New to Reaper: backing tracks sound "scratchy", how to view guitar effects LIVE

boss281

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New to Reaper: backing tracks sound "scratchy", how to view guitar effects LIVE

Note: I am NEW to recording, less than one month in.

Q1: I bought a PreSonus AudioBox iOne that came bundled with Studio One Artist. While I could record successfully, I found it a bit unintuitive and struggled to do what I thought should be many basic tasks. It was recommended I try Reaper.

It installed fine and appears to have automatically detected EZDrummer 2 drum simulator, Guitar Rig 5, and Wave Audio GTR3 guitar effects package (all 3 are demos right now). I can drag in backing tracks.

I've noticed that MP3 backing tracks that sound really good outside the program using the Windows 7 media player going through a Dell XPS laptop and Logitech speakers sounds really nice, but inside reaper sounds "boomy" and "scratchy", and as if reverb were added. It's almost nauseating to listen to through headphones (Sony MDR 7506) and Mackie CR Series CR3 monitors.

I realize the signal chain through the laptop's soundcard and through the USB-based audio interface/Reaper are different, but should it really sound that bad?

Q2: When I add a track to record my guitar through the AI, I get a raw, weak, dry signal. I GET it. There appears to be TWO places to add various FX: Next to the Mute/Solo buttons called FX Enabled, and a second one inside the line input dropdown control. What is the difference between the two?

Q3: Regarding effects, I've searched on why by default you can hear the effects you choose, but they will record if you play. Ok, weird but fine. But what if I want to hear the effects prior to recording, or better yet, hear the actual effects applied to the guitar track while I play and record the instrument. What is the secret to this.

Q4: Finally, the MP3 backing track I dragged to Reaper now has a companion file created by Reaper called a "Reaper Peaks File". What is this? Will Reaper modify the actual MP3 file???

Thanks in advance.
 
I don't think I can answer all your questions. You should not hear scratchy on your backing tracks. IT's possible you have the stream buffer, or latency set too low.

The peaks file is just a drawing of the waverform.

To hear the guitar effects while playing you can turn off the "Direct" button on the interface. However, there is a good chance you will have some latency. THis is kind of why I don't use guitar sim plugs. I like guitar sim pedals myself. Plpaying around with the interface's stream buffer, you can lower the values to eliminate the latency, but you run the chance of overloading the cpu and causing "scratches", glitches or dropouts.
 
I don't think I can answer all your questions. You should not hear scratchy on your backing tracks. IT's possible you have the stream buffer, or latency set too low.

The peaks file is just a drawing of the waverform.

To hear the guitar effects while playing you can turn off the "Direct" button on the interface. However, there is a good chance you will have some latency. THis is kind of why I don't use guitar sim plugs. I like guitar sim pedals myself. Plpaying around with the interface's stream buffer, you can lower the values to eliminate the latency, but you run the chance of overloading the cpu and causing "scratches", glitches or dropouts.

Interestingly, after rebooting my system and starting the project clean, the backing track is fine. Something wonky happened. I have 6GB memory, so perhaps it's some latency or buffer problem that occurred with use.

What is the difference between a guitar sim "plug" vs "pedal"?
 
The pedal is an actual pedal. It models different amps and stomp pedals. Just like you would with a real amp, you gotta take the time to dial in the tone and settings you want. There are presets, but most of the are crap. It has a usb port and software to control it. You can edit all parameters from the computer. Pretty ncie.

The model I have is pretty old, but it still sounds good. I like recording guitar this better than using a sim plug-in. You can hear what you're recording without having to worry about latency.

RP150 | DigiTech Guitar Effects
 
Q3: Right click on the red button that you use to enable recording on a track (not the master record button). A list of options should come up. Try enabling "monitor" on that list.
 
The pedal is an actual pedal. It models different amps and stomp pedals. Just like you would with a real amp, you gotta take the time to dial in the tone and settings you want. There are presets, but most of the are crap. It has a usb port and software to control it. You can edit all parameters from the computer. Pretty ncie.

The model I have is pretty old, but it still sounds good. I like recording guitar this better than using a sim plug-in. You can hear what you're recording without having to worry about latency.

RP150 | DigiTech Guitar Effects

Oh, a REAL guitar fx pedal, gotcha. Years ago I had something from Line 6, one of the POD models as I recall. Is a BOSS ME-80 a good buy? My local music store has one and I want to give it a try tomorrow.

John
 
Q1 - seems to have resolved itself

Q2 - I'm having trouble picturing what you're describing with the two places to add FX, so I'm not completely sure. Can you post a screenshot or two? It might be related to...

Q3 - As Robus said, you'll need to enable monitoring on the track in order to hear it as you're recording, and when you do this you definitely want to turn the "Mixer" knob on the interface all the way "Playback" so that you don't also hear the dry sound bypassing Reaper. There ARE two places on each track that you can add FX. If you want to just record what you hear from the plugin, put it in the Input FX. If you'd rather have the option maybe change the settings on that plugin after you record in order to fine tune the sound at some later time, put it in the "normal" insert FX.

With that interface and a reasonably capable computer, you should be able to set the buffers low enough that the latency won't be noticeable. IDK if most people realize it, but EVERY digital simulation - including hardware like a Pod or VAmp or the Roland COSM things - must add at least some latency. Nobody complains about it on those dedicated units, and believe it's just an "out of sight, out of mind" thing. Like, we've been told there is latency in the computer, we have access to see exactly how much there is and even adjust it ourselves, so it bugs us.

There was a time when monitoring through the computer was impossible because of latency. Heck, there was a time when it was impossible to apply FX anywhere near realtime and you'd have to hit "Apply" and go find something else to do while your computer was locked up processing. This is 2017, though, and I regularly monitor 6-8-12 instruments through plugins all the time.

Q4 - yeah, that extra file is just a picture of the waveform. Reaper is "non-destructive" in every aspect. It will never change that original file. It might make a new, changed copy in some cases, but it will leave the original exactly as it was.
 
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