Focusrite experience needed - direct vs input monitoring

[pfschim]

Set up my DAW, Focusrite 18i6 into Reaper. So far I have just been monitoring (via headphones) using the Focusrite Direct Monitoring option which (I think) just routes the input signal right to the Monitor (front panel) output. I am trying to add bass tracks to demo/scratch tracks I'm getting from a few folks that I play with. Its working fine, but I'd really like to hear my input/track from the DAW (Reaper) instead of just hearing it through the Direct Monitoring option.

How the heck do I set that up ? I' guessing there is some routing option on the Focsusrite that I just don't understand (been in the studio plenty of times, just not as an engineer).

I have looked at a number of youtube tutorial vids and I did read the manual .. none of these have told me what I need to do .. or at least did not say it in words that I understand

any suggestions ?

 

[AceOfBassFace]

There's a button on the Reaper fader strip that looks like a little speaker - click on that, it should give you the option to monitor the track as you record. I don't have the same focusrite interface, but I imagine there's either a dial or a switch to allow you to turn down the direct monitoring and just hear what's coming from the DAW. You will have some latency though depending on your equipment and buffer size.

Hope this helps!

 

[AceOfBassFace]

You can right click on it for the various options

 

[pfschim]

thanks, that is good info. I'll check it out later today. much appreciated

 

[AceOfBassFace]

thanks, that is good info. I'll check it out later today. much appreciated

No problem! Happy recording.

 

[powerdimer]

That button activates input monitoring, it doesn't deactivate direct monitoring.

To eliminate direct monitoring, you have to install the Scarlett driver. In the driver app there's routing options etc. There you can set level for direct monitoring, I just turn it all the way down, I don't have much latency.

 

[pfschim]

so the only Scarlett driver(s) I'm aware of are the ASIO driver and the driver associated with the Focusrite Mix Control.
At the moment I do not use the Mix Control app when I am using the Scarlett interface and Reaper. I suspect that I can use Mix Control to change routing .. including Input Monitoring, but for the life of me I cannot grok how to do it.

you seem to have some understanding of this, can you guide me further ?

thanks

 

[powerdimer]

Sure! It's the mix control as you said. Install and open, it should work smoothly. Open output routing. The two top faders are direct monitoring. I've pulled them down.

Are you having trouble opening the app?

 

[pfschim]

hmmm, this does not look anything like what I see with the Mix Control I have installed (I'm pretty sure I downloaded the latest version when I reinstalled everything).

For reference, my unit is a 1st gen Focusrite Scarlett 18i6. Perhaps Focusrite provides different control software/drivers for the later generation (gen 2 and 3) units ?

 

[powerdimer]

Yes that might be! There was a change in this feature between the generations.

Is there a button on the hardware? Maybe on the back?

 

[flatwound62p]

I use a 1st gen 2i2 same as that pic. The toggle switch in the right position is input monitor only, left position is to monitor what the processed software track is doing. I use GarageBand and have to check the monitor button on my recording track, so I’d assume if you follow AceOfBassFace instructions for Reaper as he described above and hit that speaker button you should be rolling. I didn’t need to do anything in the Scarlet driver software so I guess that’s only for the later versions.

 

[pfschim]

my gen1 Scarlett 18i6 has no such switch, it also does not have line/mic switches like I see on the pic of the 2i2
I may have figured out input monitoring in the Mix Control software version for the 18i6 though. There looks to be a DAW Monitoring option in the Monitor presets.

thanks for the guidance. making progress getting this older gear working in a way that I can understand and gets some decent audio results.

 

[Tom Kinter]

There's a button on the Reaper fader strip that looks like a little speaker - click on that, it should give you the option to monitor the track as you record. I don't have the same focusrite interface, but I imagine there's either a dial or a switch to allow you to turn down the direct monitoring and just hear what's coming from the DAW. You will have some latency though depending on your equipment and buffer size.

Hope this helps!

I'm having a similar problem to that of the OP.... Installed my new Scarlett 2i2 3rd gen, got it recording very well in reaper. I'm trying to do a bass demo video in OBS, where I would like to record with the added effects from Reaper, but can only seem to record the raw incoming bass signal. I can hear the reaper output whilst doing the vid, but it doesn't record, just the pre-effects input. I've checked and unchecked all of the record monitoring buttons in reaper and fiddled with the 3-pos toggle direct monitor switch on the front of the FR, to no avail.
the other strange thing (related?), and I saw this in this thread as well, is I only get a dumbed down version of Focusrite Control... see below. I've removed and reinstalled this 3 times now, so I'm baffled. emailed focusrite, but haven't heard back.
Hey I was aces a few years ago with reel-2-reel etc (OK more than a few years), but I'm enough of a newbie with this that I may have missed something obvious, so any suggestions are welcome...

 

[pfschim]

OP here.

I was finally able to figure out that to get input monitoring from the DAW and not direct monitoring from the Focusrite interface (18i6 gen 1), I needed to have the monitor selection set to DAW (its a preset option in the older Focsurite Control software for my interface).

I also had to mess with my ASIO settings a bit in order to get this to work without pops/clicks ... I ended up with sample rate of 44.1khz with a block size of 64 and this seems to let me record fairly simple projects .... no more than 4 simultaneous tracks with limited VST/plugins ... with next to no crackling. It happens maybe once every 20-30 min or so while I'm tracking and I've never heard it on the final output renders.

Looks to me like something is wrong with your Focusrite Control. You are clearly not getting all the options running.

I totally get that this digital recording thing can be somewhat frustrating to set up and get running smoothly. But once its is set up ok, it seems to work pretty well so don't give up to quickly.

good luck

 

[seamonkey]

I'm having a similar problem to that of the OP.... Installed my new Scarlett 2i2 3rd gen, got it recording very well in reaper. I'm trying to do a bass demo video in OBS, where I would like to record with the added effects from Reaper, but can only seem to record the raw incoming bass signal. I can hear the reaper output whilst doing the vid, but it doesn't record, just the pre-effects input. I've checked and unchecked all of the record monitoring buttons in reaper and fiddled with the 3-pos toggle direct monitor switch on the front of the FR, to no avail.
the other strange thing (related?), and I saw this in this thread as well, is I only get a dumbed down version of Focusrite Control... see below. I've removed and reinstalled this 3 times now, so I'm baffled. emailed focusrite, but haven't heard back.
Hey I was aces a few years ago with reel-2-reel etc (OK more than a few years), but I'm enough of a newbie with this that I may have missed something obvious, so any suggestions are welcome...
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Focusrite is great with customer support. They are one of the good guys.

 

[Tom Kinter]

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Focusrite is great with customer support. They are one of the good guys.

Thanks, seamonkey. I should have stumbled on that page already given the searches I was doing!

My manual reads: "Monitoring with DIRECT MONITOR set to OFF can be useful when using an FX plug-in to your DAW to create a stereo effect which contributes to the live performance. In this way, you will be able to hear exactly what is being recorded, complete with the FX. However, some latency may result, the amount depending on the DAW’s buffer size and processing power of the computer."

that's true, but I still wish there were a simple way to channel that (wet) audio to my OBS while recording a vid (instead of the dry signal going int the FR). In looking around, I saw 2 ways: one involves setting up a VST stream filter in reaper, then accessing it while recording in OBS as an audio filter. Tried that but lots of lag plus enabling it shut down my wife's entire internet in the house (yikes). the other involves something called Banana.

Actually the input from my SB-2, thru the FR, is pretty amazing. I just like a touch of reverb, and the bass being innocent of tone controls, I could see needing some EQ or compression going in sometimes. I'm thinking what I need is some sort of d.i. box.

I thank you for your help!

Tom

 

[pfschim]

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Focusrite is great with customer support. They are one of the good guys.

I'll just say that while Focusrite definitely has a lot of info and FAQ's available on their support page, my own experience with their on-line support was less than great.
I was trying to figure this direct vs input monitoring thing out and I got a support rep on the online chat and asked them how to do it.
The answer was (sic) "it's some feature in Reaper" (hmmm?) I then asked how to enable that "feature in Reaper" the rep said I should look it up in the Reaper manual.

In reality, all they had to tell me was to use the DAW preset option in the Monitoring section of Focusrite Control ... but that was not at all what I was told.
So, while I did ultimately figure this out on my own, I'm less than overwhelmed by that aspect of Focusrite support (on-line chat with an "expert").