Thread Help with Reaper, Scarlett 2i2, and Focusrite USB ASIO

tl;dr - Reaper with Scarlett 2i2. Looking for lowest latency method to monitor voice and send to a Virtual Audio Cable. Many methods work alright but with moderate latency. ASIO4ALL shows 6ms latency but feels like 50-100ms in recording levels and monitoring. ASIO driver called Focusrite USB Audio shows 11ms and seems correct, recording bars react snappily, but the only outputs I can pick are the L/R outputs on the Scarlett backside, which sound bad when monitoring (recordings are still great) and can't be routed for my needs. Hoping for a way to introduce a different output device.

Hi there, I'm posting this question around the internet in hopes for an answer.

I'm using Reaper, with a Scarlett 2i2 (1st Gen) through a USB 3.1 socket. My Reaper project only includes the one track, no FX or plugins, so I can test and hear my microphone and its latency.

In the Audio Device Settings screen, I've been toying with different Audio Systems to see which can get me the lowest latency without artifacting.

WASAPI, WaveOut, WDM Kernel Streaming, and ASIO4ALL(v2) each do a decent job at best giving me no artifacting and relatively low latency, but still enough that it creates a jamming effect when I'm monitoring my voice and it's a bit weird to speak.

Under ASIO I found an ASIO Driver called "Focusrite USB ASIO" (NOT the ASIO "Focusrite USB 2.0 Audio Driver" which didn't work). This "Focusrite USB Audio" is working on the input end. Enable Inputs is checked (first/1:Input1, last/2:Input2) and I see my levels moving normally as I speak. It also seems to be reacting with way way less latency, almost none, with the bars moving when I make a sound much quicker than ano of the other audio systems or drivers.

However... I can't get this Focusrite USB ASIO to actually output to anything. If I record a brief track, it works fine and I can open the audio file and hear the properly recorded audio. But I can't figure out how to properly monitor it or direct it to another device for output so that I can use it in monitoring, VoIP, or live broadcasting.

Maybe it just doesn't work in that manner and that's part of why the latency seems so low? Kind of a too-good-to-be-true scenario?

Under "Enable inputs:" there's of course the fields under "Output range:" just the same as the screen for any driver selected under ASIO. For the dropdown boxes of "first" and "last" it lets me pick "1: Output 1" and "2: Output 2". I'm guessing that these correspond to the Left and Right outputs on the back of the Scarlett 2i2. I tried using those outputs to live monitor the microphone sound, but it doesn't work well, sounding a bit weird and robotic when monitoring as I talk. HOWEVER, the actual test recordings come out perfectly fine. So it's capturing the voice just as well as any of the other audio systems/drivers, the recordings sound totally clear, and the latency is really low, but I just need a way to route the output to something other than the two outputs on the back of the Scarlett itself, because they don't do a good job.

Normally I would want to specify that it route out through a Virtual Audio Cable which I can then monitor by listening-in to the VAC, can specify it for VoIP, etcetera. ASIO4ALL lets me do that just fine. The Focusrite ASIO records just as well, has amazingly low latency, but I can't find a way to choose any other output devices.

One final note: In the top-right of Reaper it reminds you what your estimated latency is. For some of the non-ASIO options, I've gotten latencies (without any artifacting) of around 25-50ms. The Focusrite USB ASIO tells me the latency is 11ms and I believe it, the levels react immediately. But there's another mystery, that the more typical ASIO4ALL tells me I only have about 6ms, but the levels when I speak react VERY slowly, more like 50+ms, and it sounds that way when monitoring it also. But I know how to route it through the Virtual Audio cable and the monitored sound is fine.

If there was a way to use the ASIO4ALL and actually get the supposed 6ms latency, that would also solve all of my problems. But the recording levels and monitoring delay are very sluggish, where the 11ms Focusrite ASIO is instantaneous in comparison, and even the non-ASIO options are faster than ASIO4ALL. I don't understand where it's determining a 6ms latency, but if that could actually be the case then it would be perfect. If not, then I hope there could be a way to use a different output device for the Focusrite ASIO.

Thanks for the help. Let me know if there's any additional information I should provide. Sorry if there's some obvious things that I don't understand, I'm not brand new to this stuff but I definitely have limited experience.