Reaper/Amp plug in ?

GrahamG

I've recently installed Reaper & have also somehow managed to install an Amp VST plug in,can anyone who uses Reaper,tell me if it's possible/or how to,hear the amp while recording a track?,instead of the raw Guitar sound.
At the moment I can only get the Amp sound on playback & i'm not even sure how I managed that

stratman3142

Have you enabled Record Monitoring. Press the button until you see the speaker symbol (see pic below). 

http://i.imgur.com/bKMCiPT.png

But if you're hearing the dry signal while recording that might need a bit more thought on how to suppress it. Have you got direct monitoring on your interface and can you switch it off?

Also, have you loaded the Ampsim on the track? In which case the Fx button will be green (unlike in my picture). But I expect that's OK if you're hearing the amp on playback.

Basher

Not sure if it helps but here's how I do it:


Obviously the guitar has to be coming through the selected input source.

GrahamG

Thanks,i hadn't enabled the monitoring button,i now have the Amp sound on a New track(once the Record Button is On?)But the sound has a Delay or Echo?,any help with this?.I'm not trying to be a recording engineer ,I just need to get very basic recording going.
Not sure what Basher means by "selected input source"
Thanks.

stratman3142

GrahamG said:

Thanks,i hadn't enabled the monitoring button,i now have the Amp sound on a New track(once the Record Button is On?)But the sound has a Delay or Echo?,any help with this?.I'm not trying to be a recording engineer ,I just need to get very basic recording going.
Not sure what Basher means by "selected input source"
Thanks.

I'm guessing he means the drop down list that's usually just to the right of the monitoring button.

If you're hearing an echo then I think you might be hearing the raw sound before it goes into your computer (usually referred to as direct monitoring) followed by the sound being output from you computer. How are you connecting your guitar to your computer because the raw signal might be coming from the interface (i.e. nothing to do with Reaper)? Do you hear a raw signal even when Reaper isn't running? If so you need to see if you have a way to switch this off (or mute it).

But this raises another potential issue. If you're hearing a noticeable delay then you may have too much latency even after you suppress the direct signal. By latency I mean a delay between playing something and hearing it back. What do the two numbers show at the top right hand corner of Reaper because that's your input/output latency? For example, the two numbers in the picture posted by @Basher are 7.8/9.7ms giving a total latency of 7.8+9.7=17.5ms which would be too much for me when recording.

GrahamG

stratman3142 said:

GrahamG said:

Thanks,i hadn't enabled the monitoring button,i now have the Amp sound on a New track(once the Record Button is On?)But the sound has a Delay or Echo?,any help with this?.I'm not trying to be a recording engineer ,I just need to get very basic recording going.
Not sure what Basher means by "selected input source"
Thanks.

I'm guessing he means the drop down list that's usually just to the right of the monitoring button.

If you're hearing an echo then I think you might be hearing the raw sound before it goes into your computer (usually referred to as direct monitoring) followed by the sound being output from you computer. How are you connecting your guitar to your computer because the raw signal might be coming from the interface (i.e. nothing to do with Reaper)? Do you hear a raw signal even when Reaper isn't running? If so you need to see if you have a way to switch this off (or mute it).

But this raises another potential issue. If you're hearing a noticeable delay then you may have too much latency even after you suppress the direct signal. By latency I mean a delay between playing something and hearing it back. What do the two numbers show at the top right hand corner of Reaper because that's your input/output latency? For example, the two numbers in the picture posted by @Basher are 7.8/9.7ms giving a total latency of 7.8+9.7=17.5ms which would be too much for me when recording.

Stratman,That figure in the Top right shows 46/58ms Asio?,on my interface( Audio box) there is a mixer knob,this is set to playback,there is also an input gain(which I have as low as possible),I suspect this is where the raw signal comes from the sound from the playback is total rubbish,
Now that i realise i'm totally out of my depth,it seems unfair to ask members to sort this for me,when I don't have  the faintest understanding of what i'm doing.
i'm going to try & find any dummies Reaper instruction vids I can & see if I can get to grips with it(a bit),.
Thanks for your help.

stratman3142

I don't mind helping, but if anyone out there has an Audio Box they should be better equipped to work out what to do.

I've just downloaded the Presonus Audio Box USB manual. Is that your interface? The following assumes that's your interface.

Based on looking at the manual, the input knob should just be set so you have enough level but don't have the clipping light flashing. That won't be the source of the raw signal getting through as far as I can tell.

I think it's the mixer knob you need to adjust and, based on looking at the manual (page 5), I think this should fully clockwise (in the playback position) if you want to avoid the raw signal getting through for 'through DAW' monitoring. Turning it anticlockwise will allow the raw signal to get through, which you might want to do if you ever wanted to do direct monitoring.

46/58ms is a very high latency for record monitoring. It's not a problem when you're just playing back tracks or using direct monitoring. It will be a problem if you want to play through an ampsim in your DAW during recording. The drivers for the interface (which I assume you've installed on your computer) will allow you to adjust this (see page 13 of the manual). You need to reduce the ASIO buffer size.

GrahamG

Thanks,Stratman.Reduced the Buffer size to 265(it was 2K +)the latency is reduced to 9.7,i had it down to 2.3,but there was a lot of static ?,interference.& I can now hear amp plugins,i'm getting a couple of crackle & pops,but compared to what I had before,it's amazing.
Did you see my other thread about the PS Audio Box,i had a driver that wasn't compatable with my PC,so I couldn't see the set up box you reffered to,but all's well now thanks to you pointing me in the right direction.All I have to do now is figure out how to work reaper

stratman3142

GrahamG said:

Thanks,Stratman.Reduced the Buffer size to 265(it was 2K +)the latency is reduced to 9.7,i had it down to 2.3,but there was a lot of static ?,interference.& I can now hear amp plugins,i'm getting a couple of crackle & pops,but compared to what I had before,it's amazing.
Did you see my other thread about the PS Audio Box,i had a driver that wasn't compatable with my PC,so I couldn't see the set up box you reffered to,but all's well now thanks to you pointing me in the right direction.All I have to do now is figure out how to work reaper

If you're getting pops and clicks you might have to increase you ASIO buffer size and accept a bit more latency. However, there are also things that you can do to optimise your PC for audio if you do a bit of Googling. Below is an example I quickly located.
https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207355205-Optimising-your-PC-for-Audio-on-Windows-10

Also, LatencyMon can help diagnose issues
http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

You can download the free version of LatencyMon from the bottom of the page at the link below:
http://www.resplendence.com/downloads

Disclaimer: I'll just say, to cover myself, do so at your own risk.  However, I've run LatencyMon and not seen any issues so I'm not aware of any risks, but you never know with these things.

GrahamG

Ok,i'll look into those things,thanks again.