Whoops, the two first pictures are the same. Sorry about the double upload.

Normalising the track not only will raise the signal level but inevetably raise the noise level.

So you are raising the noise floor in doing so. Personally, I don't use it, I rely more on correct gain staging before I hit record...you shouldn't "normalise" a track just for the sake of it.

Louder tracks = louder noise.

I would only use the feature if the tracks levels are so low that its impossible to use gain and the volume faders to make the track loud enough for a mix...by making sure correct gain staging is applied prior to hitting record eliminates the need for having to normalise tracks after the fact.

Whilst Reaper is not my primary DAW, maybe this technique below coupled with correct gain staging may help reduce the white noise.

Chris M., post: 438396, member: 49850 wrote: Hey all, this will be my first post on the forum.
I seem to have a problem with static/white noise. even when my mic is muted on my Behringer x2222. My mic is an AKG P420.
The white noise always shows up when I normalize a track, whether I'm recording nothing or my guitar or voice. I'll put up some pictures of my configuration too. Thanks for the help in advance!
Also, I split my input and outputs, (My input is the Behringer device and my output is my headphones plugged into the front audio jack in my CPU. I've been doing this for a while and it hasn't given me an issue that I know of.

I'm glad connecting your headphones to a different device works for you but it's still a terrible idea.

Looking at your pics I notice you've got your gain and fader low on Ch 1. That doesn't look promising. I suspect you've got a basic analog gain structure problem.