....you lose discrimination abilities which most of us desire.
Below are the features of both the AT Series and ACE Series for comparison purposes. Hope this helps and gives you a better understanding on the two models...AT and ACE detectors.
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