Audio events not showing correct waveforms, freezing Cubase 11 Pro

Cubase
1

Hi,

I have posted this in the Spectralayers section, but Robin, the developer of Spetralayers says my issue is a Cubase issue, not a Spectralayers one. More details in this topic.

Also, I have written to Steinberg support, but they still have not replied…

The short version is that in some of my projects, audio events generated in Spectralayers Pro have suddenly ceased working, making Cubase freeze. These exact projects have been working flawlessly for several months, and then, last week, some of them don’t.

Please see the topic I linked to above for more details and some screen shots. Any help greatly appreciated, since I really need to get these projects back to scratch so I can finish mixing them.

How long do you have to wait for the online support to kick in, by the way?

Best,

Magnus

2

Hi,

When this happen, can you hear the audio? Is it just visual issue or not?

3

Hi Martin,

Thanks for helping. As soon as the cursor reaches the vertical line ending the wave form in the screen shots, Cubase freezes. Until then everything plays as usual. When the cursor reaches that point, I have to hit Alt+Del to force close Cubase.

Best,

Magnus

4

Hi,

Could you generate a DMP file, please?

Generate a DMP file and share it via Dropbox or similar service, please.

Once Cubase becomes frozen, open the Task Manager, right-click to Cubase and click to Generate DMP file.

If this doesn’t work, use Microsoft ProcDump utility to generate a DMP file, please.

  1. Please download ProcDump64 from Microsoft (~650kB) and extract the archive to a local folder on your harddisk.

  2. Run Command Prompt (cmd) as administrator (right click and select “run as administrator”)

  3. Navigate (in the Command Prompt) to the folder with the extracted procdump file.
    For example:
    cd C:\ Users \ \ Downloads \ Procdump
    Note: the dmp file will be written into that folder.

  4. Launch Cubase/Nuendo. You can work as usual. At any time, change to the command prompt and start procdump, to monitor Cubase/Nuendo for unexpected behavior (see next step).

  5. Launch procdump64 via Command Prompt:
    Cubase 11:
    procdump64 -e -h -t Cubase11

Nuendo 11:
procdump64 -e -h -t Nuendo10

The -h option will write a dmp file in case of an application hang. This might kick in too early sometimes, in case some action takes a little longer. Feel free to skip the “-h” option, if you are only up for fetching crashes.
The option -e will catch exeptions and the option -t terminations of the application.

  1. Prodump is now monitoring the Cubase/Nuendo process and will write a crash log, in case Cubase/Nuendo crashes or hangs. Perform the action that causes Cubase/Nuendo to crash and send us the generated crash dmp.

ZIP and share the DMP file via Dropbox or similar service, please.

5

Hi again Martin,

Thank you so much for taking an interest in this issue. I have messaged you a download link for the dmp file.

All the best,

Magnus

6

Martin, did you get the dmp file? Could you please confirm, so I know?

I am still waiting for Steinberg support to react. I registered my support request last Friday, so one week now without any reaction. Disappointing. The last time I was in contact with support, they were very fast and got back to me within a day.

Best,

Magnus

7

Hi,

Yes, I got the DMP file. Unfortunately it’s not really clear, why did it freeze. But it doesn’t seem to be related to the waveform at all.

Reported to Steinberg. Thank you.

8

Hi Martin,

Thanks for your reply. Except for this project (and a yet unknown number of similar ones, where I have also used Unmix stems) Cubase is rock solid. No crashes, freezes etc.

My core issue here is not the freezing which occurs when the cursor reaches the vertical upward line in the vocal waveform - but the fact that these unmixed (through Spectralayers Pro, and then dragged to the timeline and converted into wav files) audio events all of a sudden changed, from having vocals all the way through the event, to now unexplicably ending at the upward line in the wave form of the event.

I incorporated Spectralayers Pro into my regular Cubase workflow two-three months ago, as I would any other audio editor (Wavelab, for instance). And now, a little more than a week ago, it seems, that without reason the work I have done in Spectralayers is no longer accessible (or corrupted, gasp!).

This is what I need sorted, since otherwise, I will have to revisit what may turn out to be some 20 songs :scream: and start reconstructing their vocal (and other) parts that I have unmixed in Spectralayers. (My Cubase projects are all audio, no midi, BTW.)

I cannot stress enough the importance to me that we can find out what is going on here, since right now, I feel I cannot trust the Cubase/Spectralayers combo to produce reliable results - which is critical, obviously.

Thanks again for your help,

Magnus

9

Hi,

Sorry, I focused on the freeze, because I was thinking, this is the main issue.

When you play the SpectraLayered Audio Event back, do you hear the sound, or is also the sound corrupted, please?

As far as I know (but I might be wrong), the waveform is generated from the pre-ARA state. Because otherwise Cubase would need to Bounce the Audio after the ARA changes, to be able to generate the waveform image. So the waveform image file should be the original one, from your original audio file. Can you find the *.image file in the Image subfolder of your project, please?

Does this happen only with the unmoving process in the SpectraLayer or does it happen with any SpectraLayers processing?

Sorry, I’m not Spectra Layers expert, but I would expect, there are some preferences similar to other Steinberg products. Could you try to (backup and) delete them (the preferences folder)?

Cubase Preferences folders are (I expect SpectraLayers has similar preferences folder in the same directory):
Mac: ~/Library/Preferences/Cubase X
Win: %appData% Steinberg/Cubase X_64

10

Hi again,

No worries about the freeze, it is part of the problem. :slight_smile:

I will try your suggestions and report back what happens. Regarding the sound in the Spectralayered audio event, it is correct up to the point where the vertical line is and the freeze occurs. The audio should continue all the way through the event - which it did until this issue occurred last week.

Thanks again for helping me with this.

/Magnus

11

Hi Martin,

Playing the project back now, I noticed that the vocal even is not only corrupted from the upward line and on. It is also not playing the correct wav file, but the vocals from another track…

This is completely crazy, since I did preliminary mixes and masters of this cpr a couple of weeks ago and everything was fine.

So it is not only the wave form that is corrupted. The event is also playing the wrong wav file…

I have only used Spectralayers for unmixing, mainly vocals, but also some drums. So I don’t know if I would have had this issue with any other processing in Spectralayers.

I don’t think deleting the Spectralayers preferences will make any difference, since my work process when unimixing has always been a) enabl extension for the event, b) unmix stem for the event, c) drag unmixed stem to timeline on a duplicated track, d) disable extension for the event, e) delete the original of the duplicated track with the unmixed stem. So there is no Spectralayers instance active in the project from that point.

There is no image folder in this project’s folder. There is a Track Pictures folder, but it is empty.

So, it would seem to me that - for some unknown - reason, Cubase has lost track of what audio file the event refers too and picked an incorrect one, which semms to be corrupted as well - or at least incomplete.

Right now, I feel I cannot rely on Cubase and Spectralayers at all. This is horrible.

Still I am very grateful for your help, and hopefully there will be a solution of the issue, and an explanation of what has been going on here.

All the best,

Magnus

12

Hi again, Martin,

I have now inventoried the ca 35 projects (songs) where I suspected this issue might have occurred. I found only one other project with the issue. It has the same vocal audio event graphic , with the upward line - however, in the second project, all vox events except the first one are completely void of graphics. They are just empty.

Oddly, the exact same vocal (wav) file is incorrectly playing in this second project as in the first project, discussed above in this thread.

So, I feel better now, that I can see that the extent of the damage isn’t (yet?) uncontrollable. If you can help me to understand what is going on in the two corrupt cprs, and find a solution, I would be able to sleep better at night after having worked in Cubase… :slight_smile:

Best,

Magnus

13

Hi,

Could you share (via Dropbox or similar service and via PM) the project and the only one corrupted WAV file, please? I’m wondering, what happens on other machine.

If there is no waveform image, Cubase should create it while opening the project.

14

Hi Martin,

I will do this today. I will send you the cpr and the wav file - with the number corresponding to the vox audio event (generated in Spectralayers, shown in the screenshot) - through Wetransfer.

Thanks again for your help,

Magnus

15

Hi again, Martin,

I have now messaged you a link so that you can download the requested files.

I listened to the audio file in isolation now, and it is not the correct vocals for this song. Originally, this event pointed to another audio file, that I had unmixed in Spectralayers. The audio in the wav file I sent you belongs to another song (cpr). Both corrupted cprs seem to incorrectly use this wav file.

Note that the issue is that both these cprs used their own, correct Spectralayered wav files until the issue occurred.

Best,

Magnus

16

Hi,

Thank you, I will have a look later today.

What happens, if you Reveal in Finder (File Explorer) the affected audio file from Pool? Does it point to the right *.wav file?

17

Hi again,

I did as you suggested. It points to the same file (the incorrect and corrupted one).

Best,

Magnus

18

Hi,

It looks healthy on my side. I don’t have the waveform corruption and the sound seems to match the waveform.

See attached screenshot of the waveform, please. Btw, the amplitude is really, low, so I just Zoomed In for the waveform.

Via PM, I’m going to send you the *.peak file from the Images folder (which Cubase created during the project load) and the Mixdown, I made from the file, you provided. I hope, this helps.

I have to admit, I have no any plug-in, you are using in the track.

Screenshot 2021-04-19 at 14.08.38
Screenshot 2021-04-19 at 14.08.381360×248 14.2 KB

19

Hi Martin,

Thanks for looking into this so quickly. The problem here is that the vox track audio events point to the wrong wav file. As I have tried to explain, the problem here is not so much the corrupted waveform (graphics), but that the audio event (Vox) is pointing to the wrong wav file.

The vocals for this cpr is not what the event is pointing to. The problem is that the vox event in this cpr (and the other one I have managed to find) started pointing to the wav file with vocals for another cpr.

I am sorry if this is confusing. Yes, the waveform in my end is garbled (ending with the upward line and causing Cubase to freeze when the cursor reaches the upward line). This in itself is annoying. But the real issue at hand is why this audio event all of a sudden - for no reason that is obvious to me - started pointing not to its original wav file, but to a wav file from another cpr.

I would very much like this audio event to again point to the correct wav file.

Best,

Magnus

20

Hi Magnus,

Have you heard the file I sent you back? Is it the one your Cubase points to or is it the one, you would expect it should sit there?