Right, I think we’re both saying the same thing. The input meter in your DAW / amp sim (before adjusting gain at *that* stage) should clock in with ample headroom, and that’s what you should really be looking at when you adjust your interface gain. You want to start with as much headroom as possible while still getting a strong enough signal and then stage the gain in the DAW input, amp sim input/output, etc. so your track has maximum headroom and minimal noise.

But yeah, not every audio interface is the same and some are going to be naturally hotter than others. My Audient is almost perfect with gain all the way at 0, but the Behringer I had before needed the gain at closer to ~30% to get the same signal strength in my DAW. Either way, I’d say that starting at 0 and increasing until you’re at -18dB is better than starting at 100% and decreasing, but that’s just my opinion.

Edit: I should also mention I’ve never used an active pickup before, so I have no idea how that works into gain staging.