If I open the Mixer whilst I am recording audio get the message “Recording error : Audio dropout detected”
My setup is fine and I normally have no audio recording problems. I have never seen this error message before. It only happens if I switch to the mixer whilst Cubase is recordng audio. The project is small with only 6 tracks.
Is it something to do with Cubase not handling the opening of new windows?
Now I am getting audio dropouts whilst I am simply recording audio. I am not touching anything, not using the Mixer, not switching screens - just simply recording a vocal.
The recording consistently stops with the message : Recording Error : Audio Dropout Detected.
The project is not large, only 4 instances of vst"s - Superior Drummer, Omnisphere, Pianoteq and HALionsonic SE2. I have certainly built much bigger projects without dropouts.
I have never had this issue before, only since upgrading to Cubase 8.
Maybe a C8 bug ?
Is C7 recording without the message now??
I had the same problem.
And also never happened in previous versions.
Switching Asio guard to high setting solved the issue.
At least for now
I haven’t checked C7 but I had never experienced it on that version and so I’m pretty sure it’s an issue with C8.
Interesting about switching Asio Guard to high, but that of course should not be necessary.
I’m keen to see if Steinberg recognise this issue and whether they think it is a C8 problem.
The pop-up can be disabled in Preferences.
That won’t cure the underlying problem but I do find myself that the pop-up is annoying, especially when troubleshooting to eliminate the underlying cause as you have to keep dismissing it. Instead use one of the VST performance meters. It’ll red line and show it has peaked so you can see the problem though most times you hear it anyway.
Given this occurs with very little load when you open a Window I would suggest that some driver (perhaps start with video) has changed and is now preventing Cubase from completing the realtime audio processing in time. If you haven’t manually installed updates I would suggest checking your Windows Update and/or other update programs to find out what changed. You may be able to use System Restore to return to a known good state (I would create a backup image of your drive first).
Usually when I have this problem I will restore my OS drive back to a previous backup image and manually do updates. I do weekly backups so this is usually the easiest way as there aren’t that many updates to track through.
Oh, also check your Windows Advanced Performance preferences hasn’t changed from Background Services or the Power Scheme changed. A recent Windows update did this to me.
Thanks for the comments, and appreciate the help, robw.
I can’t see where you disable the “pop-ups”. Do you mean General/Show Tips? In any event I am not sure I want to disable the message. I have never done this before but it has never caused a problem before, I have not had such messages.
Note that it is not the opening of the Mixer that is now the issue, it is simply happening during a recording with no intervention.
Irrespective of any pop-up, the key issue is that the recording actually stops.
You note “Usually when I have this problem”… However, I have never had such a problem before, and I have been using Cubase since version 4, updating and upgrading at every point through to 8.05. I have not changed my computer or audio interface in that time. That’s not, of course’ to say that something may have changed in my setup unknown to me - and I assume co-incidental around the time of the C8 upgrade. I update Windows manually regularly, more than once a week. I have checked your points and I see that processor resources are still set to background services and the Power Scheme is still on the same Custom Setting I always have. On checking the list, the recent Windows Updates have been the usual (Security updates, definition updates etc).
Very frustrating as it renders C8 unusable for me at the moment.
Frustrating indeed.
At this point I’d restore a known good backup image to resolve any doubts about software update side effects. Then you could be sure of software vs hardware issue.
If you don’t have a known good back up then suggested Plan B would a) backup!! and b) create a separate partition by resizing your existing one (unless you already have a spare) and install clean OS and Cubase. Dual boot into it and see if it works correctly. It’s not as painful as it sounds though longer than restoring a back up.
That’s about all I can suggest at the moment
Here’s a test I just did. And one that might suggest it is nothing to do with the OS, but rather C8 (on my system).
I open Cubase 8.0.5. I load my current project that was recorded on C8.0.5. I start play and bring up the MixConsole. There is audio stutter (dropout). I quit, reload C8.0.5 and load a similar project that was recorded on Cubase 7.5.30. I start play and bring up the MixConsole. There is audio stutter (dropout).
I quit the project and quit 8.0.5. I load 7.5.30. I load the project that was recorded on 7.5.30. I start play and bring up the MixConsole. No audio stutter. The MixConsole comes up without interrupting the audio. I quit, reload 7.5.30 and load the project that was recorded on C8.0.5. I start play and bring up the MixConsole. No audio stutter. The MixConsole comes up without interrupting the audio.
So two separate projects. Two separate versions of Cubase. On C8.0.5 there is audio dropout on switching windows on either project. On C7.5.30 there is no audio dropout on switching windows on either project. Conclusive that - on my system anyway - Cubase 8 has a problem on switching windows. I’m no expert but I could also be forgiven for concluding that - on my system anyway - this windows issue with Cubase 8.0.5 is the same problem that is causing my audio dropouts on recording - whether a window is switched or not.
I may also point out that C 8.0.5 experiences audio dropout if the windows scroll bar is used during playback - but the issue is not experienced on C 7.5.30. Note both versions are 64bit as are all my vst’s.
I would check for new drivers for your graphics card is you suspect window handling is causing this.
And check by search if any other complaints here from users of the same card.
Actually I don’t suspect that windows handling is causing the problem because as I mentioned earlier I am getting recording audio dropouts when no windows are being switched. Maybe the problems are linked is my only suspicion at the moment. Everything else on my system is fine from a graphics point of view.
As I know that Cubase 7 has none of the problems at all, could there be a difference in what Cubase 8 requires of a graphics card in comparison to that required by Cubase 7 - that would then cause audio dropouts? If so, then I assume Steinberg would be aware of possible problems in the upgrade.
(The graphics card is an NVIDIA MSI GeForce 7600GS 256MB DDR2)
I have checked for driver updates on my graphics card and I already have the latest driver installed (307.83). So no problem with that.
A search on the site does not reveal anything useful except that misohoza has the same problem.
I hope a user, or Steinberg can help as Cubase 8 is unusable for me with this issue!
could there be a difference in what Cubase 8 requires of a graphics card in comparison to that required by Cubase 7
Yes…always check the system requirements.
Not sure but I think your card is not DirectX 10??
So, on checking, you are right. My graphics card does not support DirectX 10.
So I assume I have to get a new card.
Hope that resolves the problem!
make sure the buffer size wasn’t reduced, among other settings being back at default. I had severe audio drop outs, until I boosted my buffer size to 1024. No problems, since! No clicking or popping in my recorded audio anymore, either. Good luck… (Maybe stick with 7.5 until 8.5 comes out… seems to me all the ‘.0’ releases are buggy, and full of complaints, while the ‘.5’ releases are clean and all patched up!
No, I had checked the settings, and the buffer size has not changed.
I have to say I am still confused as to why, technically, bringing up the MixConsole could cause audio dropout. Maybe a processor issue?
Anyway, I have just taken delivery of a new graphics card to the required spec (a MSI GT 720) so I’ll install that over the weekend and see what happens.
Well, I installed the new card and it has not solved the problem. I continue to get drop-outs when playing audio (only 8 tracks) and when bringing up the MixConsole.
Having not had this problem before on projects substantially larger in C7.5 and previous versions I am at a loss to understand why this is happening in C8. It is unusable in this state and I guess I will have to go back to C7.5.
Any more views? Any point in uninstalling and reloading C8?
Hi there,
Maybee these things below are a starting point to find your problem
How much hard drives do you use and how is the load spread out (1 disk = OS + softw, disk2 = audio + projects, disk3 = sample libraries?), are your disks on dedicated controllers? Are you measuring the load of these disks?
What motherboard do you use and is it with the lastest firmware. Is there any tweaking done on your motherboard. How stable is your RAM? etc. etc.
Why all these questions you might ask?
Simple said your cubase should work! Drop outs merely indicates that something is wrong and you need to find out what. If all users suddenly are saying they get dropouts then I would look first at Cubase, but since this is not the case, I would look into hardware and driver problems.
Thanks for the views, and yes, fair questions, and ones I have asked myself. I have an AB9 motherboard which certainly a year ago had the latest firmware, though I should check it again. There has been no tweaking and I am sure the RAM is solid.I use two hard drives of 500 each, one for OS and software, and the other for samples and project storage. I believe they are on dedicated controllers but I have not measured the load. (Not sure how to do that). The computer is only used for Cubase recording, nothing else. I don’t have a virus checker and I connect to the net very rarely.
The only thing that continues to puzzle me is that all of this hardware, software and system setup was fine until I installed Cubase 8. Unless I am really missing something obvious, nothing else has changed. I will try more with C7.5 to see if I can duplicate the problems with that version as I certainly have not seen it there yet.
However, I very much see your overall point that if no-one else is seeing this then it is clearly something particular to my system, and I need to work through the possible causes. I have to say though, I am a certainly confused about it all!
Sorry to hear that the new card hasn’t helped. Very frustrating I’m sure.
If further testing in c7.5 shows that it is only in C8 then I guess that leaves you with taking a close look at whether preferences are set the same for both and perhaps in the Aero settings as this was a major change.
Also probably worth running latencymon while forcing the problem and seeing if it lists anything unexpected spiking at this point.