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XP Deus 2 Or Legend....which Do I Keep?


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18 minutes ago, Deep Beeps said:

I havn't tested it like you have and am new to XP (Still have my NOX 800) but the 11" goes way deeper and still has near equivalent separation. My hunts have been on the beaches of Florida, California, VA and MD and dirt in VA, MD, WV, CO and CA. I only put the 9 on when it's nothing but targets like a house site.... Even then I'll hunt with both over the same ground because Ive got some heavy silvers, dandys deeper that the 9" didnt hear through the iron. Sounds counter but as we know not all targets seem to listen to science or logic. One trick is I dare you to do your testing again in Sensitive and more importantly in Mono (try around 17kh'sh).... You'll be surprised. 

When it come to gold though I think it really has to be a larger/dense piece to have a chance unless they come out with a smaller coil (Not holding my breath)

 

Here is a house site taht has a mix of period and modern farmers trash that I found with the 9" digging everything but cherypicked it with the 11" first in Mono. I was able to get this awesome 1748 Royal Navy Lieutenant's tombac button with. I know it proves nothing about depth between the two coils but it does validate separation on the 11".

Junk.jpg

English Navy button.jpg

English Navy button back.jpg

You don’t need to dare me…..the testing WAS done in Sensitive. Deus 2  Mono gets no depth here by the way. I’ve owned a Deus 1 or ORX since 2016 which is what Deus 2 Mono is based on. No way will I use Deus 2 Mono for coins and jewelry here after using the same program (original Deus Fast) for 6 years and hating it. Deus 2 Mono for gold prospecting however, is the best choice out of no other good choices at the moment using version 0.71

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24 minutes ago, King-Of-Bling said:

Excellent review on your machines. My 1 big question would be how long do you spend time swinging your machine when hunting. And maybe what kind of physical shape your arm/shoulder is in. But from everything else I read , sell the D2.

Hey KOB, I’m sure this testing would not be welcomed by some over on Friendly………no way will I post it over there.

Most people here who are prospectors and have owned a Deus 2 already know the current situation with its limitations from experience. It’s not a big deal either way. Someday XP will improve that part of Deus 2 or they won’t.

I actually get some wrist pain swinging a Deus in beach sand……or trying to deal with stubble and long grass. The slightly heavier detectors like the Equinox and Legend don’t hurt me anymore than Deus 2. I get out and hunt 2 to 4 hours almost everyday swinging something.

Good to hear from you…..

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13 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

is the best choice out of no other good choices at the moment using version 0.71

Yes, an important fact Jeff.  Both companies are fine tuning their products. Do we know a real winner yet because of this? 

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If I had experienced, dramatic, overwhelming differences in the ground I usually hunt on, this decision would have been easy. I would have expected those kind of results from Deus 2 based on what people in other places have seen. The guys I know out here that gold prospect and that have used Deus 2 and other competitive SMF detectors saw something different which is too bad. I saw something similar to them too. We can’t all be wrong. Moving on from Deus 2 for now…..

I got to basically rent a great detector for free for three months. I bought it at a brick and mortar MD store in Georgia. It was their store demo model so I got a really good deal out the door.  I won’t lose any money and I really enjoyed using it.

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Jeff,

Hmm.  A tough question.  There are so many factors to consider that often times these decisions can be very difficult.  I have extensive experience with the Equinox and have put a good amount of time in on the Legend.  Between those two detectors here in Los Angeles, both at the beach and inland, I found both to be competitive but the Equinox was a constant winner in depth, target separation and overall good targets in my pouch.  Again, just my experience. 

As to the Deus II, I have not hunted with one yet.  But I have hunted with several buddies who all owned Equinoxes and have switched over to the Deus II.  Of them, only two went back to the Equinox, and both said it was because it is just easier and more fun to use.  But the guys who kept the Deus II's are seeing a different animal, again just in my opinion.  At the beach it hits targets that neither the Equinox and Legend can read.  I have verified this several times.  And inland, as a coinshooter, I haven't seen a gamechanger like this since the Explorer demonstrated the depth limits of White's detectors in supposedly hunted out parks years ago.  One of my buddies took his Deus II to a park that we have all hunted to death with Explorers, Etracs and Equinoxes and in one six hour day of hunting he dug 53 nickels!  That number is no BS and no big fish story.  It is true.  Even he couldn't believe it.  My other buddies have noticed this difference in nickels as well as another interesting phenomenon.  They are digging old coin spills, in particular wheatie coins spills, in these same hunted out parks.   Some mixed in with silver (dimes mainly).  I'm not an engineer so I have no idea what the Deus II's multi-frequency is doing differently but it is yielding results that I can't explain.

If you are wondering if I am going to get a Deus II, I'm not sure.  For me, its interface isn't very intuitive, at least to what's left of my brain. Also, as with the Deus I, I find the detector to be nose heavy when I've held one in hand.  The Legend and Equinox are heavier but balance-wise they don't bother me and I can hunt for several hours without arm/shoulder fatigue.

A good post to inspire discussion, Jeff.

Bill

P.S.  Jeff, your best find of all is somehow hunting 2 - 4 hours every day!  Man would I love to be able to do that!

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26 minutes ago, Bill (S. CA) said:

Jeff,

Hmm.  A tough question.  There are so many factors to consider that often times these decisions can be very difficult.  I have extensive experience with the Equinox and have put a good amount of time in on the Legend.  Between those two detectors here in Los Angeles, both at the beach and inland, I found both to be competitive but the Equinox was a constant winner in depth, target separation and overall good targets in my pouch.  Again, just my experience. 

As to the Deus II, I have not hunted with one yet.  But I have hunted with several buddies who all owned Equinoxes and have switched over to the Deus II.  Of them, only two went back to the Equinox, and both said it was because it is just easier and more fun to use.  But the guys who kept the Deus II's are seeing a different animal, again just in my opinion.  At the beach it hits targets that neither the Equinox and Legend can read.  I have verified this several times.  And inland, as a coinshooter, I haven't seen a gamechanger like this since the Explorer demonstrated the depth limits of White's detectors in supposedly hunted out parks years ago.  One of my buddies took his Deus II to a park that we have all hunted to death with Explorers, Etracs and Equinoxes and in one six hour day of hunting he dug 53 nickels!  That number is no BS and no big fish story.  It is true.  Even he couldn't believe it.  My other buddies have noticed this difference in nickels as well as another interesting phenomenon.  They are digging old coin spills, in particular wheatie coins spills, in these same hunted out parks.   Some mixed in with silver (dimes mainly).  I'm not an engineer so I have no idea what the Deus II's multi-frequency is doing differently but it is yielding results that I can't explain.

If you are wondering if I am going to get a Deus II, I'm not sure.  For me, its interface isn't very intuitive, at least to what's left of my brain. Also, as with the Deus I, I find the detector to be nose heavy when I've held one in hand.  The Legend and Equinox are heavier but balance-wise they don't bother me and I can hunt for several hours without arm/shoulder fatigue.

A good post to inspire discussion, Jeff.

Bill

P.S.  Jeff, your best find of all is somehow hunting 2 - 4 hours every day!  Man would I love to be able to do that!

If I was a saltwater beach hunter and the beaches I hunted weren’t loaded with black sand I wouldn’t have even needed to do this testing or write this post. Deus 2 would be a slam dunk even knowing what I know about now. I’m not…..

 I like to hunt for 2 to 4 hours a day. I just wish I was in a position to walk out my door and detector prospect everyday for 4 hours or so. That would be the find of a lifetime for me even if I didn’t find lots of nuggets. Turf hunting for clad pays off for sure especially when I don’t have to drive far at all and when gold and silver jewelry gets mixed in. It does get tiresome sometimes. 

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Between the Deus 2 and Legend/Equinox, the latter are better "all-around" detectors due to the D2 lacking in the prospecting arena.  For somebody who does prospecting with a vlf for any considerable amount of time, the Legend would be the one to have.  

I decided to keep my D2 for coin shooting and jewelry only.  I won't likely ever take it out nugget hunting again and stick to my PI machines.  Not that it can't find nuggets, but that's an area I've also found it to be a bit weak.  If I ever did need a more sensitive vlf for prospecting, the Legend would be a consideration for sure. 

I think you've made a good choice to keep the Legend and sell the D2.  Perhaps in the future if XP improves small target sensitivity on the D2 and adds a smaller coil, the D2 will equal the other MF detectors out there on small gold.  Then it might be worth trying out a D2 again.  I patiently await those XP updates, but if they don't come, I'll still be happy while looking for coins and jewelry with mine for now.  

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1 hour ago, Calmark said:

Between the Deus 2 and Legend/Equinox, the latter are better "all-around" detectors due to the D2 lacking in the prospecting arena.  For somebody who does prospecting with a vlf for any considerable amount of time, the Legend would be the one to have.  

I decided to keep my D2 for coin shooting and jewelry only.  I won't likely ever take it out nugget hunting again and stick to my PI machines.  Not that it can't find nuggets, but that's an area I've also found it to be a bit weak.  If I ever did need a more sensitive vlf for prospecting, the Legend would be a consideration for sure. 

I think you've made a good choice to keep the Legend and sell the D2.  Perhaps in the future if XP improves small target sensitivity on the D2 and adds a smaller coil, the D2 will equal the other MF detectors out there on small gold.  Then it might be worth trying out a D2 again.  I patiently await those XP updates, but if they don't come, I'll still be happy while looking for coins and jewelry with mine for now.  

Great post Calmark....

For me, I too would only use Deus 2 for coins and jewelry at this point but in highly iron mineralized ground where it is simply equaled or outperformed from my experience with all three by the Legend and Equinox at half to one third less in price. The ergonomics are fantastic but I wouldn't be using half of the detector since Deus 2's most outstanding part is submerged and saltwater beach hunting and its least outstanding part is gold prospecting and micro jewelry. I can use the Legend for submerged gold prospecting and micro jewelry and it will do very well. I can also use it for the same coin and jewelry hunting that I would use Deus 2 for and the Legend will also do very well. Relic hunting, I would prefer Deus 2 for a lot of that, but still, the Legend and Equinox can handle that very well too.

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Just throwing in my two cents in even though you've already made your choice, Jeff. I was going to say just go with the one that makes you happy. You seemed happier with the Legend so that was the logical choice for you and I understand your preference, especially for prospecting.

I'm having a different experience. It took me a while to get really comfortable with my Equinox 800, probably because I only started getting serious about metal detecting a few years ago so I had (and still have) much to learn about detecting in general as well as the detector itself. I am real happy with the Nox now that I know it better. When the Deus 2 came out, I was on the fence about it but took the leap. At first I thought I bit off more than I could chew, but like the Nox, it performed well for me with the stock programs and it is taking less time to learn it more thoroughly.

I had briefly considered the Legend, but it just seemed like a lateral move at best. I have not had any of the problems reported by some Nox users and I'm not looking for a replacement for it. And while I don't yet prospect or dive with it (why would anyone dive with any detector rated at 10 ft max depth?), I was looking for a different detector.

The D2 is a different creature and the more I learn it, the more I appreciate the differences. In fact learning the nuances of the D2 has made me understand the Nox much better too, and I believe it's helping me learn more about detecting. I'm still very happy with my Nox, but once I started learning and experimenting with all of the D2 programs and the settings, it's been a game changer for me. I'm not saying that either one is better than any other detector, but for me, I feel with the Nox and the D2 I have all the bases covered and I really enjoy them both.

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9 hours ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

Just throwing in my two cents in even though you've already made your choice, Jeff. I was going to say just go with the one that makes you happy. You seemed happier with the Legend so that was the logical choice for you and I understand your preference, especially for prospecting.

I'm having a different experience. It took me a while to get really comfortable with my Equinox 800, probably because I only started getting serious about metal detecting a few years ago so I had (and still have) much to learn about detecting in general as well as the detector itself. I am real happy with the Nox now that I know it better. When the Deus 2 came out, I was on the fence about it but took the leap. At first I thought I bit off more than I could chew, but like the Nox, it performed well for me with the stock programs and it is taking less time to learn it more thoroughly.

I had briefly considered the Legend, but it just seemed like a lateral move at best. I have not had any of the problems reported by some Nox users and I'm not looking for a replacement for it. And while I don't yet prospect or dive with it (why would anyone dive with any detector rated at 10 ft max depth?), I was looking for a different detector.

The D2 is a different creature and the more I learn it, the more I appreciate the differences. In fact learning the nuances of the D2 has made me understand the Nox much better too, and I believe it's helping me learn more about detecting. I'm still very happy with my Nox, but once I started learning and experimenting with all of the D2 programs and the settings, it's been a game changer for me. I'm not saying that either one is better than any other detector, but for me, I feel with the Nox and the D2 I have all the bases covered and I really enjoy them both.

CPT_GhostLight

I was actually very happy using Deus 2. Great detector. I just don’t need a $1500 coin and jewelry detector, since at this time that is all I would use it for where I live. That is a luxury that I just can’t afford especially when I have two other detectors like the Equinox and Legend that can actually do more of what I need to do with a detector than Deus 2. I actually like Deus 2 better than the Legend as far as a really fun and exciting detector to use.

Like I said already, if XP decide to or are able to improve Deus 2 for gold prospecting and micro jewelry I may get another one someday, especially the Deus 2 Lite model. That is all dependent on XP. I have nothing against Deus 2 and really enjoyed using it. Now I just need to find a buyer.

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