Jeff McClendon

The full Deus 1 setup broke the $1000 barrier at its original release and the prices have stayed well above $1000 for the full setup since. Paying a few hundred dollars more for a full Deus 2 is a no brainer for people who have experienced Deus 1 or even the ORX. I get to chat with one of the sales reps for a big US detector dealer since he is a fellow hunter and vice president of our local 100+member detecting club here in the Denver area. We were trying to think how many members own or have even tried a Nokta Makro detector.......... the answer was three people and we were two of the three people. How many are Deus/Orx users..........almost half the club. Most of the other half are swinging an Equinox or Garrett. Nokta Makro have to catch up big time in the Denver area. Implementing simultaneous multi frequency at a very affordable price which may actually work well here is a step in the right direction. Just for information.....there are a lot of unhappy APEX owners here.

I am going to slightly disagree here. The ORX was definitely not designed for US/Canadian modern aluminum trashed park hunting (not discounting parks in other nations. I just haven't hunted anywhere else). In my opinion, neither was the original Deus 1. The Deus 1 was and still is (until the Deus 2 is available for the public) the premier VLF relic (which includes older coins and jewelry) hunting detector for woods, plowed fields, pasture and open areas/beaches or habitation sites that have not been filled with modern aluminum trash and are not hampered by weird mineralization. The Deus 2 with FMF is definitely bringing underwater, modern aluminum trashed sites and moderately to highly mineralized ground into the picture in a big way. Tex Hunter was torn between keeping his Deus 1 or ORX. I have seen his ORX is for sale. I know he is keeping his Equinox and maybe his Deus 1.... I still do not think the ORX would be the choice for ones only detector if they were hunting aluminum trashed parks. I know two gentlemen who use theirs for that purpose and I watch them struggle with deciding to dig or not. At their age and physical infirmity level, they do not want to get on the ground and dig unless they are fairly certain about the target being worth it...........they also don't want to swing a heavy detector. However, the situation with the Deus 1 is not much better for modern aluminum trashed areas as far as target ID certainty even with all of the added audio features. The numerical target ID accuracy limitations and the lack of ID normalization for the HF coils makes it even more complicated to decide on dig or not dig for persons like the two gentlemen I referenced earlier who are looking for simpler, lighter but still effective. I can't stress enough Steve H, how the concept of low volume level paired with high sensitivity has helped me with dealing with the original PWM Deus 1 and ORX 3 tone coin mode audio especially for modern aluminum trashed areas hunting for shallower targets. Especially on the ORX, the Coin Fast and Coin Deep 3 tone audio is similar to Deus 1 3 tone audio but with the Audio Response level maxed out. At normal (for me) volume levels the audio is just too overpowering or "can't see the forest for the trees" like. With the volume turned way down (first audible setting before complete silence on the WSAs) and the sensitivity as high as is possible for site conditions, I can actually hear enough tonal differences on 4" or shallower targets between aluminum trash, steel bottle caps and US modern coin targets to make an informed decision about digging coupled with the numerical target IDs being normalized at 18 kHz for all of the available frequency settings. Gary Blackwell has stated in the comment section of his recent Deus 2 videos that software updates for the Deus 1 and ORX are going to be released in the first half of 2022..............maybe full tones and pitch mode will be happening for the ORX and who knows what for Deus 1.

Yep, I don’t have to worry about ID normalization.

Reviving this topic since I stumbled on a barely used ORX controller, WSA headphones, telescopic shaft, unused waterproof kit with antenna all at a ridiculously low price that was less than buying a new ORX remote control. I already had HF coils so now I don’t have to worry about Deus ID normalization, I get a nice big display, iron probability bar, excellent mineralization graph, easy ground grab ground balance and the WSAs turn off when the controller is turned off. Goodbye tiny screen Deus 1 Lite. I figured I will only use it for tot lot, wide open playground, sports field shallow target hunting along with some relic hunting and for sure, gold prospecting. I had thought about picking up another Vanquish (since my son has mine) for just a quick tot lot hunter or even an F19 or something similar, but the ORX is a much better detector especially for micro jewelry and is still a fantastic and highly adjustable gold prospecting detector. Thanks to Steve and JP for reminding me of the principle of low volume/high sensitivity in another unrelated topic. Now the ORX audio is not nearly as nauseating for me as it once was……..or maybe I really am suffering from detector hearing loss. Anyway, I have taken it out a few times recently and it hasn’t failed to impress. Great detector if I don’t ask it to do something it can’t do very well in moderate to high mineralization which is identify or even hit coin and coin sized targets deeper than 4 to 6”

Used Minelab recommended quick start settings only for all three detectors which hampers the GPX 6000 the most in my opinion since Auto1/Difficult is very tame compared to High Yield on the GPZ. To go through all that work to setup the testing and just run default settings………seems like a bit of a waste of three great detectors.

Mine worked beautifully with the 14” DD coil. I was able to detect with it fairly close to some big power lines and the 11” coil was quiet in some very low EMI areas that I tested it in just to make sure. So I think my GPX 6000 was operating normally. I forgot to mention, I am a headphone person. I never used the GPX 6000 I had with just the onboard speaker when detecting. I will definitely by another GPX 6000 when more coils are available. It is an outstanding detector for sure.

The truth is that the GPX 6000 is so sensitive to small gold with both of the currently available mono coils that it is rendered useless if EMI is present at even moderate to low levels when using them. Thankfully Minelab and the field testers came up with the outstanding 14” DD coil which came through for JW in Simon’s write-up. The 14” DD was also the only coil that was useable at the sites that I commonly hunt with other PIs (using DDs and small mono coils) along with gold prospecting specific VLFs like the Equinox, Gold Monster, 24k and the XP Deus1/ORX. Using the GPX 6000 with the 14” DD detracts from the 6000’s excellent ergonomics however. Hopefully Minelab or an aftermarket manufacturer will provide a smaller DD coil and smaller mono coils too so that the 6000 will be more comfortable to swing without a bungee in the presence of EMI. I don’t see EMI becoming less of a problem here in the USA. Quite the opposite.

The Cibola, Vaquero and other 10 kHz and higher Tesoros were never considered to be slow detectors. They could separate and unmask targets very well in milder dirt. I am not surprised that they did well since they have a much smaller number of filters compared to the Equinox along with much less complicated processing of the return signal. Most older simultaneous multi frequency detectors suffered from slower or snail's pace recovery speed, below average target separation, minimal unmasking in iron and struggled in moderate to high iron mineralization including those offered by Minelab. Minelab's Multi IQ simultaneous multi frequency technology vastly improved the performance of the Equinox as far as recovery speed, target separation, unmasking in iron and achieving good target ID and depth in moderate to high iron mineralization. Unmasking in aluminum or other targets with similar conductivity is another issue entirely. The bread and butter target range on the Equinox due to its higher operating frequencies is the entire aluminum range from about 2 to 26 or so depending on the size of the aluminum. The Equinox will hit targets in that range really hard.

I think this all came from Minelab originally stressing (somewhat arrogantly if you ask me) that the Equinox in most places is good to go without ground balancing. As Hugh said above, anytime one is using their Equinox with the iron range rejected as it is in the default settings for Park, Field and Beach modes, there really is no need to ground balance since any ground noise is usually going to show up as -9, -8 and -7. For the casual/occasional hunter, that arrangement is perfect in Minelab's scheme of things since they won't get complaints about overly noisy detectors and the internal adjustments due to Multi IQ's signal processing will take care of any minor ground balance issues. For those who really use their Equinox often, with little to no iron rejection and optimized for performance, ground balancing every time before starting to hunt is a good idea and it is so easy to do. I don't get to hunt salt water beaches nearly enough to see a pattern for what is a normal ground balance in salt. The times I have detected both East and West Coast USA beaches, I can only remember twice when the ground balance ended up being 0. The same goes for inland hunting. Only once has the actual ground balance where I often hunt ended up being 0. +1 to +7 is very common here. So is -1 to -3. What amazes me is that even between +1 and +2, just being off by one number can cause a ton of ground feedback here.......So I never just leave it on zero.

Just to be totally clear, the Equinox 600 does not have selectable single frequency 20 and 40 kHz. As far as I have been able to determine in testing and actual field use, Park 2 and Field 2 are using approximately 40 kHz as one of their multi frequencies. Are Park 2 and Field 2 as sensitive to small gold as the Equinox 800 gold modes? No, but we are talking in 1/4" differences here. Also, in theory, using more discrimination and tones can make a sensitivity and depth difference on most detectors. Personally, I have not noticed that on the Equinox. Recovery speed does have an effect on depth for sure for small nugget detecting and using too much iron bias will definitely turn small gold responses into iron responses in high iron mineralization. I went directly from the X-Terra 705 to the Equinox 800. The controls and interface are very similar as are the tones and VDIs. I had an easy transition.

Yep, some people including me, just can't stand the original PWM tones on the Deus 1. I do fairly well with simple VCO, but the PWM Deus tones drive me nuts. I love to detect with my Deus Lite, but I usually am using its Pitch mode or single tone VCO. Full tones PWM I can handle for a few minutes at a time. Otherwise, the 3 to 5 tone options.....no way. I have several detecting buddies that use the Deus 1 for coin and jewelry hunting in areas that are not full of aluminum trash. They do very well. They often ask me why I use the Equinox instead of my Deus and I tell them I can't stand the Deus audio....... Anything XP can do to offer more audio options like the Deus 2 Square wave audio will be welcome news to me.

If you want fully adjustable 5 tones...........no detector that has high enough frequency as a single frequency or in multi frequency can do that in their dedicated gold prospecting modes. The Equinox in its Gold modes, the Deus 1 in Gold Field, the ORX in its two gold modes, the Garrett/Whites 24k and even the Nokta Makro Gold Kruzer in their hybrid threshold based all metal modes are 1 to 2 tones at the most. You would have to use the Equinox, Deus, ORX, and Gold Kruzer in one of their discrimination modes to access more than 1 to 2 tones. I don't know the choices on the Deus 2's gold field program yet and the same goes for the Legend's gold mode. If you insist on multi tones for gold prospecting, Park 2 and Field 2 using the Multi frequency option are virtually the same on the Equinox 600 and 800 which I and others have used very well for gold prospecting for smaller sized nuggets. They can be setup for 5 tones. Don't let anyone try to convince you that the Equinox cannot handle tough terrain. It can do that easily. An Equinox 600 ($649) with a Detect Ed or other collapsible shaft and the Coiltek 10X5 elliptical will run you around $900 especially if you find a dealer with all of those components and who is willing to make you a deal.

Unless you absolutely have to have another coil right now.....I would wait for the aftermarket coils from Nel. The Whites coils were handmade and from my experience, very inconsistent quality wise.

He was using Beach Sensitive, 3 tones with PWM tones (like the original Deus 1 audio) with the second tone break at 75. I am guessing that those are the default settings. Many of the modern European coins hit close to that second tone break which makes them sound unstable with mid and high tones simultaneously. That was very wet sand. I have hunted with the Deus 1 in those conditions using the Wet Sand program and with the ORX in salt mode. My Deus and ORX were never as stable and quiet as the Deus 2 shown here. I would have had a hard time hearing many of his good targets from ground response background noise using the Deus 1 and ORX. The coin finds that were of the same denomination were very consistent as far as target IDs he referenced and were not very jumpy. The gold and silver jewelry finds were also very consistent as far as the target IDs he referenced. The Deus 2 performed very well. Too bad his battery ran out and he also did not mention more of the trash target responses.

Yes. Whites GMX is the heavier, waterproofed version of the Whites/Garrett 24K. The coils are inerchangeable.

Second video by Gary Blackwell of the Deus ll Beta

I used to be a Fisher/Teknetics fan, owned several of their detectors and made myself use them, even when I knew I had better detectors with more features hanging on the wall. Support USA businesses and all of the other related homeboy sentiments. I have thought about taking a tour of their facilities several times since I drive across Texas often. Maybe after Covid that will still be possible. Other than my two Teknetics Tek Point pinpointers, I don't own or use any FTP products currently and unless something amazing happens I won't own any of their detectors in the future. My Deus 1 Lite with its selectable frequencies detects just as well and my Equinox.........not even close in the areas I detect. I wish I had something good to say........Maybe the coil will be released soon. I don't have a detector to use it on though. I do really like their pulse induction pinpointers and use them daily!!!!

I am going to wait awhile.......I don't need a supposed "Equinox Killer", but I do need lightweight gear. I also don't need the full Deus ll since I expect the Deus ll to still fit into the same niche as my Deus l Lite. So when there is a version with just the 9" coil (or an elliptical 9.5X5"), telescoping shaft and headphone control module, I may bite if the reviews show the Deus ll has substantially better target ID than Deus l, doesn't up average into the stratosphere like Deus l in mineralized ground and seems to be trouble free.

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.

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.

The only time I watch unboxing videos is when I am ready to sell a detector and I need to know how it fits in the original box………

Not arguing with your conclusions made in your post. I just want to reiterate what Minelab printed in their manual which is: Beach 2 — Underwater / Surf Beach 2 gives the best results when either wading or shallow diving, with the coil and/or detector fully submerged. In these instances, there is a very strong salt signal present, so Beach 2 has a lower transmit power, which results in much less noise. This profile may also be useful in dry conditions where there are extremely high ground noise levels. Beach 2 Multi- IQ processes a very low weighted multi-frequency combination, using the same algorithms as Beach 1 to maximise ground balancing for salt. So Minelab gave the OK for people to fully submerge the Equinox in salt water and to do shallow diving down to 10 ft. Nothing was said about slow moving water, wave action, pressure differences, IP ratings or length of time submerged. Like Rick, I have stopped submerging my out of warranty Equinox 800. I do occasionally intentionally submerge my other 800 since it is still under warranty. At least Nokta Makro have published IP ratings and from my experiences both in salt and fresh water, I have had no problems submerging the entire Simplex, allowing it to float basically unattended in salt water and using it submerged in fast moving river water. I had the same experience with the Gold Kruzer. Do I intend to snorkel or shallow dive for long periods of time with any of these "all purpose" detectors. Heck no. Will I submerge them........definitely.

I don't expect it to perform like the Equinox. I expect it to perform like a combination of the Simplex, Anfibio and slightly lower frequency Gold Kruzer while having the Multi Frequency option for use when it is makes sense to use it like at saltwater locations or in ground with higher iron mineralization or mineralization that changes a lot. Just having one Legend detector instead of a having to own the Simplex, Anfibio and Gold Kruzer (which are fine detectors plus the Legend has some features like ferrous check and improved audio to name a couple that those three detector don't have), is why I want to buy one, not because it may have better detecting performance than the Equinox.

Hi Vito, the manual for the Deus ll (at least the English translated one that I browsed) has very good explanations and suggestions for the different modes, what targets they are designed for and hints at what frequencies are being used and why. It does not give exact numbers but it gives way more information than what is included in the Equinox manual. Sorry to be a little abrupt about this frequencies being used subject, but that really is proprietary information that XP, Nokta Makro and Minelab are trying to protect......from each other and especially from illegal cloners/counterfeiters.

Copying a good thing legally is a smart business strategy. Minelab's name for detecting modes on the Equinox were a good suggestion for use, N/M Simplex had similar names. At least the N/M proven control box waterproofing and the included collapsible shaft that is partially carbon fiber are very different from the Equinox. If the Gold Field program is selectable single frequency only and is more like a threshold based all metal mode, I would be fine with that too.