Reaper playback

[Rolling Thunder]

So I've recently started using Reaper to try out recording at home. After I've recorded a sample track, I get no sound when I play it back. Believe me when I say that I've troubleshot this and searched Youtube and Google to no avail.

When done recording, how can I play the track back through my PC computer's headphone jack? I need to be able to hear the track in order to edit it.

Any advice to back me off the ledge is greatly appreciated. I feel like a Kindergartner looking at Calculus right now.

 

[bholder]

I found the Reaper UI so difficult that I gave up on it.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

I'm doing the same. The pdf manual is terrible. It tells you what you need to do but not HOW you do it. It might as well be written in Japanese.

Going to try Ableton 11.

I love how Reaper how-to videos start with "ok, so here I have 148 tracks". ***?!

 

[Crater]

how can I play the track back through my PC computer's headphone jack?

I presume the track(s) you've recorded so far are visible, the waveform is visible on the computer screen?

You're leaving out a lot of details, namely what device are you using to record with? Your PC's internal sound hardware, or a separate device connected with a USB cable? Generally speaking, it's simpler to use the same device for playback that you used for recording, so if you used a USB interface for recording, just use the headphone jack on the interface; they all have them.

Since many setups do have both a USB recording interface and an internal sound device, you have to tell Reaper which device to use, and which type of "driver" to use as well. The option is buried deep the menu...click on OPTIONS on the menu bar and click the PREFERENCES menu, this is the "buried" part and you may not see this on the menu unless you scroll down to the end of the menu. The PREFERENCES menu should open with 'Audio Device Settings" and this is where you can choose which audio device REAPER will use for recording and playback, and I would strongly recommend using the same device for both functions.

This business of choosing audio inputs and outputs is probably the most complicated and frustrating step of setting up a DAW, but once it's done, you don't need to do it again until you get a new recording interface.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

I figured it out after downloading Ableton 11 and having the same issue. It took about 30 youtube videos to find one that showed how.

I needed to set my input ASIOS/Focusrite and then when playing back after recording I change the output to my laptop speakers.

I was under the impression I could set & forget them together (and maybe I can but just lack the know how).

My use was about as simple as it gets...a lone track of me demoing a modded pedal.

Anyhow, I feel compelled to share the video:

 

[Rolling Thunder]

FWIW, I was recording a combo guitar amp with an e609 mic and a 2i2 Focusrite.