Equinox Or Deus 2

[ColonelDan]

I've read several threads on the soon-to-be-fielded Deus 2 and how it will compare to the Equinox. There have been many good views on this topic so I thought I'd share mine. As you read this, keep in mind the views expressed here are worth just as much as you've paid for them. 😁

1. Wireless vs Wired: I'm 99% a salt water beach hunter with my EQX 800 and the way I grid a beach, I often go from the damp sand to the wet sand and then into the surf (only about 1 foot deep due to concerns over water intrusion so I keep the control box dry). Given that, a Deus II for me would have to be constantly wired from coil to control box in order to work in the surf. For that reason, a totally wireless capability would not be that enticing since the wire from coil to box would be a permanent configuration.

2. Waterproof: I owned a Deus and found it to be a solidly engineered machine so I'm not a skeptic where XP claims of being waterproof are concerned. Were I to make a wager, I'd bet on much better waterproof performance in the Deus II than was the original ML waterproof claim for the EQX. Being truly waterproof is important for me and not because I hunt deeper than 1 foot in salt water these days because I don't. Ours is an outdoor hobby so I think all detectors should be waterproof...at the very least, reliably weatherproof. How many times have you been caught in the rain or dropped your detector in a puddle of water? Even if you are a land hunter and never go near any water, replacing a damaged or inop machine due to moisture intrusion isn't a trivial thing.

3. Build quality: The Deus I had was quality built, rugged and reliable. No coil ear issues, wobbly shafts or arm cuff breakage. In my view, it was a much more rugged detector than Minelab products in certain areas. XP doesn't seem to pinch pennies as did Minelab on simple things. Recall the original skimpy gaskets they put in the CTX 3030 that caused flooding of the battery box. The issue was solved when they came out with merely a little thicker gasket! Their use of cheap coil ears, arm cuffs and wobbly shafts on the EQX series is another example. For a few pennies more per unit, they would have saved untold thousands in warranty replacement costs in both the CTX and EQX series machines. Although they are among the very best where software technology is concerned, I never understood that "penny wise pound foolish" approach in their physical build design.

4. Overall Performance: This is where the EQX was superior to my original Deus. The multi-frequency/multi IQ of the EQX vs the selectable single frequency of the Deus was an obvious choice in my salt water beach hunting environment. I eventually sold my Deus for that reason. Now, if XP has really overcome that limitation in the Deus II with their FMF feature, I'll be happily impressed.

5. Final Thoughts: I'm with the others who will take a "wait and see" approach. But, given my past experience with XP engineering, I have no doubt the Deus II will be a very capable salt water beach detector. Will it generally outperform the Minelabs? TBD. Will it be found that XP pinched pennies on their build quality? I say no. It will be a well built unit. Will it be more comfortable to use than the Minelabs? Yes. Will it be more complex in its settings options than the Minelabs? Yes. Will it's overall performance justify the higher price tag compared to the current EQX? TBD but that will be determined solely by and in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes.

Just a few thoughts from my foxhole...

 

[strick]

What coil you plan on getting for the Deus beach hunting? I've never thought of the Dues as a good beach hunting machine...still have my regular one and use it for one thing relic hunting...I know it is capable of doing other stuff but there are better units for the other stuff...kinda like picking up a golf club out of the bag for the specific job (I'm not a golfer) I used to have another deus with the 11 inch coil and I found it to be poorly balanced (nose heavy) and got rid of it... the new Deus 2  coming out has the same style but different brains...I guess one could sweep the beach with the perfectly balanced 9 inch coil all day but not much ground is covered....thinking out loud here 

strick

[Steve Herschbach]

If you have huge beaches or fields that stretch for miles, hard to beat a steveg balanced Equinox with 15x12 coil. I don’t see a Deus replacing this….

 

Nor do I see a Deus 2 replacing this telescoping Equinox with 6” coil for light weight compactness and ability to work in tight quarters. Also a decent deep seeking discriminating pinpointer for use with a PI detector.

2 lbs 10 oz x 20” long

I do like the idea of a S rod Deus 2 with 9” round coil as an alternative to a stock rod 11” coil Equinox as a general hunting detector, parks, relics, whatever. I like a 9” round, something I can’t get for an Equinox. And I prefer an S rod in detectors that weigh under 4 lbs

Obviously for me coils and rods matter as much as other factors, as in my opinion performance gets rather hair splitting these days if you compare two detectors with identical coils. But how does a Deus 2 really compete in situations when an oversized coil is called for, when there is not one made for the machine, and you’d hate the balance if there were? Overall, Equinox is simply more versatile, and coil and rod options have a lot to do with that.

But if I want an Equinox with a great S rod and 9” round coil, I guess I’d call that a Deus 2. 

[UtahRich]

I have a Deus 1 and an Equinox. Ive had other detectors that i've used and not kept. For me, detector selection comes down to performance. The question i ask myself is how will the Deus 2 perform?

My EQ800 has performed great for nearly 4 years. It is complimented nicely by my Deus 1.  I find myself using my 800 most of the time and the Deus some of the time.  My sense is that IF i purchased a Deus 2 it would balance the time used, perhaps sway it in the other direction.

Friends are buying the Deus 2 and shortly i will have feedback from at least two very good detectorists that hunt places like i hunt in my region. I'm waiting on a report from them then i can decide on whether to purchase. 

rich

[cudamark]

7 hours ago, ColonelDan said:

I've read several threads on the soon-to-be-fielded Deus 2 and how it will compare to the Equinox. There have been many good views on this topic so I thought I'd share mine. As you read this, keep in mind the views expressed here are worth just as much as you've paid for them. 😁

1. Wireless vs Wired: I'm 99% a salt water beach hunter with my EQX 800 and the way I grid a beach, I often go from the damp sand to the wet sand and then into the surf (only about 1 foot deep due to concerns over water intrusion so I keep the control box dry). Given that, a Deus II for me would have to be constantly wired from coil to control box in order to work in the surf. For that reason, a totally wireless capability would not be that enticing since the wire from coil to box would be a permanent configuration.

2. Waterproof: I owned a Deus and found it to be a solidly engineered machine so I'm not a skeptic where XP claims of being waterproof are concerned. Were I to make a wager, I'd bet on much better waterproof performance in the Deus II than was the original ML waterproof claim for the EQX. Being truly waterproof is important for me and not because I hunt deeper than 1 foot in salt water these days because I don't. Ours is an outdoor hobby so I think all detectors should be waterproof...at the very least, reliably weatherproof. How many times have you been caught in the rain or dropped your detector in a puddle of water? Even if you are a land hunter and never go near any water, replacing a damaged or inop machine due to moisture intrusion isn't a trivial thing.

3. Build quality: The Deus I had was quality built, rugged and reliable. No coil ear issues, wobbly shafts or arm cuff breakage. In my view, it was a much more rugged detector than Minelab products in certain areas. XP doesn't seem to pinch pennies as did Minelab on simple things. Recall the original skimpy gaskets they put in the CTX 3030 that caused flooding of the battery box. The issue was solved when they came out with merely a little thicker gasket! Their use of cheap coil ears, arm cuffs and wobbly shafts on the EQX series is another example. For a few pennies more per unit, they would have saved untold thousands in warranty replacement costs in both the CTX and EQX series machines. Although they are among the very best where software technology is concerned, I never understood that "penny wise pound foolish" approach in their physical build design.

4. Overall Performance: This is where the EQX was superior to my original Deus. The multi-frequency/multi IQ of the EQX vs the selectable single frequency of the Deus was an obvious choice in my salt water beach hunting environment. I eventually sold my Deus for that reason. Now, if XP has really overcome that limitation in the Deus II with their FMF feature, I'll be happily impressed.

5. Final Thoughts: I'm with the others who will take a "wait and see" approach. But, given my past experience with XP engineering, I have no doubt the Deus II will be a very capable salt water beach detector. Will it generally outperform the Minelabs? TBD. Will it be found that XP pinched pennies on their build quality? I say no. It will be a well built unit. Will it be more comfortable to use than the Minelabs? Yes. Will it be more complex in its settings options than the Minelabs? Yes. Will it's overall performance justify the higher price tag compared to the current EQX? TBD but that will be determined solely by and in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes.

Just a few thoughts from my foxhole...

 

I like your overall assessment, and I agree with almost all of it except for maybe some of #2. Let's say that both Minelab and XP were coming out at the same time with the Equinox and Deus 2 respectively. Minelab had many years experience in making waterproof machines, and XP had yet to make one. My money would have been on Minelab to make a dependable waterproof detector, with XP a big question mark. Since we now know some Nox machines have had leaking issues. it's easy with hindsight to think XP would do a better job. XP's track record of a quality built unit surely helps reassure that bet, but since this is their first stab at waterproofness (is that a word?), I would have still put my money on Minelab......and probably lost it. . We shall soon see. If they had a complete Deus 2 package with the big coil, I'd buy one today just to see what it will do! 😀👍

[Chase Goldman]

20 minutes ago, cudamark said:

Since we now know some Nox machines have had leaking issues. it's easy with hindsight to think XP would do a better job. XP's track record of a quality built unit surely helps reassure that bet, but since this is their first stab at waterproofness (is that a word?), I would have still put my money on Minelab......and probably lost it. . We shall soon see. If they had a complete Deus 2 package with the big coil, I'd buy one today just to see what it will do! 😀👍

The thing is, XP is not just claiming 3 M waterproof (I call this dunk rated) like Equinox and, now, Legend.  They have designed it to be DIVE rated up to 60+feet (20 M) AND are standing behind that with a 5 year warranty (vice 3 for Nox and Legend).  They have also put A LOT of thought into this design aspect apparently with purpose-built, interchangeable dive grade vs. sea level sealing plugs and an easy clip on antenna design and purpose-built wired bone phones for underwater usage.  Even if you only need it to be simply dunk proof, you have the confidence in knowing that it is designed to be much more robust than that vs. Equinox, Legend, etc.   Of course, you are paying top dollar for that enhanced build quality and watertight integrity.

With respect to ground coverage as commented on by several above, I’m ok with the 11” coil.  A tad nose heavy, yes, but really at less than 1.5 lbs total weight and with the S-Shaft I can still swing it all day and then some.  Though I like the additional ground coverage, have never been a fan of the 13x11 XP coils.  Definitely tips the scales on nose heaviness and the added mass puts visible flex strain on the lower shaft during swings.  If they can address these shortcomings on Deus II the 13x11 coil makes a great “coverage” coil option.

[ColonelDan]

3 hours ago, strick said:

What coil you plan on getting for the Deus beach hunting? I've never thought of the Dues as a good beach hunting machine...still have my regular one and use it for one thing relic hunting...I know it is capable of doing other stuff but there are better units for the other stuff...kinda like picking up a golf club out of the bag for the specific job (I'm not a golfer) I used to have another deus with the 11 inch coil and I found it to be poorly balanced (nose heavy) and got rid of it... the new Deus 2  coming out has the same style but different brains...I guess one could sweep the beach with the perfectly balanced 9 inch coil all day but not much ground is covered....thinking out loud here 

strick

I’ve been using the stock 11” on my EQX and have seen no real need to change.  If I get a Deus 2, I’ll stay with the 11”.

You’re right in that the original Deus was not a real salt water machine and that’s the main reason I sold it.  I have higher hopes for the Deus 2 

[Jeff McClendon]

On 11/29/2021 at 12:21 PM, ColonelDan said:

I’ve been using the stock 11” on my EQX and have seen no real need to change.  If I get a Deus 2, I’ll stay with the 11”.

You’re right in that the original Deus was not a real salt water machine and that’s the main reason I sold it.  I have higher hopes for the Deus 2 

I never particularly liked the Deus with the 11” coil. I did not see a big difference depth wise, it was very nose heavy, and the only improvement was for horizontal coverage.

For a dedicated beach hunter, the new Deus ll looks great. Hopefully it will detect as well as it looks. I don’t think its FMF tech will have any problem detecting in wet salt sand or submerged. That alone and XP’s well deserved design and build quality will make it a winner for sure. Most people who have purchased a full Deus l new, will not be shocked by the price. In that respect, the Deus ll is a bargain especially with the PWM and Square Wave audio choices, crown bottle cap settings and its other feature improvements. If FMF happens to do really well in higher iron mineralization at salt water beaches or inland, that will be fantastic.

[Jeff McClendon]

On 11/29/2021 at 9:23 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

Nor do I see a Deus 2 replacing this telescoping Equinox with 6” coil for light weight compactness and ability to work in tight quarters. Also a decent deep seeking discriminating pinpointer for use with a PI detector.

2 lbs 10 oz x 20” long

 

You may also like this setup which I use a lot in gold prospecting areas with steep creek banks, ravines, undercuts, really deep dig holes and for pinpointing.........I hunt by ear with just the headphone module.

23" and 15.5 ounces.

[Steve Herschbach]

OK, gotta say you got me good on that one Jeff! But I do prefer the little coil - makes a great pinpointer for use with my GPX 6000 digging pits to the middle of the earth!