Jeff McClendon Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 Both are excellent detectors for sure. For me and where I hunt, Deus 2 is mostly a huge improvement over Deus 1 and the ORX. For people that are familiar with the original Deus and ORX, moving to Deus 2 should be easy For me also, the Legend is totally a big improvement over any other Nokta detector that I have ever used. Its user interface is pretty different from previous Nokta Makro models however, except for the Simplex. thanks for the kind words bigtim1973!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F350Platinum Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Like the good Cap'n, I'm finding that having the Equinox (yes, even the lowly 600) and the Deus 2 is pretty much a base cover for me. It pains me to go to my beaches and rivers to see them full of stinging jellyfish, I've wiped out the sand and my waders aren't for 90 degree weather. ? I am hoping to get the D2 in the water chest high, did it once and it was incredible. That is the main reason I bought one as other manufacturers just don't have the specs XP does on that machine. Everywhere else I'm perfectly happy with the Equinox, the ultimate pillage device. ? The D2 does serve me in high EMI spots however. I like Nokta and greatly respect their successes. I would buy a Legend if I needed it, heck for the fun of it I took a nostalgic step and bought a very unused Tesoro Vaquero! I want to know what the more seasoned folks here have been through, and have been told it's hell in iron. ? I too read about every detector, even ones I do not need. You have helped me quite a bit along the way over the last two years, sorry to read that you're having the inevitable issues of age. I have a nagging hip pain that stems from kneeling to pinpoint and dig, but a day or two off makes it go away. Get better and I look forward to your future thoughts. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick N. MI Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 You'll have fun with that Vaquero. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kac Posted August 26, 2022 Share Posted August 26, 2022 Sucks getting old, hope you heal up quick 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff McClendon Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 Obviously, my starting this topic had to do mostly with me being able to justify keeping the Legend and Deus 2 at the same time since in some ways they are very similar especially with the Legend now having Pitch Tones included for its Park, Field and Beach modes which gives the user a very good ferrous/non-ferrous 2 tone VCO audio option that works great and easily competes with a similar audio option on Deus 2. The Deus 2 ergonomics and packability however, made me search for an alternative which I found by basically selling one part of Deus 2 which is half the cost of the detector. My used Deus 2 remote and its underwater and charging accessories sold on Ebay in less than 3 hours. I had it priced well but it still sold for almost the same price as a basic Legend....... So, now I am very happy with owning these two great detectors which can only get better in the future. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Herschbach Posted August 26, 2022 Share Posted August 26, 2022 Sorry to hear about the leg issues Jeff. We have to watch those mobility issues as we age. Tough being alive if we can't move, so hope you heal up well and fast. They can do some miracle stuff these days with problems that would have put us in the rocking chair 100 years ago. So now, is it Equinox 800, or Deus 2, or Legend..... or Manticore!?  4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff McClendon Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said: Sorry to hear about the leg issues Jeff. We have to watch those mobility issues as we age. Tough being alive if we can't move, so hope you heal up well and fast. They can do some miracle stuff these days with problems that would have put us in the rocking chair 100 years ago. So now, is it Equinox 800, or Deus 2, or Legend..... or Manticore!?  I have my hands full with the Equinox, Legend and Deus 2 Lite. Manticore is going to have to substantially blow those three away in order for me to consider it. I have no idea if it can do that or not. Improving the Equinox exterior and waterproofing doesn't matter to me since I already did that with shaft and coil upgrades and I have a Legend for underwater. Adding the CTX 3030 Target Trace type part of the display may be cool and handy for some people. Not particularly interesting for me since I am more of an audio type hunter. Basically, I am not particularly excited by this new Minelab detector. Maybe that will change........ Thanks for the get well wishes Steve. I hope your hip surgery recovery is also going well. At least its summertime here and hot so not being able to even wear any of my shoes is no big deal. I can't even get my right foot inside of my Crocs!!! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Herschbach Posted August 26, 2022 Share Posted August 26, 2022 On 8/26/2022 at 9:46 AM, Jeff McClendon said: Basically, I am not particularly excited by this new Minelab detector. Maybe that will change........ Looks like an upgraded Equinox, no doubt to take place of discontinued E-Trac $1600 price slot. That would make it an apples to apples comparison for the Deus 2, for those who do that sort of stuff. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff McClendon Posted July 31 Author Share Posted July 31 It's been about 2 years since the last time anyone posted on this topic. So, at least for me, a lot has changed in these last 2 years. XP did manage to update their software to bring the WS6 Master up to almost the same features as the big remote. They improved the sensitivity of FMF Goldfield. There are real indications that XP will release an elliptical coil for Deus 2 soon. XP released a diving shaft setup and carbon fiber lower shafts for use with the larger coils. The Legend has also received many software updates that added features and settings flexibility along with coil and shaft system upgrades that improved the overall weight and ergonomics. I bought an Equinox 900. I sold an Equinox 900 4 months later I sold my last Equinox 800. I bought another Legend that was being sold so cheaply that I couldn't resist. All of my grown kids have tried it sight unseen, had instant success with it and really enjoyed using it. They are not experienced detector users. I sold my big Deus 2 remote and just used the WS6 as Master after the WS6 feature update. I bought a Deus 2 13X11" coil. I got a shoulder injury from swinging it on the stock shaft. That has now cleared up (took almost a year). Awesome, deep coil but XP really needs a different shaft system for that coil instead of having to buy an expensive aftermarket one. It better be flat where your are swinging that coil. I sold a Deus 2 13X11" coil. That coil was fantastic and made all the difference on hitting deeper targets in the 8 to 12" range in my area that the 9" coil could not hit or hit with very iffy target IDs on the shallower 8" ones. I bought a Manticore.....WOW. I bought a slightly used Minelab Vanquish 340 for $70.....insane deal on the most underrated detector on the planet. If you just like beep-dig on 8" or shallower targets with no frills and don't need to water hunt but just want to have fun with a few more features than a Tesoro Compadre, Silver uMax etc., get one. I don't like red so I spray painted the red parts Desert Tan.....beautiful and stealthy and with ridiculously accurate Multi IQ. I gave my first 340 to one of my kids and they won't give it back. I bought a Deus 2 11" coil (demo used price) just to make sure that I wasn't missing something. Sold Deus 2 and anything associated with it. I still have Manticore M11 & M8 coils, 2 Legends with one of each coil made for it except the LG32 and an XP ORX with HF elliptical coil. I really like the entire XP Deus 2 setup. It may be perfect for some of you that do lots of relic hunting in iron, beach hunting and submerged hunting. I don't dive or snorkel with a detector. I do wade sometimes. So, I have not found Deus 2 to give me any advantage over the Manticore and only a slight advantage in overall speed and depth over the Legend using similar sized coils. Manticore and Legend require zero prep or attaching anything extra for going into the water for shallow wading or for transitioning from dry land to even 2" deep water. I hunt mostly modern aluminum and steel trashed land based sites with older iron about 8 to 12" deep in dirt that has moderate to high magnetite mineralization. I have seen Deus 2 have zero advantage over the Manticore and Legend in these hunting conditions for targets in the surface to 8" deep range. Manticore wins hands down on deeper targets comparing its 11" coil vs Deus 2 with 11" coil in these ground conditions and that is with Manticore running at 80% sensitivity and Deus 2 and 99% sensitivity. Manticore and the Legend still eat Deus 2's breakfast, lunch and dinner for gold prospecting with each detector using their SMF gold prospecting modes. This took a long time.......many hundreds of hours, but-BYE, BYE Deus 2. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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