Ready to upgrade

[homegrownbuddy]

I have owned podfarm 2.5 for a good long while now and have my "sound" dialed in pretty well. However it is becoming a hassle to fire up a laptop every single time I want to touch my guitar. I would like to upgrade to some sort of floor unit like the helix however the hesitation I have is that the amp models used to achieve my "sound" (fender double verb/ dumble special overdrive) in podfarm don't appear to be available in any of the floor units.  Am I stuck booting a laptop for every 5 minute jam session? Before I can drop $1500 on the full helix unit I need to be sure I can get my tone.  Is there some way to navigate away from podfarm 2.5 and still retain everything it does in another type of unit?  And what is the deal with helix native? is that supposed to be a new version of podfarm? or at least function the same way? 

[silverhead]

With Helix you will be able to recreate your sound, but you will also be able to improve on it. If all you want to do with an upgrade is reproduce the sound that you are already completely satisfied with..... why upgrade?

 

Iyou can't transfer the Pod Farm tone files directly to Helix, but after a little time you will be getting far superior sounds from Helix.

 

Yes, Helix Native is to Helix like Pod Farm is to the POD XT/X3 series of devices. It provides the Helix DSP engine on a computer, allowing for direct transfer of your studio tones to your live gig, ad vice-versa.

[homegrownbuddy]

I guess the only reason I want to upgrade is simply the joy of picking up my guitar, hitting a pedal switch and getting the tone that I now have to jump through hoops for. Dragging around a laptop, plugging in and booting up windows and launching software before I can pluck a single note. It's just way to many steps in the process. I guess my big hang up with the helix is not knowing if it can actually replicate what PF2.5 does. Like take Dumble amps for example, I don't think they have been modeled for helix unless I am wrong. I am not sure how to reproduce that if I went out and bought one.  Another thing would be A/B/Y/ chains, In pf2.5 I have two heads and two cabs plus effects in each chain running all at once. Can helix do this? There are just a lot of unknowns for me right now with the helix and the price. I want to but I need to know if it can actually do what I need it to do.  What would be really helpful is if someone who owned both could have a go at reproducing what I have below and tell me if it can in fact be reproduced identically. 
If I could get un-shackled from the laptop it would really be a blessing. 

My official tone evolving.l6t

[fflbrgst]

The Helix is really designed for live use, whereas PodFarm is for studio/home use.

[homegrownbuddy]

The Helix is really designed for live use, whereas PodFarm is for studio/home use.

Yeah I've been on the fence partly for this reason. I'm just desperate to get away from needing a laptop to jam with my buddies. What would be really perfect lol is finding a floor unit that can do everything podfarm can do. So far helix is the closest thing I can find but even still I am not sure if it can do all the same things the farm can do.  But in a perfect world...load podfarm 2.5 into a floor unit and I will pay offensive amounts of money for the thing. Maybe buy two just for security. I've really fallen in love with what pf2.5 can do and does. But having all of that without a pc would be just top drawer.  After about a year it was cumbersome. two years and it was frustrating, now this far in I am pretty much willing to throw money at the first thing that promises to do all of the same stuff without a pc

 

EDIT: Am I really the only one that loaths having to "play pc bootup" every time someone comes over to jam? I mean I know 35 is old but is it really THAT old?!? 

[Triryche]

The AMPLIFi FX 100 may be worth a look. It is the same sound engine as PF, however the signal chain is restricted and it does not have all the amps of PF Platinum.

There's also the Firehawk which is a Hybrid of PF and HD.

 

Or you might want to track down a PODxt or PODX3, PODX3 is Basically an xt with 2 signal chains and all the amp model in PF, but the signal chain is still restricted compare to PF2, however, if you build patches with PF1, you can recreate them on the X3 (and xt depending on the model packs you currently have).

[kylegonyer]

I am thinking of moving my pod farm (have all the platinum tones) to a surface tablet or similar. Fire it up ...have some shortcuts etc...maybe rig up some kind of music stand...yea getting sick of the tied to desk scenario all the time....so I understand.

 

Also considered the floorboards and have some setlist just ready....that may be an option

 

I started with an XT and I have all the tones on it as well. I generally think it sounds better but have to take my duel tones and combine them best I can to a single track, plus, of course, there are limits to some before and after positions of some of the effects and 1 effect type can be used per chain etc.

 

Also like Triryche idea on two XT's together....1 for each path.....would need a mini mixer or A+B then ...interesting idea though.

 

I have had two paths in a farm tone and picked which one sounded better on XT. I then have  had XT and Farm together (best of both worlds)....but this adds to your footprint I think.

 

If your tones are fairly simple you may get away with an XT port of them (must save as that when exporting out of farm).

 

Also have not tried porting to pocketpod (even more limited in tones), but thought that may be interesting to see how close I could get moving a farm tone into the palm of my hand for factor (obviously I would have to pick the closest amp and FX they have that matches)...but could be fun to try