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Yep, absolute game changer. IMO, it's the best single feature update they've made yet. I used to have to do some pretty wild stuff with a Parametric EQ just to get tones right, and now, it's just icing on the cake, because you can do SO much with some simple mic placement tweaking.

As @DunedinDragonmentioned, start with speaker selection/mic placement. Once you get that in the ballpark, start fooling around with the high cut. The extra step beyond this that I would take with the parametric is to find and notch out what I call the "whistling frequency," which is usually between 3.2-3.7K, depending on what amp/overdrive/etc. you're using. That's usually the biggest culprit when it comes to nastiness in high-gain tones, and is something that you don't really realize is having such an effect on your tone until it's gone. Use a fairly high Q setting, at least 7. This will isolate the bad frequency without affecting too much around it. I usually do this with the High band, since the Mid band is much more important for tone shaping, and you already have the High Cut control to generally deal with highs, anyway. Once you get this trick down, you'll probably find that you want to back off on the high cut a little, since you've notched out the REALLY bad stuff. Also, keep in mind that this is easy to do, but it's also easy to overdo, and dull your tone down beyond what you want. I usually keep toggling the EQ on and off while adjusting, just to make sure I haven't gotten too crazy with it. Hopefully this helps with your problem!

Hey, where'd you get that cool bundled cable?

The Ventoux falls squarely into the "Probably not something I'd ever use live but enjoy messing around with at home immensely" category for me. You know what they say, though, never say never! In any case, I hope Ben Adrian keeps doing stuff like this. Lots of fun!

Like brueski said, Reaper is great. The basics are pretty easy, and you can definitely go down the rabbit hole of customization with it. The good news there is that it might be the most well-documented DAW on the planet. Starting with this guy on YouTube.

@brue58ski Well, OP had mentioned wanting to buy some studio monitors anyway, so I factored that into it. You could say the same about the DAW; if he wants to record, he's gonna need one regardless.

Another option: You could get Helix Native, a good audio interface (Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, for example), and a decent pair of studio monitors for a fraction of the price of a hardware Helix. The only thing missing from that setup is the expression pedal (wah, volume, etc.)

A bit late to this, but I've found that "fizziness" is almost always just a narrow band of frequencies, usually between 3.2-3.4K, depending on the combination of amp and cab models. Trying to attack this with the Presence control can be a bit like trying to kill a fly with a flamethrower, as it typically affects a much larger range of frequencies. My go-to move is to get the amp and cab dialed in as close to the overall tone I want as possible, and then stick a parametric EQ with a pretty high Q after the cab in order to make more precise surgical cuts to whatever offending bits are left. YMMV, of course, but I've found that this is what works most consistently for me.

Ah, thanks for the explanation. That makes sense, and also explains why I wouldn't have cared very much about this, since the first block I always have is the volume pedal which is always-on. I might have to play around with this feature now for the proverbial s**** n' grins, though.

Hey, can someone explain the new Auto Impedance update to me? I have always just left the setting to the default and not paid much attention to it at all; it's always worked just fine for me like this. What problem is this addressing, exactly?

I know that the poly pitch is the big headline-grabber here, but man, so many little goodies in this update! THANK YE GODS for the user favorites and model defaults!

Since I went through pretty much this exact scenario as well, I'll throw in and share my experience with it. I was using an old Mesa/Boogie 50/50 power amp in conjunction with the preamp-only model in the Helix. That worked pretty well, but man, did I ever get sick of having to lug that heavy 50/50 around. I'd heard good things about the ISP Stealth, so finally decided to get one and try it. When I first plugged the ISP in and fired it up, it sounded AWFUL, and I was sure that I'd made a mistake in buying it. That's when it dawned on me that it was a 100% clean power amp, providing little if any coloration to the tone. Switching to the full amp models in the Helix (instead of the preamp-only models that I'd been using with the Mesa) instantly solved the problem. A while later, I finally got to do the A/B test with my Helix/ISP setup, using the Cali Rectifire model, against a real live Mesa Solo Rectifier, using the same cab for both, and trying to match the amp settings and output as closely as possible. It wasn't a 100% identical tonal match, but let me tell you, it was DAMN close. Close enough to satisfy me, certainly for live purposes. Add to that the fact that the ISP weighs all of 1.2 pounds, and I'm as happy as I could be with it.

I'm using an ISP Stealth. It weighs a single pound, is a half rack space, and has PLENTY of power, both in bridged mono and stereo modes. Couldn't be happier with it!