Mike,
Solid overall program and that has been proven out by your successful finds. Here are some tweak suggestions based on my experience with the Deus:
Tones - General - You might want to experiment with pitch tone to see how you like it. It requires more dependence on the visual TID to make a dig decision and I would not recommend it at sites with dense modern trash but it is effective at unmasking non-ferrous keepers amongst iron. I recommend it more for relic hunting vs. coin shooting (in modern trash) because you are digging nearly all non-ferrous but it is an effective coin unmasker if you are dealing solely with ferrous trash. I use the highest pitch tone setting. If you simply switch your existing program to pitch (and adjust the max pitch frequency to your liking) you can easily switch back to your 5 tone program and none of your tone break settings will be disturbed.
Tone Breaks - Not a big fan of the iron wraparound low tone (if you are just going to ignore it) (97-99). It is better than completely notching it out but I would rather hear the high tone and make a decision on whether to dig based on the quality of the tone or interrogate the high tone target with a different frequency and/or pinpoint mode to see if it responds like a true high conductor or iron (if iron, the VDI will change erratically as you change frequency, if large, shallow iron you can get an idea of the size of the target by listening for overload, lifting the coil, or going to pinpoint to see where the target signal disappears). Though addressing high end notch, see Calabash's post
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/deus/590256-xp-deus-high-end-notch.html for more info. The other drawback to this approach is that it effectively turns 5 tones into 4 tones and you could use the extra breakpoint in the mid range to differentiate nickels/gold from foil. (e.g., breaks at 10, 45, 60, 78, 89). This is more of a personal preference thing rather than a performance thing, so if you are used to it, then it might not make sense to change it up.
Iron Vol: Again a personal preference, l like a little more Iron Volume and set mine at 3
Reactivity: 2 is my favorite setting. You can perhaps eek more depth out of the Deus at 1 as long as the site is not too dense with targets and trash. I'll go to 2.5 or 3 in thick trash/iron.
Silencer: Not super critical unless you have it set too high, but some have reported depth loss from silencer settings > 0. I like 0. Some like it off, (-1). Note that silencer is linked to the reactivity setting. If you change reactivity, silencer will automatically change to the nonzero default associated with that reactivity setting, so always check the silencer setting after you have changed reactivity. I have used higher silencer settings at the beach to break up bottlecap high tones when using the HF coil.
Audio Response: I like a tad higher setting at 4 or 5 to ensure I can hear those deep squeakers while retaining some depth related volume modulation.
If you are still running version 3.2, and/or your soil ground phase is fairly consistent such that you are not constantly having to rebalance, then manual GB makes sense. XP significantly improved the auto tracking GB algorithm in ver 4.X and greater, so I use GB tracking most of the time, especially in mild to severe mineralized soil.
I am a big believer in if it ain't broke don't fix it. Your program ain't broke. If you are having success and have a lot of swing hours on your program, making any significant changes can reset your learning curve. So, unless you really see an area where you might see a beneficial change in the quality/quantity of finds based on my suggestions or the suggestions of others, I don't suggest making anything but minor tweaks. I put the rationale for my settings in writing so you can decide for yourself if its worth the trip. I wouldn't use third party recommended settings unless you fully understand the impact good or bad in performance (or the user making the suggestion provides their rationale). Also, your typical site conditions (mild or mineralized soil, modern trash density, iron junk density, parks or plowed fields, anticipated typical age and depth of finds) will all factor in to optimizing settings further.
HTH. HH.
