By Bart Davis, owner of Big Boys Hobbies | Updated October 6, 2026

Old homesites, farm fields, and other iron-filled locations can still hold good coins and relics. The challenge is hearing those targets when nails, rusty hardware, and other iron are close enough to interfere with their signals.

The XP ICON and XP ICON-X give you several ways to handle these situations. The key is balancing discrimination, reactivity, and audio so you can recognize a promising target among the iron sounds.

Here at Big Boys Hobbies, we want you to understand what to adjust and why. This guide explains practical starting settings for hunting iron-filled ground, the differences between the two models, and how to practice unmasking targets before your next hunt.

What Does Unmasking Mean?

Unmasking means detecting a desirable target that nearby iron makes difficult to hear. A coin beside a nail can produce a shorter, weaker, or less consistent response than the same coin sitting by itself.

Your goal is to make that small response recognizable. Do not expect every good target in heavy iron to sound like a clean coin in an open field.

1. Start with an Inland Program and Check the Notch

Select an inland program appropriate for your location. Before changing the other settings, check for active notch rejection. Factory programs can have different notch settings, so do not assume every program accepts the same target range.

For this unmasking exercise, clear the active notch segments. That lets you compare target responses without a rejected window silencing part of the information.

Bottle-cap rejection can be useful in parks and recreational areas, but searching dense nails for masked relics calls for a different balance. Keep unnecessary rejection out of your initial practice setup.

2. Select Pitch Tones and Audio Type 1

Tones and Audio Type are two separate settings. Select Pitch in the Tones menu, then select 1 in the Audio Type menu.

Pitch changes its sound according to signal strength. It can help a small response stand out among nearby iron. Full Tones or another tone option may also suit you, but give yourself time to learn one option before switching repeatedly.

Audio Type 1 uses PWM with Standard audio response. Standard response preserves useful volume differences: weaker targets sound quieter, while stronger targets sound louder. Target size and orientation also affect signal strength, so volume is a clue rather than an exact depth measurement.

This is a useful starting choice when you want to concentrate on the shape and strength of individual responses in a crowded patch of ground. Enhanced audio makes weaker targets louder, which can make shallow and deep responses sound more alike.

3. Keep Discrimination Low Enough to Investigate Masked Targets

Both models use an automatic silencer rather than a separate user-adjustable control. Keep discrimination modest and compare a known target near nails before increasing rejection.

On the XP ICON-X, start with discrimination at 6.5. This is a practical low-discrimination setup for investigating difficult targets, but it can also let more iron false signals through.

The standard XP ICON uses whole-point discrimination adjustments, so it cannot duplicate 6.5 exactly. Start at 7, then compare 6 over a known non-ferrous target beside nails.

If lowering discrimination makes the desirable target easier to hear, decide whether the extra iron noise is manageable. If the detector becomes too difficult to interpret, move back up and continue learning.

Do not keep raising discrimination simply to make an iron-filled site quiet. A severely masked target may report lower than expected, and higher rejection can silence the response you are trying to investigate.

4. Use Reactivity to Separate Closely Spaced Targets

Reactivity is also known as recovery speed. It controls how quickly the detector responds to successive targets. Lower settings can help with depth in cleaner ground. Higher settings can make closely spaced responses easier to separate, although the sounds may become shorter.

• Reactivity 2: Compare this in lighter iron where targets are farther apart.
• Reactivity 3: A useful starting point for this setup.
• Reactivity 4 or higher: Test when dense iron or mineralized debris continues to blend responses together.

XP’s manual recommends reactivity 4–6 for iron-contaminated or mineralized ground. The XP ICON offers levels 1–5, while the XP ICON-X offers 0–6. Use the available range on your model and compare the response over the same target.

The best setting is the one that makes a desirable target easier to recognize at your site. Maximum reactivity is not automatically the best choice everywhere.

Use controlled sweeps and compare sweep speeds over the same target. Avoid rushing through dense iron.

5. Keep Some Iron Audio and Adjust Sensitivity

Start with Iron Volume at 5 or 6. Hearing some iron helps you understand how crowded the ground is and recognize a different response within it. Reduce the volume if the iron overwhelms the sounds you need to hear.

Keeping some iron audio during practice gives you context. Listen for a distinct response within the iron sounds rather than expecting a clean, isolated beep every time.

Sensitivity does not need to be at maximum. If electrical interference or chatter makes the detector difficult to interpret, reduce sensitivity gradually and compare the target response again.

Before hunting, perform a ground grab over a clear patch. Avoid balancing directly over a buried metal target.

How to Investigate a Target Hidden in Iron

1. Use controlled, overlapping sweeps. Keep the coil close and parallel to the ground without striking it.
2. Pause over a distinct response. A short signal deserves another look even when it does not sound like a clean, isolated target.
3. Change your approach angle. Work around the signal and compare it from several directions. Nearby iron can make the response stronger from one direction than another.
4. Compare reactivity over the same spot. Listen for whether a different setting separates the response more clearly.
5. If a response chops in and out, compare discrimination and reactivity one setting at a time. There is no single adjustment order that fits every target and site.
6. Use the target ID as supporting information. A masked target may give a low or inconsistent reading. A low reading alone does not prove it is desirable.
7. Rescan the hole and removed soil. Check both before deciding the target is gone. Removing nearby iron may make another target easier to detect.

Bent nails, rounded iron, and rusty hardware can still produce convincing signals. Expect to recover some iron while learning. No combination of settings can guarantee that every promising response is a coin or relic.

Practice with a Coin and Nails Before Your Next Hunt

Find a clear outdoor patch away from electrical interference. First sweep a coin or small brass target by itself so you know its normal response. Then place nails nearby and compare the signal.

Change one setting at a time. Compare discrimination, reactivity, and sweep direction while keeping the other settings consistent. Move the nails and target into different positions to learn how their arrangement changes what you hear.

Listen for which adjustments make the desirable target more recognizable, rather than simply making the detector quieter.

This surface exercise helps you learn the controls and audio. Buried targets and mineralized soil can behave differently, so use it as practice rather than a promise of field performance.