Help With Reaper

[Jak Angelescu]

So that I don’t harass Ed at all hours of the night and day, I figured I would post it here to reach out to some of the other students for help. I am able to record and I’m getting play back in everything just fine. The problem that my level is too hot and I am constantly clipping. My gain knob by my input is almost all the way down and I can barely strum my guitar or have my volume up at all on my guitar. I’ve tried watching several videos and it all talks about going through a mic. I’m not doing it analog style I’m doing it digital. I have also tried messing with several volume plug INS with no help.
On my master mixer I have a little green Box that is hovering way of above 18 which was the safe level. But I can’t adjust it. The slider on the right won’t let me adjust anything.

 

[Ed Seith]

On your focusrite’s front panel, under the input, there’s a switch for “LINE | INST” and also a pushbutton for “PAD.”
Make sure PAD is OFF (button out) and switch from LINE to INST and back and see which one is better. Also, is the ring around the GAIN dial red or green?

 

[Ed Seith]

PS: I see that you sent me a voice recording, but I’m on a call and can’t listen right now

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Thank you so much! I have a scarlet 2i2 not a 2i4 so I don’t have a pad button. And it is switched over to instrument and my gain knob is almost all the way down and it’s showing a red ring. It doesn’t do it constantly but I can barely hit the strings or it starts clipping.
I figured you were busy but I still don’t want to be a bother to you all the time

 

[Ed Seith]

If you’re getting the red ring on the interface, then nothing you do in Reaper will matter – you need to reduce what’s going into the FocusRite. The Focusrite is clipping when the ring is red.
It happens the same on LINE or INST?

 

[Jak Angelescu]

It happens no matter which one I switch it on. I did some researching and they said that the only way to fix this is with a 2i2 is to buy a DI Box.
Does that sound legit? I see so many people not having to do that.

 

[Ed Seith]

Tell me more about how your getting from the guitar in your hands to the 2i2. What’s your chain, and how do you get there? (Pedals not needed – mostly interested in how you’re getting from amp to 2i2).

 

[Jak Angelescu]

All I have is an instrument cable going from my guitars input Jack to the Interface. And then from my interface it’s going into my computer’s USB port. I don’t have any pedals nor am I going through and amp at all.

 

[Filip Tomiša]

If you have active pickups try switching it to LINE, if you’ve tried that try turning of your computer, switch it to line and unplug and plug the interface back in and turn on your computer and see if that works. If it doesn’t try borrowing a DI box from someone if you can and see if that works.

 

[Charlie Erickson]

If it’s a first generation 2i2 you’ll need a di box. If the serial number on the bottom starts with an S or T it’s a first generation.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Is reaper is too difficult you can try audacity.i think quality wise they end up the same. Always took me time to figure this stuff out too. And dont grt me started.on pro tools.. lol

 

[Ed Seith]

Reaper isn’t her issue. It’s a hardware problem. The 2i2 first generation apparently has a serious limitation when it comes to guitar signals. Basically, it’s defective and borderline useless for guitars on their own. Really terrible, and I would expect more from FocusRite.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Thank you all so much. It turns out for acoustic it works fine but I do need a DI box for electric guitar. I’ll be purchasing one soon but I think I’m going to save to get a better, more updated model.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Another question!! I’m seeing that there are things called a passive and an active di box. I was wondering if either one of you could steer me in a direction of a good di box to get for my purpose?

 

[Ed Seith]

Not I. I have never used one. Sorry!

 

[AGA]

I use the Radial PRO DI passive DI box. Radial makes very reliable DI boxes, I recommend any of theirs.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Thank you Ailee! That helps a lot!

 

[Charlie Erickson]

The general rule is passive di box for active pickups and active di box for passive pickups but I’ve heard it really doesn’t matter much. If you’re going to be upgrading the audio interface soon you’re probably fine just getting an affordable di box in the meantime but if you plan on keeping one around for other uses and want a good one the radial j48 and countryman type 85 are common choices.

 

[Hiroshi Nakauye]

Sweetwater made a good article about it. Seems like you need a passive one.
https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/di-boxes/