Jeff McClendon

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.

They do break after a few years of use no matter how carefully they are used. Like Palzynski said, XP would have upgraded them for the new Deus ll if they considered it to be a major problem. Since the butterfly clip is included with the new Deus ll................ The good part is if it does break where the thin piece of plastic above the mini USB port acts as a spring, they are fairly easy to secure with a rubber band, tie wrap, velcro or tape temporarily or more permanently with one of the spring installations highlighted on this sight by another poster or by instructions on YouTube. The Detector Dodads clip (for North American buyers) is an excellent product too. The bad part for new, unaware users is having a broken charging clip and seemingly no way to charge a coil with very low battery would be frustrating for sure. In the 5 years that I have been on metal detecting forums, getting the charging clip properly installed on coils and breaking the clip is by far the biggest complaint I have read about. Definitely minor but frustrating. This is just my opinion but for the price one pays for the XP Deus, Orx and Deus ll, and their much touted engineering design abilities, a charging clip that is easier to install and less likely to break (less complaints in the long run) doesn't seem to me to be too much to ask.

I don't have any thoughts.........I want actual unbiased results of testing before I make a decision on the Deus ll.

Whites made some very good detectors. They also went bye-bye due some business decisions that turned out to be wrong. Maybe publishing those frequencies was one of them while also touting those SMF detectors as being capable of handling all ground conditions well. They couldn't. So, solid performance in all ground conditions is now one of the goals of newer SMF technology. I don't need to know what is happening under the hood.....just make it work.

Thanks, the same Jeff wrote both posts and I am not bi-polar or schizo (as far as I know) so maybe you read them from your own different personal perspectives. I just use what works best for me and my usual detecting scenarios. I could care less what brand I use or how much it costs. I also simply do not listen to marketing pitches and hype with the viewpoint that what is being said or hyped is totally true. Those good folks have to promote their detectors and not mentioning weakness while pointing out the weaknesses of other detector brands seems to be "normal" marketing procedure these days. For example, I just watched Gary Blackwell/XP's first Deus ll video going over some of the features. Gary made it a point to stress the strengths of the Deus ll's target ID and notching and how they can be trusted without mentioning how poorly those two functions work in moderate to high iron and salt mineralization on the original Deus on fairly shallow targets. Gary also showed off the Deus ll's steel bottle cap rejection settings which reminded me of the Equinox iron bias. Steel bottle caps reading in the US quarter/silver range on the expensive original Deus l is very annoying. I am glad XP addressed this issue. Maybe XP did produce SMF tech that is similar to Multi IQ which would be great. Minelab did tell the world how Multi IQ was different from previous SMF tech in some of its published data. How to do it was not published. I just don't trust regularly using the current Equinox control box under water even though I have not had a problem. Minelab not giving it a published IP rating is telling....... Nokta Makro fully waterproofed detectors have been proven to work. Adding SMF even if it is really only helpful in salt beach and moderate iron mineralization will be an improvement and will sell some detectors to people who want a budget friendly designated underwater detector. That added year on the warranty is great too. For really serious underwater detectorists, the Deus 2's published IP rating and published useable depth are super impressive and that type of a promised waterproof capability comes at a cost. If XP's SMF is really good for more than saltwater........that will be one amazing detector.

Another excellent video by Gary and XP. What a nice detector.

I can't speak for Dan and what he might be wondering about with the XP underwater antenna. From the Deus ll manual, the antenna setup and attachments at the coil appear to be very similar to Deus l. In fast water or water with strong currents or underwater objects that can snag the small antenna wire, I am taping that connector for sure and adding more than just two velcro straps to the wire. I like how the upper end of the antenna wire connects to the Deus ll remote. I still wish the antenna wire was inside the shaft.

That clip looks to be well made from a 3D printer and should be a good aftermarket option. The OEM XP clip costs half as much in the USA IF you can find one. They have been sold out on most big metal detector sales sites for over a year. None on Ebay USA at the moment either. This little argument over whose is bigger/better/the best..........who cares, started from this statement: "That skinny cable will be less resistant in the water than a standard coil cable which will be on the other water detector. " and has proceeded from there to escalate into a mini detector war. I have used the Deus underwater kit, several waterproof Nokta Makro wired coil detectors and the Equinox underwater in both fresh and saltwater conditions. All three work. I have not noted a big resistance difference created by antennas and coil cables. Resistance is noticeable in coil design, weight and where the coil nut/shaft connection is located. Smaller coils have always worked better for me submerged than 11"+ coils as far as drag and ease of use underwater. I was definitely the most concerned about the XP underwater kit antenna wire coming loose from the coil. I always put on the rubber band and taped it down too along with plenty of velcro on the shaft to hold the small diameter antenna wire in place. Hopefully the Deus 2 has a more secure antenna clip and has the option of running the wire inside the shaft....... With the Nokta Makro and Equinox I did not do anything besides making sure the coil cable was not flopping around before submerging it.

As usual Simon, you have said the most important thing which ultimately for me also is detector performance especially in tougher ground conditions. I am happy with my Deus 1 setup for what I use it for. I am extremely happy with the Equinox. I haven't had any of the leaking or coil ear issues that others have had. I really like Nokta Makro detectors. I will be buying the Legend when it is available. I need a budget friendly, proven waterproof, selectable single frequency/SMF detector that can also be a gold prospecting/gold jewelry alternative to the Equinox, especially in freshwater. It doesn't have to be as good as the Equinox to make me happy. If it really does perform as well or better than an Equinox 600/800....great.

Lots of opinions in your post including Steve “solved the mystery for marketing ………”. What mystery? A $1500+ SMF detector is probably better than a $949 SMF and definitely better than $649 SMF or a $635 SMF. All I can say is for that price difference the Deus ll had better be over twice as good as a Nox 600 or the new Legend in every detecting scenario that the Nox currently does very well in. Looking at specs and features means absolutely nothing if the actual SMF tech is not equal to or surpasses the market leader in the selectable single frequency/SMF “do it all” category which clearly is currently the Equinox 800. Right now I would take my Equinox 800 anywhere on this planet on dry land and shallow saltwater surf and it would do very well. There is one scenario where I would prefer to have the original Deus which is shallower nonferrous targets in thick iron trash. There is one scenario where I would prefer a Simplex, Kruzer or Anfibio over the Equinox which is submerged freshwater. I have owned and used these detectors extensively. As others have noted, until some very experienced, neutral reviewers are able to do actual side by side testing on wild targets in extreme and varied ground conditions, any pre-release opinions about actual real world, tough conditions performance compared to the Equinox 800 are just daydreaming.

I have broken two Deus butterfly charging clips………I have never been called heavy handed by anyone and I rarely break things. I would not call those charging clips cheap by the way. I do consider them to be poorly designed.

If, and it is a big if, Deus 2's SMF can really handle the nasty dirt and hot rocks in high iron mineralized gold fields (and at Culpepper VA too) then similar to the Equinox, its roughly 40 kHz SMF Gold Field mode will do just fine for gold prospecting. If its SMF tech fails in that environment those 48 to 81 kHz HF coil single frequencies will be sorely missed. So, I am definitely holding onto my HF coils and my Deus 1 Lite setup until I know for sure how well the Deus 2's SMF does in high iron mineralization and on hot rocks.