gunpointmetal

The search feature here can be finicky, but the truth is 99% of people don't want to FIND an answer, they want to be GIVEN an answer. They wanna post a questions from the crapper in the morning and come back after their day and have everything laid out for them by someone with more time and inclination to service. I had to mute the FB Helix group and only check it when I feel like it for this reason. 200+ "WhY nO FiRMwAre WoRk foR mE?" posts a day is ridiculous. It would seem out of the 30k+ people in that group, 11 know how to do a search.

I didn't have any problem getting a big aggro sound out of it, but I'm using EMG-equipped guitars. What is your reference for the Diezel sound?

I've never had an issue with Helix connected to 2.0 or 3.0/USB-C ports, but there's no advantage. At home my Helix is connected to my laptop with a USB-C to USB-B cable, at one studio its a regular old USB 2.0 port, and the other it's a 3.0 port and I've never had the device not be recognized (unless I turn it on while its connected, regardless of USB port type) or noticed and issues or improvements in any scenario.

If you're expecting to anything besides get through a song or two in your covers set without changing guitars its probably not gonna be up to par. I've tried the Kemper, AFX, Drop, etc and the pitch stuff is just as bad, just in different ways. To me the Kemper sounds like a picture of a guitar moved up or down, the Helix stuff sounds like the Drop but better with the EQ adjustment. IMO. None of them would ever make it on a recording as anything other than a special effect.

Unless there's an artist in there you really want to get tones from, I wouldn't worry about them. I keep my Setlist 1 as factory so I can try the new stuff with updates, and honestly, a lot were underwhelming, a lot seemed slapped together and lazy, and a few were pretty cool but nothing I would copy for my own use. The Rabea and Bulb chug tones were highly disappointing, in fact I wonder if anyone even put sounds through Rabea's "CHUG" preset. The Mastodon preset and the Devin Townsend preset were fun.

It's not arrogance. Unreasonable expectation maybe, but it's not arrogant to think that if someone can find the forum, create an account, and post a question that they would also be entirely capable of Googling the question or searching the forum.

That's pretty much it in a nut shell. If everyone else is the problem, then you're actually the problem, lol.

Some people want to hump Apple so bad they'll ignore the fact that this has happened with almost every major (and some minor) Apple OS releases. Spending 2x on your hardware doesn't exclude the maker from being responsible to their users. I know PC has had its issues, but I can still run the original version of Tux Guitar I downloaded in like 2009 on my Windows 10 PC if I want to....

You'd think the last 15 or so years of Apple OS's would have shown people that Apple does not really give a crap if their updates leave software or peripherals non-functional.

Sounds like its exactly as you described. A sonic anomaly that is really hard to replicate. Same reason some guys have "magic" stock drive pedals. Some tolerance in production was different that gave them a sound that nobody else would even notice but gives them goosebumps. If you want to use different gear, you'll have to live with different sounds. The modeling in POD Farm is not on par with modern stuff until you pull the cabs out, and I'd venture to guess that most people, engineers included, would say the FX in Helix are quite a bit better, but that doesn't mean better FOR YOU. I've never played a real Mesa amp that I got along with, but I like how the models sounded in my HD500X, not so much in Helix. It's just one of those things.

TL;DR: I've done the 'verb trick in POD Farm and IMO it's no revelation, IMO. If it works better for you, that's what you should use. POD Farm owner, Helix Floor/Native owner here. There's no special sauce in POD Farm, some of the sounds are good (bass especially), but nothing you can't get out of Helix. As far as a "feel" thing, there's no way anyone will ever be able to confirm or deny if one or the other is better. The real answer is up there in "if it feels good and inspires you to play instead of tweak, that's the better sound for you". I can't get ANY feel out of POD Farm no matter what settings I use, sounds like a picture of a tone on top of a guitar signal while I'm playing compared to the Helix. POD Farm sounds just fine in a mix, especially with some more modern IR cab modeling applied, but to actually play through it the Helix "feels" better to me every time.

Pretty much any band that has IEMs or goes direct these days has several devices running on stage. I'd say 75% of bands I've had shows with in the last 2-3 years (before COVID, anyways) were running some sort of tracks or lighting control from a laptop that was also being controlled by a tablet. When my bands play we're literally bringing out own Wi Fi network everywhere. I think it depends on what kind of music, and the level or seriousness in others, but a solid percentage or original acts are running multiple devices on stage.

You can get a USB-C to USB-B cable and bypass adapters all-together. Unless apple does something stupid that doesn’t allow that to work.

Ok, when I read "boost" in reference to guitar I'm thinking as a solo boost. Yes, that is what the global EQ is for. You're losing me with the "analog output level before DA conversion" because there is no analog level prior to a DA conversion. Last time I checked, the output meter turns red when you're digital signal is going to clip the analog output.

The volume knob doesn't change the USB levels, AFAIK, and nobody should be using the global EQ as a boost unless they only play in a totally controlled environment. While there is no "wrong" way to do it, that's not what the global EQ is for.