First Impression After 2 Weeks

[HerrUU]

After (only) two weeks of use, I want to share my experience so far. I'm mostly comparing the detector with the Nokta Legend, which was my main detector to that point.

Let me start with the 'negative' : my WSA II XL headphone didn't work. It didn't charge. So I contacted the dealer and he told me to send it back to him. It took a week to get a new one and when that arrived, it was defective too. Only sound in one ear. So I made the +100 mile trip (single trip) to his shop to get it replaced. He tested the charge and function of the headset and I was finally good to go. I was a bit dissapointed in the fact that it took two replacements to get it right and that besides a "I never had this problem so far", no real excuse was made. Lesson learned and there are plenty of other detector stores around.

Now on to the positive. So the first week I was 'limited' to working with the remote speaker which did not yet let me enjoy the full "XP sound" experience but even so, I noticed some serious differences with my Legend. First of all, it's a lot lighter to swing. Even compared to the Nokta with the LG24 on it, I can swing it for hours without any issue. One of the reasons I bought a Deus was the ergonomics, the elbow and shoulder are starting to wear out after 50 years of use  🙂 Build quality is exellent but so is that of the legend.  But it's a lot lighter.

It's also a more capable detector allround. Ok, you need to take into account that it costs +/- two times as much as the Legend so it would be an issue if it wouldn't but the difference is very much there. The 9" on the Deus 2 goes deeper than the LG24 on the Nokta. In my garden, I have buried some coins about 6 months ago (depth between 6 and 10 inches) and the Legend struggles to get them. The ones at 10 inches he simply cannot find. However, the Deus finds them, faint but they give a signal I would dig. Separation seems better too but honestly the LG24 had no issues there as well. Must be between my ears 😄

Ground balancing and thus negating the effect of the soil (we have heavy mineralized soil here) is a better than on the legend. No surprise there for me, I kind of expected this. It's also less sensitive to EMI, at least over here.

There's however one thing that the Legend has over the Deus 2 : it's a lot more 'turn on and go'! I would not recommend the Deus 2 to someone new to the hobby, you do need some knowledge and experience in metal detecting before using the Deus 2. The Legend is more user friendly at first. Again, my experience of course 🙂 But in defense of the Deus : Gary Blackwell does offer a lot of tutorials on Youtube that do help you in learning to use the Deus. Something I find lacking for the Legend. 

Anyway, I'm not regretting one single bit the €1500 ($1630) price tag on the detector because it's a more capable detector than the €700 euro costing Legend and I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun detecting with it.

[Hombre91]

Query a site with the Legend and then pound it with the D2.

[HerrUU]

I did actually 🙂 but the comparison is not fair at the moment, it rained for months here and the ground was more like a swamp than a field. And this week, it froze so now it's hard as rock. But as said, the Deus hit the coins, the Legend didn't. I'm sure if I put the LG30 on the Legend, it will find them but then the fair comparison would be to put the 11" coil on the Deus, wouldn't it?

In my garden however, I see a difference between the two. There's a lot of canslaw here (mea culpa) and on the Legend they sound great. On the Deus however, they have an extra chirp/buzz to them that defines them as junk (I dug up quite a few).

But to be honest, I'm not dissin' the Legend, it's a great detector! It's still my backup and will remain so. As for the Deus, I'm still learning the machine and mostly using it in General (with some modification to the 3 tones) so I'm not reaching its full potential yet I think. Give me 6 months 🙂 and I'll be more confident with it.

[Dirtshark]

I just got the D2 and like you, my main detector has been the Legend. 

I have nothing bad to say about the D2. The Legend is a great machine, but the D2 is another animal. 

I could only get out a couple times with it. I went to a familiar place I have hunted with the Legend a lot and was surprised how many targets I was hearing on the D2 that I didn't find with the Legend. Found a bag seal, a victorian brass thinging with fancy on it and a 1951 canadian penny. Not bad for a place I have hit and hit and hit. 

Even with the 9" coil on the D2 it seemed to go deep. 

I bought it mainly for the weight and the tones, and on those points it is fantastic. Also, regardng the weight, I can tell I will be able to detect longer and reach tough spots with it with less effort. Such a pleasure to swing. 

I am very glad that I started detecting with the Legend. I learned a lot and I really didn't feel intimidated by the D2 settings etc. 

For what it is worth I got the D2 with backphones, RC and 9" coil for around $1348.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3MNT3LF?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 

I guess if I had one thing to complain about it might be the backphones. They really hurt my ears wearing them at first but I found if you tilt the back down after fitting them they kind of hang above your ear a bit and they feel a lot better. 

Of course now everything is frozen so I can only stare at it lovingly until spring, lol

 

 

[Dirtshark]

Oh and yeah, the D2 seems like it is less sensative to EMI. Which, for me, is a huge plus. In my experience the Legend seems to struggle with EMI. I very often have to switch to single freq on it or reduce gain and recovery to the point where I question if I am missing stuff. But that is just my impression. Not knocking the Nokta. 

When I went to my spot with the D2 I did get a bit of EMI but it didn't drown out my ability to hear the targets.

 

Just sayin. lol

[F350Platinum]

On 1/12/2024 at 11:27 AM, HerrUU said:

Give me 6 months 🙂 and I'll be more confident with it.

Don't know how I missed this post, but congratulations on getting a Deus II and learning it. Congratulations also for your persistence regarding the WSA II headphones, both of mine worked great from the start.

It definitely took me that long to get used to it coming from an Equinox. The D2 is definitely not for the timid, careless or undisciplined, from charging to programming. The learning curve is high.

However, as you have mentioned, its light weight, water resistance, and incredible versatility cannot be overstated. I haven't yet used it in conditions that can't be overcome with either settings or advice, and there is no better first place to look for those than here. Glad to see you are still around. 🙂 

If you purchased the 9" package, might I suggest the 13x11" as an option. While larger and heavier than the 11" you would be surprised should you compare it, for some reason there is a big difference and it isn't just size. At US $400 per coil it is much more for the same price.

I hope you have the best luck out there, be careful, a quick search shows me that your country is fair to detect in but has some restrictions:

https://www.detect.nl/en/blogs/detect/rules-for-metal-detecting-in-belgium/

Hope to see whatever finds you can post. 🍀

[palzynski]

On 1/12/2024 at 11:08 AM, HerrUU said:

...

Anyway, I'm not regretting one single bit the €1500 ($1630) price tag on the detector because it's a more capable detector than the €700 euro costing Legend and I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun detecting with it.

A very interesting post thanks HerrUU ...  I think you were simply unlucky with your D2 issues . I have used several WS4s with the D1 since 2013 and now a WS6 and I have only had a few minor issues like changing the headphones batteries , and always at least after 2 or 3 years of use ..

Concerning the D2 high price at 1600E , notice that the D2 starts at around 800E with the WS6 master version which has exactly the same performances than the "full" version , with almost all its settings . Personally I dont need the RC for inland hunting, but I understand that other users must buy one , for example beach hunters  ..

I agree that the D2 is a sophisticated machine with more than 10 detecting modes and a lot of settings , it is rather a detector for experimented users . I would not recommend it for a beginner unless he can be helped/trained by an experimented user..

Le bonjour de Soissons , France , btw  🙂..

[HerrUU]

11 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

I hope you have the best luck out there, be careful, a quick search shows me that your country is fair to detect in but has some restrictions:

https://www.detect.nl/en/blogs/detect/rules-for-metal-detecting-in-belgium/

To make it really "Belgian" you actually have 3 different permits : one for Flanders, one for Wallonia and one for the district of Brussels. Actually in the latter it's illegal I believe but skyscrapers are not really where I want to search 😁

As for Flanders, I have a permit by our gouvernment agency controlling historical sites so I'm covered as long as I have permission on the site and don't go any deeper as 30cm (12 inches). And that's fine for me, I don't like digging deep holes.

Much of the restrictions here are actually very much needed. For instance, around Ypres you cannot search. This is logical if you take into consideration that for the 1917 offensive by the British in that region, 7 million artillery rounds were fired and some 30% of those didn't explode. And they're not all filled with explosives, some contain chlorine or mustard gas.

And on other sites, I think we need to show some respect for the fallen on those sites (Bastogne for one).

But back to the Deus 2 : went out yesterday, ground was frozen solid in a lot of places so I was a bit restricted in where to search. Managed to pull some musket balls (Napoleon or older, still looking for a good reference book on those) and some coins of the 17th and 18th century.

Here's a picture what types of finds we get in Belgium :

Most garbage is not included, I filled quite a few garbage bags with them 🙂

[HerrUU]

Finds part 2 and 3 :

 

Take notice how the gold rings in picture 3 are between or just above the foil.

 

[HerrUU]

My most prized find is the one at 65, that's a Brabant Denier, Duke Jan III, minted at Leuven between 1330 and 1337 AD.