Track armed for recording display master meter

[Bakeacake08]

I have an issue that suddenly popped up and I can't figure out how to fix it. It showed up after installing a game from a Windows XP CD-Rom. I'm running Windows 10.

*Whenever I arm a track for recording, it is acting like a meter for the master channel.*

When the song is stopped and I play the instrument (going through a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, 3rd gen), the meter does not react at all, i.e., it doesn't see the instrument.

When I push play and the other track start playing, the meter on the Record Armed track start reacting the same as the master meter, matching it exactly. If I choose the left channel for the track and then pan the master channel to the right, the meter on the armed track disappears (or goes down same as the left master meter). This happens on any and all tracks that are currently armed.

I thought this was a Reaper issue, but I also tried a portable install on an external drive, and even with the default settings it's still happening.

Other things I've tried:

* Uninstalling and reinstalling my audio drivers
* Uninstalling and reinstalling Reaper
* Choosing all the different input driver options in preferences
* Pleading with Reaper
* Tried it with and without my interface plugged in
* Trying a different theme (I use the current default)

I found this thread from 2012 with the same issue (though I'm not worried about the colors), and his solution was to change themes. Any ideas? I'm getting closer to the nuclear option of backing everything up and resetting Windows, which I would rather not do, but I can't figure out what is going on.

Thanks!

[ErBird]

Two things usually cause this.

Make sure the "loopback" function isn't enabled on your interface.

Next, in the Win10 privacy settings, under microphone: make sure microphone access is enabled for your device AND that "allow apps..." and "allow desktop apps..." are on.

[Bakeacake08]

Originally Posted by ErBird

Two things usually cause this.

Make sure the "loopback" function isn't enabled on your interface.

Next, in the Win10 privacy settings, under microphone: make sure microphone access is enabled for your device AND that "allow apps..." and "allow desktop apps..." are on.

*Allow Desktop Apps* was turned off. I will have to check it for sure tomorrow when I'm by my interface, but it seems to pick up the laptop mic fine, which it wasn't doing before, so I think that was it.

You are a lifesaver! Thank you!

[ErBird]

Yeah, it's very bizarre but after a Windows update a couple years ago, if microphone access is off the main output gets fed back into the inputs. You'd expect the inputs to just be silent.