Gold Racer
Having spent much time using the Fisher Gold Bug 2, and now learning the Makro Gold Racer...my opinion is that the Fisher GB2 is still king when it comes to strong response on small gold located up to 8" deep.
It just has a nice crisp "zip" in all metal mode when you go over the small gold. It is easy to learn to use. It's not the tone that you recognize when it goes over gold, rather it's the solid return you get in "Iron ID" mode.
You might end up digging more signals, but that eventually equates to more gold. This is especially true if you are lucky enough to get a well tuned GB2 (they all seem to run a little bit differently).
However if you have very trashy areas that have been overlooked, I think the Makro has the edge. It is very good at picking good targets amid ferrous targets.
The Makro does have filter settings and adjustable tone break. You can leverage these setting in a trashy area to focus on obviously good signals. There is no substitute for cleaning out the nails, and digging those mellow deep signals.
However it does allow you to cherry pick in discrimination mode (which I like to do before I get serious). I went out last Sunday for 2 hours and only dug 10 signals. One was a nugget. That is a pretty good ratio in my opinion.
The area I was detecting has been hit pretty had over the years by people detecting and sluicing. Next time I go back, I will be rolling rocks and logs over, getting in close to the base of the brush and focusing on the mellow deep signals in all metal mode.
The discrimination settings on the Gold Racer also are very helpful when coin and relic hunting. At first I could not get used to how small the 5" round DD coil is. I am used to a small elliptical coil, which covers more area. Now I really like the small round coil, in that it fits into the bedrock better and can pick out signals in between nails easier.
I am somewhat disappointed that the unit is not water proof and that the speaker is located on the bottom, facing towards the ground and that you really can't set it down on the ground or lean it up against some brush without the possibility of getting grass and twigs jammed into the speaker grill. I think that the Gold Racer 2 will be a very good unit if they listen to users feedback. Time will tell if the buttons hold up to gritty fingers and minor moisture. The trigger could sure use a protective cover for transport.