XP Deus

I don't get to hunt areas free of modern trash very often. I figured I would just go with the X35 for now and get the HF coil later if I see a need for it.
 
The Deus may not have the best TID (IMHO) but running full tones, its one of the best tone machines I've ever used. An experienced user can actually hear shapes with it pretty easily. What I mean by that is you can hear the "roundness" of coins, buttons and musket balls, while odd shaped targets have a totally different sound. Good luck with the new detector Longbow. Let us know your thoughts once you've used it for a while.
 
The Deus may not have the best TID (IMHO) but running full tones, its one of the best tone machines I've ever used. An experienced user can actually hear shapes with it pretty easily. What I mean by that is you can hear the "roundness" of coins, buttons and musket balls, while odd shaped targets have a totally different sound. Good luck with the new detector Longbow. Let us know your thoughts once you've used it for a while.

As a former full tones user of the CTX, V3i, DFX, F75 and current Equinox and Deus owner, I have to totally agree with everything Rattlehead said in his post.

I know I'm crazy but I like the way the full tones sound on the Equinox. I don't like the sound of any of the tones, full or otherwise on the Deus but that is just me. Ask me which of the two detectors has full tones that tell me the most about the target..........the Deus by far.

Which has better, more reliable and more stable numerical target IDs (as in virtually no up or down averaging of non-ferrous targets no matter how deep and numbers which lock on the most often to good targets)......that would be the Equinox in multi frequency mode.

This is one of the main reasons that I have both detectors.

The other reason (besides ergonomics) is that both detectors are excellent at unmasking targets. They do it differently, one by sheer speed and the other by getting a look at the target from multiple perspectives (frequencies) but with much faster processing than Minelab's other SMFs and those by other manufacturers too..
 
Hopefully a week from now I will be trying it out. I have always ran the Equinox in 5 tones. 50 tones was just to much for me in trashy spots. I never minded the compressed I.D. on the Equinox either. Even really deep targets are pretty stable.

I got a buddy I hunt with occasionally who uses the Deus a lot. I told him one time I needed to record some of the sounds it was making to use predator hunting.
 
Hopefully a week from now I will be trying it out. I have always ran the Equinox in 5 tones. 50 tones was just to much for me in trashy spots. I never minded the compressed I.D. on the Equinox either. Even really deep targets are pretty stable.

I got a buddy I hunt with occasionally who uses the Deus a lot. I told him one time I needed to record some of the sounds it was making to use predator hunting.

I know, I remember watching a video of someone using it on full tones and they was checking a high conductive target. It sounded like a mad as hell chipmunk. I said I would never own one if those. Now it is my favorite unit!
 
I agree with your decision Longbow62. Unlike bigtim1973, I am actually a long-time owner of both and have thousands of hours on the Equinox and the Deus. They are two very different detectors but having them both means I have all of the bases covered for sure. I respect and highly appreciate both detectors. I have found some amazing things with them. When I say something critical about them it is from a position of knowledge from experience and not because I have something against them or think one is inherently better than the other.

You can easily IHP and silver coin cherry pick with both detectors in all sorts of iron and aluminum trashed areas like curb strips and trashy public areas.

Both detectors have taught me to be a much better detector user. I really like the Equinox and it suits my hunting style and more of my hunting areas. I don’t like the Deus quite as much for my own subjective reasons, but I know I need it sometimes for iron infested relic sites that it really excels on, for quickly hitting large open areas cherry picking for gold and silver jewelry and clad recent drops and for high altitude gold prospecting or relic sites where backpacking and swinging a lightweight detector is a must have.

Bigtim1973, when you post challenge statements like “you can’t tell gold from misshaped aluminum with the Equinox” and “it is harder to tell trash from a good signal because of the Equinox numbering system” ( which is -9 to +40) I am going to respond with the facts as I have experienced them. Like I said before, it is not hard to hear gold rings and other gold jewelry on the Equinox if one KNOWS what to listen for and I only dig trash using the Equinox when I choose to as in I may dig an iffy or borderline sounding target ON PURPOSE or I may choose to dig every good sounding target in the pull tab range at certain sites so I won’t miss a potential gold target. Longbow62 and I have both reported that it is pretty easy to tell aluminum and iron trash from good targets with the Equinox after plenty of hours using it. Identifying clad, silver and older coins is just as easy along with non-ferrous relics. It just takes time on the machine like it does with any detector. The same goes for the Deus.

Bigtim1973, you don’t seem to like the Equinox very much and that is fine with me. You and many others on this forum are totally welcome to your opinions but I may disagree with them sometimes. We have gone round and round about the Equinox on several occasions. I am not posting here to convince you (or not) of anything since only plenty of time with a detector can do that. I post so others who want to know about the Equinox, Deus and ORX can hear about them from one persons honest perspective after thousands of hours using them at the places I hunt.

Longbow62, I believe that Calabash Digger has only made one video where he uses his Deus in a modern aluminum trashed site for coin shooting. I can’t remember the name of that video but I am sure it is still up on his site. It’s very good. A video that also really helped me with the Deus and aluminum trash is “How to avoid digging trash with the XP Deus” which is an XP Team USA video. The settings used in that video really work. Gary Blackwell”s xpmetaldetectors YouTube Deus video series is also great for learning all the functions of the Deus.


I may come across as a hater but I really am not. I still like the equinox and kind of still want one. Very comfy and balanced.

Longbow already has an equinox. My thoughts are not to offend anyone or hate anyone's machine either. It is from my own experience that I give thoughts on the subject.

And as from your experience already shows, some machines perform better in other parts of the world.

Also a person's hearing can tune to different frequencies better between different name brands.
 
And as from your experience already shows, some machines perform better in other parts of the world.

That is very true bigtim1973.

I live in Colorado and hunt here 80% of the time. I have also used a Deus and Equinox in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, New York and Connecticut. Aside from different levels of mineralization, ground phase and EMI, both the Equinox 800 and the XP Deus have performed consistently well in all those places and I haven't noticed a huge change in how they detect from one place to another except for the Deus does get better depth and slightly better target IDs on deeper targets in milder dirt.
 
And as from your experience already shows, some machines perform better in other parts of the world.

That is very true bigtim1973.

I live in Colorado and hunt here 80% of the time. I have also used a Deus and Equinox in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, New York and Connecticut. Aside from different levels of mineralization, ground phase and EMI, both the Equinox 800 and the XP Deus have performed consistently well in all those places and I haven't noticed a huge change in how they detect from one place to another except for the Deus does get better depth and slightly better target IDs on deeper targets in milder dirt.


Which of those locations had the milder dirt where the Deus got better depth and slightly better target ID?
 
Which of those locations had the milder dirt where the Deus got better depth and slightly better target ID?

Your kidding right…………

Here’s three areas: Northern Montana between Shelby and Malta on the High Line…….South Platte River area North Eastern Colorado, North West Kansas, Southern Nebraska……..Coastal plains of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Norfolk Virginia area.
 
Your kidding right…………

Here’s three areas: Northern Montana between Shelby and Malta on the High Line…….South Platte River area North Eastern Colorado, North West Kansas, Southern Nebraska……..Coastal plains of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Norfolk Virginia area.

No, I wasn't kidding.

You mentioned a lot of states, and said in milder dirt the Deus got better depth and slightly better ID on deeper targets. That was a lot of states, and I am curious which ones you considered "milder dirt". When I started detecting in Michigan in '72, I didn't realize how mild the dirt there was until I moved to Colorado in '75. Totally different conditions and a non VLF detector without ground balance (hadn't been invented yet) had a very hard time getting any kind of depth. Took me quite awhile to get used to those new conditions I found there. Of course, once VLF and ground balancing instruments were available, the detecting was great again. Now that I'm in North Texas, I would be curious how you judge the dirt here, compared to the many other states you've hunted in?
 
Here in southwest Kansas, I thought the depth & target ID was good on the Deus. I say the Deus was in the top 3 of all detectors I have ever owned. Top dog when it came to ergonimics for me.
 
If I had a hurt arm and more money and could learn the complicated Deus I would buy one.:laughing:
Seriously though congrats on getting one👍
 
I did not get the HF coil. Just the standard 9" coil. So far it's been very frustrating! It's the hardest machine to decipher what it's telling me I've ever used.

I hunt places mixed with iron and non-ferrous trash a lot. I'm totally lost figuring out what's what with the Deus. I can pull out the Equinox in the same places Park2, 5 tones, 0 iron bias, recovery 5-6, Horse shoe engaged, and never have an issue finding coins and telling trash from good targets. Unless I'm trying for nickels I dig very little trash.

In my yard on buried coins the Deus is no problem and it's deep. This detector is going to take some time to get used to.
 
Remember being a single vlf machine when a coin is next to trash it will not nessesarily ring up as a coin will. I find most of the coins I dig are in the upper 80s to mid 90s. And when a coin. Is next to iron or aluminum it will bring the vid of the coin down.


Just take and use deus fast and get to know it. It will just take some adjustment.
 
And remember this too, if you are taking the deus to a place you have pounded to death with your equinox there is a good chance there is not going to be much left there as far as good pickings go.

I would start off on a place I have never hunted before. I do that will all my new machines for 2 reasons. One is, you will not be comparing it to the machine you are used to and the other reason is more potential for good finds to be had.
 
And remember this too, if you are taking the deus to a place you have pounded to death with your equinox there is a good chance there is not going to be much left there as far as good pickings go.

I would start off on a place I have never hunted before. I do that will all my new machines for 2 reasons. One is, you will not be comparing it to the machine you are used to and the other reason is more potential for good finds to be had.

Absolutely true, but at the moment have no fresh places. I'm going to need more time to learn vs. how long it took to get a handle on the Equinox. I know the Deus is a great detector. Just need a lot more time to start to feel comfortable with it.
 
A good digging buddy suggested I might mark targets with the Equinox first, then go over them with the Deus before digging. I'm going to try that.
 
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