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

[Jeff McClendon]

Just for people that are new to my posts, I can get long winded quick.

I did this testing for me and me alone to help determine which of these two detectors will be saying bye, bye. I am posting it here for anyone that wants to read it. This testing is not definitive, absolute or even remotely relatable to what you may see in other testing videos, may experience or have experienced if you actually read this post.

This testing was semi controlled. I used a 18" by 12" by 12" black plastic container filled to within 2" of the top with dirt from my backyard that has had all detectable targets of any kind including hot rocks removed. I did not remove any of the tiny magnetite particles with a magnet. It has been allowed to become very dry and crumbly over the 4 years that it has been in this container. It shows 10 of 12 filled up bars on the XP Deus 2 magnetite mineralization meter. This dirt is as bad as it gets around here and mimics the unwatered dirt in the ground in this area up until yesterday when we got some well needed rain.....it is still raining today which is awesome for our water shortage here in the Colorado Front Range area. EMI was also an issue.........

This testing includes foil and beaver tail aluminum targets vs a US clad quarter in separation testing and a depth test that includes a .25 gram piece of lead from a fishing sinker that was cut in half and flattened (mimics a small gold nugget or piece of micro jewelry), a modern US nickel, a modern US clad dime and a modern US clad quarter.

The target separation test had three parts and no targets were elevated so all were at the same level laying on top of this nasty dirt: test 1. foil or beaver tail laying directly on top of the clad quarter, test 2. foil or beaver tail laying roughly one quarter's diameter above the quarter, so on the Y-axis or parallel to the center spine of the detector's coils and test 3. the foil or beaver tail laying roughly one quarter's diameter left of the quarter on the X-axis so perpendicular to the center spine of the detector's coils. Normal speed coil sweeps for both detectors were as flat as possible and roughly 2" above the test targets. See photos below.

The depth test was done in the same container using two slightly different sized 8" long PVC pipes sunk vertically into the dirt 4 years ago. Inside the smaller PVC pipe is a foam insert with notches cut into it at one inch intervals that are big enough to insert coin sized targets. See photo below.

The results from the depth test may be startling to some. These results are however fairly consistent with what happens in some areas of western Denver when the soil is bone dry. Add in some moisture and the results will improve by 1" to 2 " on coin sized targets. The improvement on micro jewelry and small nugget type targets is minimal since they already are so close to the ferrous/non-ferrous borderline.

Just for your information, these separation tests, depth tests and field results are very similar to the Equinox 800 results on coin sized targets. On micro jewelry and small gold nuggets, the Equinox and Legend are roughly equal from my experience. 

Both detectors were properly noise cancelled and ground balanced.

Deus 2 target IDs for the test targets on the test dirt's surface are: .25 gram lead =30, US clad nickel =63, US clad dime =91, US clad quarter =96, square of candy wrapper foil =26, beaver tail from a ring pull =61.

Legend target IDs for the test targets on the test dirt's surface are: .25 gram lead =14, US clad nickel =26, US clad dime =46, US clad quarter =51, square of candy wrapper foil =11, beaver tail from a ring pull =23.

The settings I used are the ones that I have settled on to hunt most of the time for coins and jewelry from trial and error. You can question them if you want, but I already have. They work as well as some others I have tried and much better than others that are recommended back east or in the UK.

Deus 2 9" coil (I don't have the 11" and won't buy one since I don't need it and it is not as comfortable to swing for me): Sensitive 5 tones, discrimination =10, sensitivity =95, frequency shift (today) =3, volume =3, iron volume =3, reactivity =2.5, audio response =4, silencer =1, bottle cap reject =1, notch =OFF, 5 tones with tone breaks set at 10/59/65/88/.

Legend 11" coil (can't wait for the 10X5"!!!) Park M1, discrimination on the G-ground setting, sensitivity =25, frequency shift today =4, volume =4, iron volume =6, recovery speed =5, iron filter =3, iron stability =3, 6 tones with similar tone setting to Deus 2 above that help me audibly distinguish possible target conductivity and type of US coin.

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Deus 2 foil directly on top of quarter test: solid IDs from 87 to 96 indicating a high conductor. ID stability lessened near the edges of the coil

Legend foil directly on top of quarter test: solid ID of 48, indicating a high conductor, very stable. 

Deus 2 foil roughly 1" away from quarter and directly above it on the Y-axis: IDs from 76 to 82. Sounded like one target. It was easy to cherry pick and identify each target by conductivity of tone and ID by moving the coil along the Y-axis until the front or rear edge of the coil was only over one target.

Legend foil roughly 1" away from quarter and directly above it on the Y-axis: IDs from 20 to 22. Sounded like one target. It was easy to cherry pick and identify each target by conductivity of tone and ID by moving the coil along the Y-axis until the front or rear edge of the coil was only over one target.

Deus 2 foil roughly 1" away from the quarter and directly to the left on the X-axis: three distinct target IDs and corresponding tones in the 50s, 70s and 99 which clearly showed multiple targets swinging from right to left. Swinging from left to right there was blanking/nulling of the background noise and then 99 as the coil's left edge left the foil and was only over the quarter.

Legend foil roughly 1" away from the quarter and directly to the left on the X-axis: three distinct target IDs and corresponding tones in the 20s, 40s and 50s which clearly showed multiple targets swinging from right to left. Swing from left to right there was blanking/nulling of the background noise and 48 to 55 IDs as the coil's left edge left the foil and was only over the quarter.

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Deus 2 beaver tail directly on top of the quarter test: solid IDs 88 to 96.

Legend beaver tail directly on top of the quarter test: solid IDs 49 to 52.

Deus 2 beaver tail roughly 1" above quarter on the Y-axis (like above): one target sound only. IDs 72 to 82, targets easy to separate like above with good IDs using front and rear edges of coil.

Legend beaver tail roughly 1" above quarter on the Y-axis (like above): one target sound only, IDs 33 to 36, targets easy to separate like above with good IDs using front and rear edges of coil.

Deus 2 beaver tail roughly 1" directly left of the quarter on the X-axis (like above): sounded like one target swinging in either direction, ID 99, not easy to separate, target IDs for beaver tail 44 to 50, quarter 99. 

Legend beaver tail roughly 1" directly left of the quarter on the X-axis (like above): sounded like three distinct targets from right to left with IDs of 38-46-54, swinging left to right there was blanking/nulling of the background noise and then target ID of 46 or 54 when the left edge of the coil moved past the beaver tail. Easy to cherry pick with beaver tail reading 23 to 30 and quarter reading 46 to 55.

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Depth test

Coils were swung as close as possible to the top of the PVC target holder.

Deus 2 on .25 gram lead at 1" depth: =faint response with target IDs jumping from 30 to 99.  2"= no response. Tried default Goldfield.....no response at 1".

Legend on .25 gram lead at 1" depth: =iffy response with target IDs jumping from 11 to 20.  2" =faint response (definitely something there) IDs alternating 11 and 60. 3"= no response. Default Gold Field using the A discrimination setting (all metal) hit this target down to 3".  At 3" it was a faint response (definitely something there) with no ID, only tone.

Deus 2 US nickel at 3" depth: =61 to 64 ID, good audio, 4" =64 to 74 good audio but crossed over tone break, at 5" =64 to 99 iffy audio and multiple tone breaks crossed, 6"=faint response 99 ID or no ID. 7" = no response.

Legend US nickel at 3" =ID 26 strong audio, 4" =25 to 29 good audio but crossed over tone break, 5" =25 to 60 iffy audio and multiple tone breaks crossed, 6" =25 to 60, faint audio, etc. 7" =no response.

Deus 2 US clad dime at 3" =ID 91 to 93 good audio response, 4" =91 to 96 iffy response, 5"=99 or no ID faint response, 6"=no response.

Legend US clad dime at 3" =ID 45 to 48 good audio response, 4" =44 to 52 iffy response, 5" =44 to 58 iffy response, 6" =48 to 60 faint response, 7" =60 to no ID but know something is there, 8"=no response.

Deus 2 US clad quarter at 3" =ID 96 to 97 strong audio response, 4" =96 to 99 good response, 5" =97 to 99 iffy to faint response, 6"=99 to no ID very faint but know something is there, 7" =no response.

Legend US clad quarter at 3" =51 to 52 strong audio response, 4" =50 to 54 good response, 5" =53 to 58 iffy response, 6" =56 to 60 very iffy response, 7"=58 to 60 faint response, 8"=no response.

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the photos show the targets and testing scenarios. The top foil/quarter and beavertail/quarter were the actual test targets.

Thanks for reading if you actually did.

[Calmark]

Jeff,

I'd keep both the Legend and Deus 2 and use them in areas they have positives over the other and not in areas they have shortcomings.  

For example, take the Legend nugget hunting or for micro jewelry hunting since its clearly hotter on smaller targets.  A smaller coil(s) for the Legend just accentuates this even further.  Its somewhat of a bummer the D2 isn't likely to get a smaller coil anytime soon...  

If the Deus 2 handles EMI better like mine does over my Equinox 800, use it in more urban settings where that gives an edge.  I use my Deus 2 more also because it has nicer ergonomics, even over a Micronox set up with carbon fiber telescopic rod and 10x5  Coiltek coil.  Your Legend has an 11in coil too, so if you want depth, then the Legend is the one to grab.

All that said, I just very recently sold my Equinox to a friend of mine to search for an old home site somewhere on his property.  I kept the D2 since its better on EMI when I coin and jewelry hunt.  ID# accuracy is nice, but looking for jewelry, I just dig things that sounds good or are in the range jewelry or coins are likely to be found.  My soil is extremely mineralized like yours and I typically get .5-1in less depth than you report.  Any of the multi-frequency machines out there seem to have ID that is good enough for good identification up to 4-5 inches at least.  

I know its tempting to cash out the D2 in my mind and use a Legend or Nox since they all have capabilities that are very close to each other.  I'd probably buy a Legend if I were to get another MF machine.  It has a lot of great qualities and recent additions in the newest software have made it very competitive to the others.  

[Steve Herschbach]

Anyone that can't do well with a Deus, or an Equinox, or a Legend, simply needs to learn more about metal detecting. Work more on your technique, find better locations, put in more hours. The operator and their location, will have far more to do with the results, than which one of these three machines anyone owns.

Lots of work there Jeff, thanks for posting!

[Jeff McClendon]

Thanks Calmark,

First, my Equinox 800's are not even part of my decision process. They aren't going anywhere except on hunts with me.

I look at it this way. I bought Deus 2 for the ergonomics, SMF tech for target ID accuracy (opposed to Deus 1), reports of great depth from some people, and most of all for a lightweight, easy to back pack gold prospecting detector that has SMF tech for better ground mineralization handling.

I am not diving to 60 feet and I am not a big fan of the antenna system for submerging the coil. I have used that system a lot with Deus 1 so the entire added benefits of its beach and water capabilities are not very important to me.

So far Deus 2 has delivered on the ergonomics and the excellent SMF tech for target ID accuracy which is way better than Deus 1. I can actually set US coin tone breaks and even very exacting notches with little worry of missing up or down averaged 2 to 3" targets like I would if I set notches on Deus 1.

However, so far Deus 2 has not delivered on great depth, dramatically better ground handling than Deus 1 and it fails miserably compared to Deus 1 as a gold prospecting detector.

I have not noticed any major differences in EMI handling between the Equinox, Legend or Deus 2 in my area.

The Legend has met or exceeded every expectation I had for it except that it is a bit heavy with the 11" coil. I bought it to keep me from using my out of warranty Equinox 800's submerged. I would rather pay $700 for a new detector that won't leak instead of paying $425 for a replacement Equinox 800 control pod that could leak next week.......Plus, Nokta has been doing everything humanly possible to update the Legend with bug fixes, performance improvements and incredible features.

I particularly wanted to see which detector...Deus 2 vs Legend had a clear advantage as far as target separation. There was no clear advantage. I have already seen in the field that the Legend with 11" coil is appreciably deeper than Deus 2 with 9" coil in the places I hunt. For me, both of those neutral to negative strikes against Deus 2 come mostly from inferior high iron mineralization ground handling.

That testing and my hundreds of hours using both detectors has made it clear to me which one fits my needs and my environment the best.

If XP can or will correct the gold prospecting shortcomings of the software programming I might consider looking at Deus 2 again down the road. If they release a smaller, more sensitive coil, I will definitely consider it. Right now.......bye, bye Deus 2.

[Rick N. MI]

That would be tough to choose. They both performed well. I would give a slight edge to the Legend. You could also consider the weight difference. I think the 5x9.5 will push it over the edge to keep the Legend. A 5x9.5 is supposed be in the works. That coil is the reason I'm keeping my Legend. Also with Nokta/Makro keeping up on this detector is another reason to keep the Legend.

We may also have an update coming that would give the Legend even better separation. That is only a guess lol. No rumors on that.

[GB_Amateur]

2 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Thanks for reading if you actually did.

I did.  ⭐ for me?  😁      

(BTW, I think I can beat you in post word count most of the time; not sure about this one though.)

Jeff, for your test setup it seems to be a close decision.  You'll get more $ for a used Deus 2 than a used Legend, but if you end up selling the 'keeper' later that difference may wash out.

One thing I wondered about is separation between non-ferrous good targets (e.g. coins) and iron (e.g. nails) which the Deus 2 (and Deus 1 for that matter) is claimed to be superior to all(?) competitors.  Is that not a concern in your hunting sites or have you already determined that in this application (including ground conditions) the difference in performance between the two is negligible?

[Jeff McClendon]

Chuck, in the older iron trashed sites I hunt in that are highly iron mineralized I have not noticed a dramatic difference. If I did hunt often in much lower iron mineralization I would also reconsider this choice. 

Despite what many are showing on some YouTube channels, the super fast recovery speed and target separation of Deus 2 are hampered by the iron mineralization out here more than people may think possible. I actually saw better separation with Deus 1.

[Jeff McClendon]

37 minutes ago, Deep Beeps said:

I have both the 9" and the 11" coils for the Deus 2 and Im sure the depths would have been improved on that front. I actually have hunted Denver City Parks this year for a few days and kept the 11" on the whole time. Used it in Sensi FT and just plucked coin after coin through the trash. Im sure I missed some interesting items bad had a blast. 

In my little testing with a small sub gram nugget the Deus just doesn't seem to work at all but then again I doubt I would be using it for nugget shooting.

There are definitely plenty of coins left in Denver parks. Most local hunters that I know were still using older Whites, single frequency Garretts and Deus 1s until recently so they missed a lot of the 3" and deeper coins. Denver parks get a ton of use too so fresh drops happen a lot.

As far as 9" to 11" making a big difference......I doubt it. It was just the opposite with 9" and 11" coils on Deus 1 and the ORX. Larger coil here for those detectors meant more trouble with ground masking.

[midalake]

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

 

Don't know Jeff, maybe another 20 hours or so on each will bring you closer to a good decision?  GL 😁

[King-Of-Bling]

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.