Kieth , that is awesome.
I dont hear thinning or ambient delay from nowhere.
GEt me there. How much is a sapphire? Which one? Are there transformers in the Saphire?
Win10, Reaper, a SM58, a 6i6, recording using the 6i6 ASIO. My live amp I'm switching between a MP-1 and EL-34, and a VG-99 and EL-34. Trying as many different things as I can, trying to effect the problem in a positive way.
in options. There is requested block sample rate at 96000 and select block size 512, allow projects to override sample allowed. Pre zero buffers. Media buffer is 12oo ms. Prebuffer is set 100%. Processing on 4 CPUs.
My computer is a Inspiron 13 laptop 2in 1, does it even have 4 cores?
You want screen shots of the settings?
The Sapphire is the previous generation of Focusrite using FireWire. You don't want to go there
.
I'd settle on just one amp and a simple overdrive or distortion pedal if your amps do not have effective gain/master controls. Leave that VG-99 out/disconnected. Just get a good sound. Once you have that sound, take a picture of all the knobs and make a note in the DAW about your amp, settings, everything. (Assuming Reaper has a notepad to attach notes to projects and tracks.)
Googling that processor it looks to be a 2-core i3. Should be sufficient for audio, but make sure you've done the usual stuff like shutting down all unnecessary applications while recording.
I'm not a Reaper user so I don't know of those buffer settings are the default or correct. If you have a way to reset to defaults, or good guidance for that kind of system, then tinker with those. I leave them alone until I know I've got a problem that is likely buffer-size related.
Set up the project and make your notes in it. Just have one single track assigned to the input where the mic is plugged in. No FX/plugins at all on the track. Track fader set to 0.
Test your mic, cable, interface computer settings by simply recording some speaking. It will probably require the gain to be set fairly high, but confirm you can get a clear recording of you just reading something, without all those artifacts. Once you've done that, dial the gain back and set the mic in front of your amp - I think close micing is the best choice if you do not have a really big or thoroughly treated space. Once you move more than a few inches from the speaker, you'll start picking up room reflections. (If the cabinet is open back, I'd put a lot of pillows and stuff right behind it.) The point is, just record the speaker, and not the room.
Start playing some chord progression and slowly dial up the
interface gain until you have something peaking below -6dBFS on the track. Click on the red button and record it. Playback, and adjust mic position or gain if necessary until you have a good track. When you have a good track, take a picture of the mic position, any amp changes you made, etc., and put those in the track notes.
Keep it simple. Once you have the good track, then you can start messing with plugins.
Good luck.