Stuck in Basic Reaper/ReValver set up.

[MTMals]

Hi...I'm a new user...and new to digital audio although I have used Audacity many times. My purpose in installing ReValver and Reaper is to gain some of those fine tones reported from experienced users of ReValver. I have recorded a brief track using Beringer 1200 stomp pedal- all adjustments on that pedal were set at zero and it was used only for an interface into ReValver. ASIOALL is installed on my computer. The recorded test track is now droning on in a loop. I want to process that track signal through ReValver to explore the tube tone features. I've read one of the forums instructing the selection, in REAPER, of ReValver as the VST....using Options, Add, (Path is:C:\Program Files\Peavey Electronics\ReValver HPSE) then Apply. The forum instructions also include "going to FX in REAPER and selecting the new VST ReValver" ( just added) I do this and don't see ReValver added.

I have no multi track studio ambitions at this moment, but I would like to record a few classical tunes, and re process them as experiments in the fine ReValver tube amp sounds. At present, ReValver is sitting here on my desk top along side Reaper. What's missing to prevent the Reaper signal from playing through ReValver? I've just purchased Peavey Vypyr I, a super amp and expect to eventually use the aux in for the ReValver final output. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.......Mike

[jorismak]

That path you've set in Reaper is wrong.

When you install Revalver, it asks if it needs to install a 'VST plugin' version and / or the standalone edition. (I think so, I don't have HPSE and it's been a long time since Revalver 3.0).

VST Plugins are normally installed to C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins or C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins". Anyway, make sure the VST plugin is installed.

The path you tried (setting it to the standalone edition) is not going to work. I think you don't have the Revalver VST plugin installed (and that's the edition you need to use it in other applications).


Then in Reaper, create a single track, put Revalver on it in the 'Track FX' and place an audio clip of your recorded guitar signal on that track and hit play. The audio should now go 'through' Revalver.

If you want the live audio to go through Revalver (in REaper), set the track to 'record arm' (a red button _on the track_, not near the play-stop-buttons). That tells Reaper that you want to record something on that track. Then there is a small button next to it (find it) that is called 'record monitoring' that needs to be set to on. That way, you don't hear the audio you're getting from the guitar, but you get the audio that has gone through Revalver. But like I said, this is only if you want to 'play through Reaper with Revalver'. If you have a .WAV file with your guitar signal and want to experiment, just create a track with that .WAV file on it, and put Revalver in the Track FX.

Having said all that, what is a Behringer 1200? Can't find anything on it. It sounds to me you're not using any Audio interface, but you are plugging a guitar pedal into your line-in or something from your regular sound card?
I really can't recommend this. While it may seem to work, you're asking for (small) tone issues, noise and interference and stuff down the line.
A proper audio interface (in your case something very similar to an external audio card, but something with an official instrument-input into which you can plug your guitar and has something of an audio output) really helps.

[MTMals]

Thank you for this detailed reply. ReValver instructions suggested several options for an interface to match impedance. One was a DI box, one was "any" FX Pedel, and the last was an integrated DI/usb interface....or a Peavey xPort. Earlier I ordered a Beringer 700 Graphic Equalizer, which I used as an interface into the 'IN" plug on the computer sound card. (Actually this pedal was a good experiment in adjusting the intensities of all 6 strings) But the box is what I used for the first recording. I have an XPort on order and have read some forum items on that hook up. I will 'study' your instructions and go back to basics in setting up Reaper as a recorder of test guitar plays through ReValver via an interface. When I get that down, I'll leave a results note.

In hot pursuit for the tube sound, I ordered another Beringer box, a Tube Amp Modeler T300. I ran my Acoustic Electric output through this pedal and into the 'IN' of the Realteck Sound Card. I must say the quality of that mellow 'tube' sound was a delight to hear. I had ReValver up but the signal wasn't effected by any adjustments on ReValver- so the signal was processed only by the sound card. (I digress) So, back to basics...getting RV to work with Rpr. Here's a shot of what I see when I try and set a path in Reaper to ReValver as the VST.

VST Browse.png (267.49 KiB) Viewed 11347 times

There was mention of one of these folders containing the VST dlls. Let me get to work applying your suggestions and I'll post again. Thanks for your time. Mike (no light bulb of insight yet.)

One comment: Reading the Reaper PDF instructions for step by step in getting up and running might be summarized in bullet points. I see a lot of new users in the forums with this same basic problem. One central page listing these start up bullet points (with hypertext words) illuminating definitions i.e. FX (Effects varieties) and VST would fast track success as well educate new users like me. Rather than answering the same questions over and over- refer to a bullet point set up page. (A bullet point page for each scenario- Just recording on Rearper; Playing through Revalver and recording on Reaper; Just playing stand alone; Soundcard linkage to the software, a real headache. ASIOALL fits some where in this. Enough War and Peace. Mike

[Lain]

You do not use the standalone .exe in reaper.
A lot of plugins come as a standalone (.exe) AND as a plugin (.dll).
Usually when you install such a program they ask where your vst folder is to put the .dll file there. Per default most plugins suggest c:\Program Files\Steinberg\Vstplugins or just c:\Program Files\Vstplugins.

In your screenshot you click on "add" in the top right and select said folder. You could use the windows explorer to look which folder contains the .dll.
In windows is an option to show or not hide known file types.
After you selected the folder, click on re-scan or restart reaper.

To get good results audio wise it's really important that you get a decent audio interface. Your onboard audiocard won't cut it.

[MTMals]

Bullet Points from your instructions: (bullets will include tips posted to build this list) TO PLAY AN EXISTING GUITAR TEST FILE ON REAPER THROUGH REVALVER INTO THE COMPUTER SOUNDCARD AND SPEAKERS. (NOTE: THIS ASSUMES REAPER AND REVALVER ARE INSTALLED...PREFERABLY NOT 'STAND ALONE')

1. VST Plugins are normally installed to C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins [or] C:\VSTPlugins. [Look for the folder]...

Results: Found the folder under Steinberg. You're right my path was wrong...looking in wrong directory (Peavey) Revalver is Mr.Steinbergs's creation.

My Action: Open Reaper. Go to Options- Preferences - select 'VST' on left column - In resulting fields see path box under "VST plug-in paths...." Select "Add" Browse "C" drive for "STEINBERG" in Programs Directory. Select "Steinberg" and view "VST plugins" folder. Highlight VST Plugins folder and click on "OK". The path "C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins" will appear in the path box. Hit 'Re-scan" Select "APPLY" then hit "OK"

In Reaper find "FX" button. Select and view VST: ReValver HPSE (Peavey Electronics" added to the VST plugin library as a result of the above action. DONE

PLAYING THE FILE:
2. In Reaper, "OPEN" test file a single short track, With track open, select "FX ReValver" Revalver is now connected or associated with Reaper. PAUSE

Ran in to a problem here. In my Realtek Control Section, I get a nice test sound through my speakers. When Playing my test guitar signal through Reaper there is no sound. The indicator on Reaper shows sound activity of the test file. Somethings changed...I did get sound in Reaper earlier. I can't locate a sound card control or connection box in Reaper options. Any suggestions? Here's a shot of the issue. I'll continue bullet building once I can hear my signal again. Brain overheating...going for a ginger ale. Mike

[Lain]

Try having only reaper open and no other programs that might use audio (WMP, Revalvers standalone, youtube, etc.).
In reaper select the correct driver (Asio4All).

[MTMals]

First of all thanks to Lain and Jorismak for your time and comments. Lain, I just closed Reaper and opened the Realtek control section. Running the 'test' for that, several speakers sound. I just now re-opened Revalver, hit play. The guitar signal is causing Reaper meter fluxuations but no sound. Checking Realtek test, there is now no sound from the speakers. Usually the virtual speakers move when playing the Realtek test signal. Even that is disabled by whatever settings are on Reaper. ASIO box in Reaper is identifying Realtek as 'Active'. Mike

[Lain]

This might be more of a Reaper problem and i don't really use reaper, sorry.

Could it be that the track in reaper is muted?

Unbenannt.png (22.82 KiB) Viewed 11315 times

"Record monitoring" controls whether or not you hear that track if you record. If you play the track back record monitoring should be turned off.
You can control it by clicking on the small speaker symbol.

[MTMals]

Just emerged from the dreaded computer sounds jungle. Whew. I ended up restoring defaults prior to when I began to fiddle with sounds on this project. I also uninstalled ASIOALL. Got my Windows Video Player sound and DVD/CD sounds back. All speakers. I tried the test guitar signals on Reaper and got an 'no asioall' error message , no sound of course. I'll have to revisit the Reaper/ReValver adventure next week. This is very similar to HF Radio/sound card set up for digital radio transmissions. Lot of fun but a lot of aggravation. Back to Peavey Vypyr I,
Vypyr Edit and my guitar. Certainly enough excitement for one day. [everyone dusting off jackets leaving the set mumbling agreement.] Mike

[jorismak]

I guess some people just 'understand' computers better than others .

In REaper (or almost any other multitrack software) there are a few steps to get an amp sim working:

Create a track, open the plugins for that track (TrackFX Reaper calls them, it's the little 'FX' button on the track you just created) and put an amp sim (in this case Revalver4) on there.

At this moment, nothing happens yet. On the track you just created, it should show a little 'record arm' button (it looks like a small record-button). Note that this is NOT the big 'record' button that sits with the play/rewind/pause controls that control the entire application. It's a little 'record' button only for this track.


Now, if you click that 'on', the track is ready to get audio input. You might even see a little meter peaking with the audio signal if you now play your guitar. If you right-click on the 'record arm' button, you get a little menu, with in the middle options like 'Input: Mono' and 'Input: Stereo'. There you can choose different input channels your audio card offer. Test to see which is the one your guitar / pedal is connected too.

The names of the inputs you see here differ per audio device, so I can't tell you how it will look on your end.

Well, now you could record your guitar (when you hit the big application-wide record button), but you still won't hear anything.
You need to tell Reaper that you actually want to process the recorded audio _through_ the plugin and directly ('live') through the output device.
This is called 'record monitoring' (monitor-what-you-record, it kinda makes sense).


NOW, you should hear your guitar (or whatever input you use ) through the plugins directly out your output device.


To get plugins to show up in the first place, you need to tell Reaper where your plugins are located.
Like someone else told you here, the _usual_ place is (under Windows, can't help with Mac stuff) 'C:\Program Files\Vstplugins' or (depending on the type of Windows and how you installed stuff) 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Vstplugins'.


After you set that location and clicked 'rescan' or 'clear cache/rescan' and Revalver still doesn't show up in TrackFX plugin-list, _reinstall Revalver_ like I told you. During the installation, please take care that when it asks you to, you DO install the VST plugins and take note where it installs them (if it isn't c:\program files\vstplugins). After that Reaper should pick them up.






At last, I will say, that trying to do this kind of stuff through the onboard audio of a computer is asking for problems and I won't support it in anyway. Working with ASIO4ALL is meant as a workaround if you have a wrong audio device, not a permanent solution. If you have a Xport on order, that should help a lot already.

While people say that plugging your guitar in any pedal, and then that pedal (turned off) plugged into the line-in of your audio card (with an adapter of some sorts) works.. it doesn't work all the time (it depends on the pedal, and mostly all the 'true-bypass' pedals DONT work, which are almost any new pedal these days). And even then you're plugging into a cheap onboard soundcard which is in the middle of the electric mayhem that is your motherboard inside your PC.

Getting a proper audio-interface is the way to go. And if people start complaining about dull tone or noise issues (here and on other forums), the first thing we always check for is the audio-interface they are using. Is it some onboard-sound-card construction or 'realtone cable from a computer game', we just stop helping because you will always run into issues in the end.

Any audio interface that has outputs you can use (like a headphone output, or two jacks for connecting a pair of speakers, or whatever) and has an instrument-input (not a mic-in, not a line-in, but an INSTRUMENT IN) should work OK. They come in all shapes and sizes (usb, firewire, thunderbolt.. some with only one input and one headphone output. some with 18 inputs and 6 stereo outputs, etc..) but it should have an output you can use and an instrument-input (also called high-impedance input sometimes). 24-bit makes your life easier in the end, 96khz (or more) isn't needed but it at least shows the device is somewhat recent and not ancient in design.

While there are quality differences (and I don't know them all), they should all get you on your way just fine and only when you start getting tone-serious into your own recordings is it time to evaluate if your audio interface could be upgraded.

• Peavey Xport: I DON'T like the fact that they tell you to use Asio4All in Windows 8.1. Seems to have buggy non-working drivers. Also, they don't tell anywhere on that page if it's 16-bit of 24-bit audio, or 44.1khz / 48khz / 96khz / whatever. Also, I think the device is ancient by now.
• Line 6 Pod Studio GX2: This is the one I started out with. Very simple, guitar in and a little headphone jack out and a volume dial, that's it. 24-bit but only 44.1khz / 48khz (don't believe what they tell you) but will get you decent tones. Quite ancient by now I guess.
• Focusrite Scarlett Solo: Seems very descent. I've used a Scarlett 2i2 as an upgrade for my Line 6 Pod GX2, but had some issues with it. The solo seems like the newer more simple version. People also recommend the Scarlett 2i4 but it's more expensive. Input for a microphone (if you want to mic up a real amplifier down the road? Or record your signing) and a line-in which can be set to instrument-in. It has two simple RCA connectors on the back (we call them 'tulip connectors' sometimes) to connect speakers or an audio system to. At the same time it has a front big headphone jack. The speaker output and headphone output can't be given a separate signal (they always playback the same thing) but the volume can be controlled independently.
• Presonus iOne: Seems like a direct competitor to the Focusrite Scarlett One. One mic input, one instrument input, two big jacks (not RCA) on the back to connect to speakers / audio system, and a big headphone jack on the front with independent volume. I do believe it also has midi connectors on the back so you could connect a keyboard or stuff, or (more importantly for guitarists ) midi controllers like the Behringer FCB-1010 if you ever want to control your Revalver or studio using your feet.

There are WAY more in all shapes and sizes, and price points. The Behringer Guitar Link UCG102 come to mind (heard bad things), but they also have the newer U-Phoria UMC22 and related products (which I guess aren't as good as Focusrite / Presonus stuff, but offer a bit more inputs/outputs for the same price and it doesn't mean they are bad). Behringer and Line6 stuff always receive quite some hate on the forums.. and while some of it is true (the Guitar link UCG102 really sounds bad from reports and from looking at the specs, but it only costs < $30) not all of it is deserved. But if it's only for simple guitar playing, the new cheaper Solo and iOne boxes from Focusrite and Presonus might be interesting. But IK Multimedia (Amplitube) also have / had their interface specially for guitars. Tascam have a range of interfaces (the new US-2x2 or their older predecessors), Steinberg/Yamaha have their range (my laptop has a Steinberg UR22 connected to it at all times), and the Lexicon Alpha and brothers are priced well these days (although I've heard some issues with interference / noise in the Lexicon Alpha). Or the overpriced RME stuff (which IS actually quite good most of the times) or the WAY overpriced (and mac only (? I think) and not really that good) Apogee stuff.

[Lain]

*THUMBS UP*

Nice post.

[MTMals]

With the exception of

I guess some people just 'understand' computers better than others

your instruction is a much needed contribution to this forum and should have its own topic. I might add, I guess some people just don't understand PSK-31, or HRD, or Frequency Shift Keying, or 30wpm Morse, Sideband perhaps or Cholecystectomy, or Hypophesectomy, or clysis, cranial flap or CABG or epigastric artery graft possibly exhaust back pressure curves or battlefield elan..ect,etc, but that would suggest I have an inflated view of myself. If that point of view compels you to invest your energy and talent cranking out such good instructions because you believe in the benefits of these concepts, please carry on my friend....excellent job. If Peavey hopes to expand its market from experienced professionals to entry level digital audio enthusiasts, your type of instruction should be the tutorial standard. I don't hold your lack of all wisdom and knowledge against you. Thanks for your help. Mike

[Lain]

If Peavey hopes to expand its market from experienced professionals to entry level digital audio enthusiasts, your type of instruction should be the tutorial standard.

Your problems aren't with a Peavey product but with the use of a DAW. Every VST plugin works the same, whether it's Revalver, Amplitube, Waves plugins or a free EQ plugin. They all require really basic knowledge of the DAW you are using.

Hope it all works out for you and if you have any further problems or questions don't be shy to ask.

[jorismak]

With the exception of

I guess some people just 'understand' computers better than others

your instruction is a much needed contribution to this forum and should have its own topic.

Maybe my english is failing there then or it's a bit out of context (or I had more context in my head which I didn't write down).
Anyway, it wasn't meant as a (negative) comment against the other users here. I have no reason to do something like that :S.

More giving an explanation why some users know this stuff from just trying and others for the life of it can't figure it out, and why something like a good basic setup is still crucial to have in a manual (or an active support desk). People _without_ that natural 'compute feeling' can feel lost and frustrated at the product, while in essence it isn't the product's fault.

And when you read forum posts of people trying to help which explain the whole thing in 3 sentences without any interpunction or real flow in the words I'm sure it isn't really helping.

So I went all out in the hope to make it more clear for people, so they don't feel frustrated with the setup of Revalver anymore, and can actually start using the product in the way they had hoped to use it.

I picked Reaper because 1) it's my program of choice 2) with the small download and free trial (and cheap personal-use license) it's a good place to start for people who have / had no idea what they might need.
But if you already have Cubase or StudioOne or ProTools, the explanation and terms used can be completely different :S.

So my comment wasn't meant as a negative thing to other users who don't understand what I call 'the basics of digital audio recording / editing'. Everybody has different levels of what they're good at, human nature.

It also wasn't meant as a negative thing to other people trying to help other people. Everybody trying to help someone else on this forum here is a good thing. But sometimes I read a question and then a very short answer and I think "even though you are trying, you're not helping that person but only confusing him/her more". I hope I have eliminated some of that early confusion and 'feeling lost' so that people try to get further themselves, or even experiment or even better: have fun with their guitars.