Reviews of Golden Mask5+SE vs. Golden Mask5 a 5+

There are a number of searchers who do not give up on the brand Golden Mask and were terribly curious about the results and progress of testing the new GM5+ and GM5+SE.As I am a big fan of this brand myself I was happy to take the opportunity to test it.The most frequent question is how the newer version is better and what is the shift in the depth of detection and overall calming of the detector.

First impressions

As far as the Shaft is concerned, it has been on the market for quite some time and there is not much to complain about.Tough, lightweight and perfectly adjustable to the desired size.A small complaint is the locks,which are not glued very well and sometimes they come loose from the detector rod when tightening.The electronics box itself has been modified and its appearance is more coherent and without overlapping edges, which will be appreciated by searchers especially during maintenance and cleaning.It also has to be praised for better sealing,or the removal of a minor annoyance in the form of fogging of the display in direct sunlight.With GM5+SE everything was in the best order.

Comparison of the new and older versions. Golden Mask GM5Finder was very unstable and suffered from ringing. Of course, if the finder had logged many hours with it, he already knew how to use it and tune it in the best possible way. However, if he got into a busy area, he didn't have many options and usually had no choice but to leave the place. The new GM5 plusko was much better and the latest 5+SE model is faultless thanks to the new Etrim amps. The detector also tolerates well setting to the upper limit of the maximum setting without losing stability and search comfort.

FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES
Frequency: 8-18Khz
Disk Mode-Disk Level
GB:Manual-semi-automatic
PWR:Gain-Thr-PBox
Sound:Volume-Tone-i Vol.
ON-OFF-Detector backlight+screen brightness change.

DESCRIPTION OF ADVANCEDDETECTOR FEATURES

The frequency selection option was already present in the older models.The biggest change was in the channel selection option.This was expanded from the original two for each frequency to nine for each frequency.This is a significant change that allows you to find the least cluttered frequency, making the search more relaxed and enjoyable.

Additional features Disk Mode+Disk Level.
Disk Mode has remained unchanged in all versions and allows All Metal/2 tone/1 tone settings with discrimination.
The Disk Level function has been replaced by Disk Depth.This is probably the biggest unknown of this detector and is the target of frequent inquiries from searchers.
Disk Depth is a function that greatly affects the depth and discrimination of a search.The settings are 0-15.
The lower the number,the more discrimination occurs directly under the coil but all deep targets are correctly detected.
From my own experience I can recommend a couple of settings:

Field with slightmetallic debris infestation.Settings Disk Depth 7-8,Frequency 18Khz,Gain 1-2(depending on mineralization)Thr 25-29,Disk Mode BI-Tonal,Power Box-High,Iron volume-5,Target ID -16.If the field is heavily infested with metallic debris I choose Thr23-25,Mono Tone,Target ID-0,Iron volume -2,Small metallic targets and small foils are completely masked and the larger ones echo a choppy irregular sound sent by the Iron volume function in the background.The search engine is not overwhelmed by the constant grumbling of the iron in this setting and after a while it can quickly distinguish the desired target stored among the metallic waste without any problem.

Forest+archeo.sites.
These two destinations are mainly characterized by deeper stored targets and therefore require different settings for the Disk Depth function.
Disk Depth 0-8,Frequency 8Khz,Gain 2,Thr 25-30,Disk Mode BI-Tonal,Power Box High,Iron volume 4-5,Target ID-0.In this setting the detector is slower but combined with a larger coil it gains in depth and proper identification of deep targets.In case of higher mineralization, I recommend to lower the Power Box to Medium or Low.

Swimming and Beach Search.
These are usually sites with a lot of modern trash but also coins and small jewelry.
Disk Dept 8-15,Frequency 18Khz,Gain 1-2(depending on mineralization)Thr 25-30,Disk Mode BI-Tonal,Power Box High,Iron volume 3-5,Target ID 16.With this setting the detector is not that deep but gains in speed and more accurate target evaluation.Target ID at 16 causes complete rejection of foil and small foil,which is most commonly reportedin the 10-15 range, but small silver jewelry will be detected from about 21 and up.However, this setting discriminates against the smallest gold objects!Therefore, if you suspect that there might be small Au items in the area (children's sandboxes, volleyball courts), select Target ID setting to 7.Small gold is most often reported as ID 8-9.

GB-Ground Balance.
This feature is fully retained as in the older version and the detector can be tuned in semi-automatic or manual mode.A small modification has been made in the scale where the old version had the option of setting 0-199.The new Gm5+ a5+Se has a scale in the range 0-250.Setting it in semi-automatic is annoyingly tedious but again very accurate. In normal mineralization I have tuned in the 70-105 range.Since manual tuning seems to me to be faster and even keeping the same values as in semi-auto,I usually choose the second way.

PWR-Gain-Thr-PBox

Gain:This is the sensitivity.On the GM5, only the sensitivity was located below this button,which had to be lowered considerably most of the time,because at higher settings the detector was uneasy and prone to crosstalk. Thanks to the new amplifiers with which the GM5+Se is equipped, it is possible to adjust the sensitivity up to the upper limit.In general, however, the greater the amount of waste, the lower the value.

THR

Threshold tone.A function that allows you to get a response at the limit of the range.The same applies as with Gain.A lot of waste lower value,forest with a small amount of targets and waste the possibility of setting 27-30.In combination with All Metal you get an excellent depth range.

PBox

Power Box:Not much to write home about.Increases depth range by up to 20%.I have not encountered heavily mineralized soil in my testing so I almost always use the HIGH setting.

SOUND-Volume-tone-i vol.

The volume is very nicely adjustable even without headphones.The function-tone allows you to adjust the height of iron,non-ferrous targets and All metal.I preferred the standard setting like probably a substantial majority of searchers and that is low tone for iron,high for non-ferrous and All metal.However, the tone distribution is not that marked and if someone is switching from a GM4Pro WD or Zera1 and Zera2 two it can bemay be disappointed with the tone settings they are used to from previous detectors.However, there is a new feature here and that is I volume which allows you to turn down the volume of the iron to accentuate the desired targets.This feature is described very nicely in a video on LP in a post on the New LP Zero2.I highly recommend watching it.

ON-OFF

Of course it turns the detector on and off.However, this button has taken over the function of turning on the backlight and also adjusting the brightness.The illumination is precise and even with the possibility of not being able to change the intensity , it does not dazzle and is very nice to see.The brightness setting seems to me to be unnecessary and I have already encountered several queries,that the detector suddenly stopped showing when searching and the VDI spectrum function is not working.It has never been a fault but merely a misunderstanding of the three second limit designed for contrast adjustment.In such a case, all you have to do is briefly press the backlight off and then on again and within the three second limit, use the +- button to adjust the contrast to the desired position.The older GM5 had this function under the Disk Level button!

A small pause above thedisplay

If I ignore the change in the shape of the electronics box, I would appreciate the modification of the display, which in the GM5+ and GM5+SE versions distinguishes not only the VDI spectrum which is a graphic representation of the target but also the Target ID which is an identification number assigned to a target of a certain conductivity.This number is very useful and in the case of GM5+SE very accurate.Also, the quick setup of the discrimination using the + and - buttons without unnecessary switching is very successful.The display shows everything clearly and informs about the current settings of the whole detector.

Summary: This is a very good detector, which not only caught up with the legendary Gm4ka but in many ways surpassed it thanks to new features and parameters and became a worthy flagship of Golden Mask.