All-metal mode gives you maximum detection depth and sensitivity by delivering raw, unfiltered signals from every metal target without discrimination—ideal when you’re hunting deep or in clean ground. Discrimination mode sacrifices 20-30% of that depth to electronically filter trash based on conductivity analysis, letting you focus on valuable targets in iron-infested sites. Your choice depends on whether you prioritize depth over selectivity, though understanding how to combine both approaches and adjust settings for specific environments will greatly improve your recovery rate.
Key Takeaways
- All-metal mode delivers maximum depth and sensitivity without filtering, while discrimination mode filters signals to reject unwanted targets based on conductivity.
- Detection depth reduces 20-30% in discrimination mode compared to all-metal due to signal filtering and target rejection mechanisms.
- All-metal mode produces constant threshold hum and raw signals; discrimination mode analyzes conductivity to trigger silence or rejection tones.
- Discrimination mode offers preset patterns (Coins, Jewelry, Relics) and customizable notch settings for specific target isolation and trash elimination.
- All-metal excels in clean soil and deep searching; discrimination works best in trashy urban areas requiring selective target acceptance.
What Is All-Metal Mode?
All-Metal mode strips away the filtering mechanisms that discrimination modes rely on, delivering raw detection signals from every metallic object within your coil’s electromagnetic field.
All-Metal mode delivers unfiltered electromagnetic responses from every target—maximum depth and sensitivity without discrimination interference.
You’ll hear a constant threshold hum that rises when metal’s present—no rejection, no masking, just pure electromagnetic response. This approach maximizes your sensitivity analysis capabilities, letting you detect targets at greater depths without discrimination-induced losses.
The trade-off? You’re responsible for target identification since the detector won’t differentiate between iron nails and silver coins.
Operating in static or motion configurations, All-Metal mode reads phase shifts and conductivity values from every response, giving you complete control over what you dig and what you leave behind. The mode produces a constant faint sound that retunes to the preset threshold when your coil passes over a target. A double blip response in All Metal no-motion mode specifically identifies elongated ferrous objects, helping you distinguish iron targets from non-ferrous finds.
What Is Discrimination Mode?
Discrimination mode filters metal detector signals by analyzing target conductivity and ferrous properties, allowing you to reject unwanted items while accepting valuable targets.
The system compares each object’s electromagnetic response against your configured rejection points—anything below the threshold triggers silence or a rejection tone, while accepted targets produce audio alerts and Target ID numbers.
Most detectors offer preset discrimination patterns that automatically filter common trash items, though you can customize notch settings to create detection windows tailored for specific hunts. This capability enhances efficiency in treasure hunting by helping you focus ground coverage on legitimate targets rather than digging every signal.
Understanding proper Target ID interpretation requires establishing correct sensitivity and ground balance before fine-tuning your discrimination settings.
How Discrimination Filtering Works
When you activate discrimination filtering on your metal detector, the device begins analyzing electromagnetic signals through a systematic process that separates desirable targets from unwanted debris.
Your detector measures the target’s electrical conductivity when it’s swept over an object, then assigns a numerical Target ID value based on those properties. Your discrimination settings establish rejection thresholds along the conductivity spectrum—anything falling within rejected ranges gets filtered out.
The system gives you complete control over what you’ll hear and see. Rejected items trigger silence, distinctive rejection tones, or no Target ID display, depending on your detector’s design. Ferrous targets typically display negative IDs, while non-ferrous targets show positive ID numbers. While discrimination improves detection efficiency, it’s important to understand that the system is not completely foolproof.
This target identification mechanism lets you focus on high-conductivity precious metals while ignoring low-conductivity iron and steel, maximizing your efficiency in the field without constant digging.
Preset Target Detection Modes
Modern metal detectors ship with factory-programmed discrimination patterns that automatically filter targets based on your hunting objectives.
These preset detection modes eliminate configuration guesswork by establishing optimized conductivity thresholds for specific treasure categories.
You’ll find specialized patterns like Coins Mode, which rejects pull-tabs and foil while accepting high-conductivity targets, or Jewelry Mode that captures gold’s mid-range conductivity signatures.
Relics Mode typically expands acceptance windows to detect varied metal compositions, while Custom Mode lets you define your own rejection points.
Each preset pattern leverages target identification systems that assign numeric values to detected objects based on their electromagnetic response.
The detector’s receive coil detects changes in the magnetic field caused by a target’s conductivity to generate these identification values.
Discrimination mode analyzes both conductivity and ferromagnetism to distinguish between target types and separate valuable metals from unwanted iron objects.
This automation accelerates your field deployment, though experienced detectorists often modify these patterns.
Factory settings provide reliable starting points, but you’re not bound by manufacturer limitations—adjust discrimination windows to match actual ground conditions and personal priorities.
How Detection Depth Differs Between the Two Modes
All-metal mode delivers the deepest detection range because it processes the complete electromagnetic signal without filtering, allowing your detector to reach its maximum penetration capability.
When you switch to discrimination mode, the circuitry actively removes portions of the signal stream to filter unwanted targets, which directly reduces your detection depth—typically by 20-30% compared to all-metal operation. Discrimination settings can help counteract challenging soil conditions while maintaining selective target detection.
This tradeoff is fundamental to metal detector physics: you’ll gain target selectivity in discrimination mode but sacrifice several inches of depth on typical coin-sized objects. All-metal mode provides both visual and audio feedback to help you identify targets even when operating at maximum depth capabilities.
All-Metal Achieves Maximum Depth
Among the most significant performance differences between operating modes, depth capability stands as the primary advantage of true all-metal detection.
You’ll achieve maximum sensitivity because all-metal employs no filtering—it directly reports every target without discrimination circuits compromising performance. This unfiltered approach consistently delivers superior target depth compared to discrimination mode, even when you’ve set disc to zero.
The depth advantage becomes critical when you’re pursuing small gold nuggets or deep coins that discrimination simply can’t detect.
Your detector’s discrimination filtering persists at zero settings, sacrificing depth you need for successful prospecting. True all-metal modes include threshold control, allowing you to tune that barely perceptible audio for detecting targets beyond discrimination’s reach.
Units lacking true all-metal permanently forfeit this depth advantage.
Discrimination Reduces Detection Range
When you activate discrimination, your detector immediately sacrifices depth to filter targets by conductivity.
Signal processing demands computational resources—every rejected target reduces your penetration capability. You’ll face discrimination challenges as filtering algorithms strip away electromagnetic responses, limiting how deeply your coil can sense subsurface metals.
Detection limitations manifest through:
- Beach hunts revealing coins at 8 inches in all-metal versus 6 inches with discrimination active
- Iron-heavy construction sites requiring aggressive filtering that cuts depth by 25-30%
- Small gold nuggets disappearing entirely when discrimination thresholds reject low-conductivity ranges
- Ground mineralization interfering more severely as discrimination processing struggles with complex soil matrices
- Deep silver targets producing weaker signals that discrimination circuits may misclassify as trash
Your freedom to detect deeper targets requires accepting all-metal’s unfiltered chaos—discrimination’s convenience costs raw detection power.
Why All-Metal Mode Maximizes Sensitivity
The sensitivity advantages become most apparent in clean soil and low-EMI environments, where you can push settings to their limits without sacrificing stability.
Multi-frequency all-metal delivers exceptional performance across both high and low conductivity ranges simultaneously, while high-frequency operation excels at tiny targets.
You’ll maintain ideal threshold settings and avoid the signal loss inherent to filtered modes, ensuring you don’t miss valuable finds buried beyond discrimination’s reach.
How Discrimination Mode Filters Unwanted Targets
While all-metal mode captures every signal indiscriminately, discrimination mode takes a fundamentally different approach by analyzing the electromagnetic signature of each target before alerting you.
Your detector’s signal processing examines conductivity values through electromagnetic field interaction, measuring what the transmit coil receives back. This target identification system assigns each object a position on the conductivity scale, then filters responses based on your rejection settings.
Electromagnetic signatures create conductivity fingerprints that your detector reads, classifies, and filters according to your programmed acceptance criteria.
You’ll control what gets through using these filtering methods:
- Linear discrimination creates a threshold that rejects everything below your chosen conductivity level
- Notch filtering masks specific segments like pull tabs while accepting coins
- Ferrous rejection eliminates iron and nails by blocking low-conductivity ranges
- Custom patterns adapt to site-specific trash conditions
- Auto-discrimination applies pre-programmed conductivity windows for simplified operation
When to Use All-Metal Mode for Better Results
If you’re searching beyond six inches deep, all-metal mode becomes your essential operating choice because discrimination circuits inherently sacrifice detection depth for target filtering capabilities.
You’ll gain significant penetration advantages in mineralized soils where Multi-IQ technology adapts to challenging ground conditions automatically.
Deploy all-metal mode when scouting unfamiliar sites—if your detector goes bonkers, you’ve located a productive zone worth investigating. This approach reveals complete metal concentrations before you switch modes for selective target recovery.
You’ll detect faint signals from deeply buried objects that discrimination filtering would mask entirely.
In trashy environments, run all-metal sweeps after discrimination passes to catch overlooked targets producing consistent responses.
The non-motion setting delivers maximum depth gains, while pulse induction technology excels in interference-heavy terrain where conventional discrimination fails.
When to Choose Discrimination Mode Over All-Metal
Discrimination mode delivers maximum efficiency when modern trash threatens to bury you in unproductive digging sessions.
You’ll reveal discrimination benefits by filtering conductivity ranges that match common junk while preserving coin and jewelry signals. Target accuracy improves dramatically when you’re hunting specific valuables rather than excavating every ferrous nail.
Deploy discrimination mode when you’re facing:
- Urban parks littered with pull tabs and foil where every signal wastes time
- Iron-contaminated historical sites requiring ferrous rejection for cleaner signals
- Cluttered beaches with bottle caps demanding notch filtering for rings and coins
- High-traffic zones with modern debris where custom patterns isolate valuable targets
- Coin-hunting missions needing precise conductivity acceptance windows
You’ll dig fewer holes, hear less noise, and focus your freedom on genuinely promising targets instead of chasing trash signals.
Combining Iron Audio With All-Metal Detection
This target identification advantage lets you verify suspicious signals instantly.
Steel bottlecaps and rusty nails reveal themselves through characteristic acoustic signatures before you waste time digging.
Toggle iron audio on borderline targets to confirm composition without switching modes.
Adjust iron volume to balance awareness against noise in trashy sites.
You’re maintaining all-metal sensitivity while gaining ferrous intelligence that keeps your recovery decisions sharp and efficient.
Adjusting Your Settings Based on Hunting Environment
Your hunting environment dictates which mode delivers ideal performance, making site assessment your critical first step before powering on.
Environmental factors like trash density, target depth, and soil mineralization directly influence which hunting strategies maximize your recovery rate.
Match your settings to these terrain-specific scenarios:
- Virgin wilderness zones – Deploy true all-metal for unmatched depth on scattered targets across pristine ground.
- Urban tot lots – Crank discrimination high to slice through bottle caps and foil surrounding lost jewelry.
- Gold-bearing creeks – Run all-metal exclusively since low-conductivity nuggets vanish above minimal discrimination thresholds.
- Colonial homesites – Toggle between all-metal sweeps and notch discrimination to preserve deep relics while rejecting square nails.
- Saltwater beaches – Leverage all-metal’s sensitivity advantage in mineralized sand where discrimination destabilizes.
Practice air tests with known targets before committing to field settings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Switch Between All-Metal and Discrimination Modes During a Single Hunt?
Yes, you can switch between modes during a hunt. Switching modes gives you hunting flexibility to verify targets and adapt to conditions, though frequent changes disrupt your flow. Many detectors support manual switching, while some offer simultaneous operation.
Does All-Metal Mode Drain the Detector’s Battery Faster Than Discrimination Mode?
Yes, you’ll notice battery consumption increases in all-metal mode compared to discrimination. Higher sensitivity settings greatly impact mode efficiency, draining power faster. Switching strategically between modes preserves your detector’s runtime, giving you extended hunting freedom without frequent battery changes.
Will Valuable Coins Register Differently in All-Metal Versus Discrimination Mode?
Yes, you’ll notice valuable coin detection differs between modes. All-metal delivers superior depth and sensitivity for mode performance comparison, while discrimination may filter coins sharing conductivity with trash, potentially limiting your freedom to find everything.
How Do Weather Conditions Affect Performance in Each Detection Mode?
Weather impacts both modes differently: all-metal mode’s performance factors include battery drain and ground mineralization shifts in cold, while discrimination mode requires sensitivity reduction in freezing conditions. You’ll find humid weather universally boosts depth penetration across both detection modes.
Can Modern Detectors Run Both Modes Simultaneously for Better Target Analysis?
Yes, you’ll find modern detectors like the Garrett AT Max and Minelab MANTICORE run both modes simultaneously, giving you enhanced target identification by combining mode advantages—delivering all-metal depth with discrimination filtering for superior decision-making freedom.
References
- https://detectorpower.com/blogs/metal-detectors/metal-detector-discrimination
- https://www.findmall.com/threads/an-example-of-the-true-all-metal-mode-vs-zero-discriminate-mode-using-the-at-gold-nerd.207749/
- https://www.joanallen.co.uk/metal-detector-discrimination-settings
- https://www.metaldetector.com/blogs/new_blog/target-discrimination-chart-for-metal-detectors
- https://garrett.com/understanding-metal-detector-discrimination-how-to-filter-targets/
- https://www.treasurenet.com/threads/all-metal-or-discriminate.114087/
- http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,37932
- https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/3205-discriminate-discriminate-discriminate-but-what-exactly/
- https://www.metaldetectors.co.uk/glossary/
- https://www.metaldetector.com/blogs/new_blog/guide-to-metal-detecting-slang-jargon
