Looking at Nox800 or CP Deus

DwightSchrute

Newbie
Mar 27, 2021
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Looking at Nox800 or XP Deus

Hey everyone, anyone own both the XP Deus and Nox 800 and can give me an opinion on both ? I realize this is the Nox sub forum so there will be biases. I used to own a Minelab Safari, are tones and general usage of the Nox similar? I know ones Multi-iq and the other is FBS but Besides that any similarities?

Looking to get back into the hobby so I also need a digger and pro pointer, in Canada the difference between the 2 bundles is damn near 1000$. Having a hard time justifying that much money for the Deus even though it’s the one i would probably buy if money was no object. Thoughts?

Edit: the actual difference is 600$ For the bundle of MD digger and pro pointer. My mistake
 

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pepperj

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Hey everyone, anyone own both the XP Deus and Nox 800 and can give me an opinion on both ? I realize this is the Nox sub forum so there will be biases. I used to own a Minelab Safari, are tones and general usage of the Nox similar? I know ones Multi-iq and the other is FBS but Besides that any similarities?

Looking to get back into the hobby so I also need a digger and pro pointer, in Canada the difference between the 2 bundles is damn near 1000$. Having a hard time justifying that much money for the Deus even though it’s the one i would probably buy if money was no object. Thoughts?

Well first off welcome back to the hobby (almost) and to Treasurenet.
Even after owning 3 Minelabs it was a bit of a gulp to be putting out the $$$ for the Deus. 4 yrs under the belt and I would say I made a pretty good choice. The 800 came out soon after I purchased and I hear great things-then anything weight wise after swinging the explorer series anchors would be great. When one takes off 3 lbs off the swinging arm it's a happy day for the joints and muscles....

It's a hard thing to justify $1000, but the 800 would be a big step up from what you had before.
 

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DwightSchrute

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Mar 27, 2021
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Interesting, I wouldn’t have thought that the Nox would be a “big step up” from the Minelab Safari. I would have figured better in some areas (recovery speed, gold, waterproof) and worse in others (not as good on silver, FBS better than Multi?)
 

vferrari

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Jul 19, 2015
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The "not as good as FBS on silver" is way overblown. At the very fringe of detection, you may get a more solid ID with an FBS but raw depth at this point is driven primarily by coil size as VLF depth and ability to ID targets is mainly driven by signal processing.

ML is clearly moving on from FBS2 with Multi IQ. I suspect the Multi IQ variant of the CTX will be ML's next multifreaker relesse.

Deus and Equinox compliment each other. Deus excels in thick iron. Equinox obviously excels at the beach and in hot soil depth. Both great machines. Obviously, the ergonomic nod goes to Deus.
 

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cudamark

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Transition from the Safari to the Equinox shouldn't be too tough. I did it going from Explorer, Etrac, CTX, to Equinox and it only took a few outings to get comfortable. I contemplated getting the Deus too, but, except for the extra performance in iron, I didn't see the advantage. The Equinox is no slouch in iron either, just not quite as good as the Deus. The things I didn't like about the Deus were.....The cost if you wanted to get all the coils and accessories, the squeaky sounds it made, and the poor performance on a salt water beach. It also wasn't waterproof without buying a hokey looking waterproof kit to make is so. So far, the only things I don't like about the Equinox is the limited range I.D. scale (as compared to the Safari, Etrac, and CTX) and the external coil cable. I love the wireless headphones and I also bought the waterproof ones from Tony Eisenhower for surf use. Both work excellent. Minelab could improve the durability of some of the components though. The coil ears and armrests are the main weak point, but, so far Minelab has been good about replacing them under warranty. Same goes for the people who have had leaks and wobbly shafts. Personally, I haven't had a problem with either.
 

ColonelDan

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I have the EQX 800 and had an XP Deus that I sold. Why? The biggest factors for me were two fold:
First, I much prefer a true multi frequency machine that also has the selectable frequency option like the EQX over the more restrictive selectable frequency only of the Deus. Secondly, the EQX excels at the beach which is where I do 99% of my hunting. Although the Deus may excel in iron, that factor alone doesn’t justify it as earning the role as my preferred detector but as I always say, that’s just the view from my foxhole....
 

vferrari

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I totally agree with the Deus downsides Cuda and Dan mentioned above. The Equinox is vastly superior to Deus for water hunting, especially when salt is in the equation. Also, I agree that at this point, the Deus price point is higher than it should be now, based on the value that newer detectors such as Equinox bring to the table. Since I owned the Deus BEFORE the Equinox came out, the Equinox filled all the shortcomings/gaps of the Deus and also trumped the capabilities of the CTX 3030 which I was considering, but which I was holding off on because of its ridiculous price, so-so recovery speed and because it was not as "hot" on small, mid-conductors such as small gold and brass as well as being complicated to set up to take advantage of it's advanced discrimination abilities.
 

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DwightSchrute

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Mar 27, 2021
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Thanks for the help everyone, I went with the Nox 800, whites digmaster and Garrett Carrot. Can’t wait to get out and try them :)

We visit Wildwood and Atlantic city every summer so I will get a few days a year to hunt those beaches. Regular hunting will include parks for silver/jewelry and relic hunting forest areas. Really excited to get back into the hobby.

Now to hit YouTube for how to use the Nox videos :) Anyone know of a good one?
 

67GTA

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Dec 3, 2017
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Relicdirtyhands has a 27 video Equinox Tutorial that is good for getting familiar with the controls and features.
 

brianc053

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Thanks for the help everyone, I went with the Nox 800, whites digmaster and Garrett Carrot. Can’t wait to get out and try them :)

We visit Wildwood and Atlantic city every summer so I will get a few days a year to hunt those beaches. Regular hunting will include parks for silver/jewelry and relic hunting forest areas. Really excited to get back into the hobby.

Now to hit YouTube for how to use the Nox videos :) Anyone know of a good one?
Dwight, I'm late to this thread but I'll share some comments since I own both an Equinox 800 (about 2 years) and an XP Deus (about 4 months). I'm not as experienced as some of the others who have commented (like vferrari and cuda), but I hold my own and have had some great finds in the last 12 months.

First, as to videos: I love watching Merril who goes by "Metal Detecting NYC" or "MD NYC" on YouTube. He focuses primarily on the Equinox and does park and beach hunting. And he produces videos almost every day, so they're not heavily edited - you get real-world experience with Merril. Just...be patient with his weird-ness. He has a personality...

As for detectors, I am at the beach right now in Delaware and I only brought one detector: the Equinox. For beach hunting (and park hunting) you made the right choice. It's excellent.
But over the winter I bought a Deus because some of the sites I hunt are colonial era and laden with lots of iron, and I am already seeing that the XP Deus is able to pick out button-sized targets from the iron better (much better) than the Equinox. For example, related to my latest post ( http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...d-excellent-detail-1808-classic-head-too.html ) I was using my XP Deus at an old homesite and my buddy was using his Equinox. I walked away with two large cents; he didn't find much of note, because he couldn't separate as well in the iron noise.
Now, I think that with the Equinox you can absolutely still separate good targets in a field of iron. But it takes skill, experience - and digging a lot of square nails. I know because I did it for all of 2020, and I found some great stuff in iron-infested fields with the Equinox. But I'm already sure that I'll find even better stuff with the Deus in those fields - without digging as many iron targets.

Anyway, I hope this helps with some additional color on the choice you made. You made a great choice and will love the detector. Don't second-guess the purchase for a second. Keep in mind I added the Deus to my toolbox because I have some sites where it's capabilities are called for. But I wouldn't bring it to the beach.

Good luck!
- Brian
 

BallsDeep

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Apr 30, 2012
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Thanks for the help everyone, I went with the Nox 800, whites digmaster and Garrett Carrot. Can’t wait to get out and try them :)

We visit Wildwood and Atlantic city every summer so I will get a few days a year to hunt those beaches. Regular hunting will include parks for silver/jewelry and relic hunting forest areas. Really excited to get back into the hobby.

Now to hit YouTube for how to use the Nox videos :) Anyone know of a good one?

youtube- Gigmaster has a bunch of videos that have helped me.
 

HighPlainsHunter

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brianc053, I agree with you about Merril, I really enjoy his videos. He can be a little weird, but he does have personality and excellent communication...
 

MackDog

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Nov 20, 2013
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Thanks for the help everyone, I went with the Nox 800, whites digmaster and Garrett Carrot. Can’t wait to get out and try them :)

We visit Wildwood and Atlantic city every summer so I will get a few days a year to hunt those beaches. Regular hunting will include parks for silver/jewelry and relic hunting forest areas. Really excited to get back into the hobby.

Now to hit YouTube for how to use the Nox videos :) Anyone know of a good one?

Now when you go back to those parks you should find deeper older coins. In my parks I usually pull early wheats , Indians and Barbers. Those are the coins that are deeper and have sunk the farthest. Run it as hot as you can stand in 50 tones all metal. It will not disappoint
 

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