That is not deliberate. 
I feel like that wasn’t like that when I when through the setting last time. I check into that.
And what about the outputs? It’s also a bit odd that you have Control Room enabled but haven’t routed anything to outputs within that tab.
I just disabled everything in windows last night actually, and it didn’t appear to have any effect on the sound.
Check levels? What do you mean specifically, like the actual dbs or what I listen with?
KRK studio monitors usually but at this very moment I’m using 2 different pairs of head phones. I understand the importance of mixing with monitor speakers but this problem was existing when my monitors where being used. Studio room is undergoing renovations atm so left with a small space right now and using phones.
The levels, just what the hardware and software shows me.
Where do you see it enabled?
I’m thinking that if you have problems with things sounding radically different it’ll often be a routing issue. Double-routing can thin out the sound because of phasing, and of course mono/stereo back and forth or additions can give you problems.
Anyway, it’d be good to see the outputs tab connections as well as how you’ve routed your input and audio track (in the mixer)…
Cubase does have a safe mode so you can start it up temporarily with factory settings. That could be worth a try:
I can’t remember if it resets the in/outs and control room though.
Seems like that would be off if nothing was connected. interesting.
I took a photo of the output but most have failed to upload it. I’ll send it now.
I had a more a more advanced setup at one point but I simplified everything troubleshooting
Yes that’s a good idea I will try this. Thanks.
@XunforgivenX, I haven’t studied your entire thread on this subject but I do have one question. It sounds like you are saying that Cubase 5 (all other things being equal) sounds better thant Cubase 12. Right? So what happens when you re-install or run Cubase 5 now? This test would rule out every other aspect of your signal chain and clearly point the finger at something changing in the newer Cubase.
I always keep older versions installed on my PC because some older versions may have advantages of the newer ones. Of course new projects are not backwards compatible, so you’ll have to re-record or IMPORT audio from C12 to C5 to conduct a fair comparison.
Call me Old School, but I love the sound of Nuendo 4 & 5.5. So your issue is indeed perplexing and hope all the other interfaces and sound cards are not diluting the issue. IF C5 still sounds better, then its bug report time. I’m not a composer, so I don’t use composition tools - just its awesome mix engine with this human digital interface: http://studiostav.com/services/
NO RECORDING LAST NIGHT THIS IS WHY.
Got home from work last night and started to proceed with giving you all a sample recording.
I loaded everything up, started a new project, armed a track, added STL Tonehub and played a lick and didn’t sound great but wasn’t terribly horrible sounding.
Wanted to make sure my guitar was tuned for this sample so I did that. After tuning I kinda faded off watching tv with my guitar in lap and probably 20-30 min went by before a strum. I immediately noticed the tone was noticeably different so I checked my levels and things we good. Stumped… Faded off watching tv again, Probably 20-30 min later the tone was even worst then before, it was HORRIBLE!! (Approx 1h in) Sounded like BAD digital clipping but all the levels were good and untouched.
I realized that this wasn’t the first time this has happen, but I always just thought it was just a random glitch or something.
Realized that the tone has always sounded better when first launched. Why didn’t I notice this before? Because I usually close the session by then because it becomes unbearable. Then either quit or load things back up using different settings.
But for this I don’t think you need a sample.
Imagine turning your gain on your interface all the way up to max and play guitar. That’s what it sounds like after 1h. It always sounds gainy to me on all the interfaces I’ve used btw.
Hey everyone I appreciate all your help. If you have any suggestions I’d like to still hear them but I’m also going to contact Focusrite and see if they can help figure this out because it seems like an interface to PC problem. 
Something weird is happing here.
That was a long time ago that I used C5. I have no idea what account email I used back then or anything. Most of my old software disks and stuff are long gone. Lol
That mixer looks sweet btw. Might have to look into that in the future! 
You said that Studio One was ok though, is that still the case? Not that it will make much difference I expect, but did you turn off the externally clocked option in Cubase for your audio interface?
It’s possible that if you’ve left your machine it could’ve gone into standby mode and the sample rate has shifted or something odd?
I’m going to try studio one again and see what happens.
I changed the external clock setting in Cubase and it had to effect on anything.
No standby. I always get annoyed by standby so I always set all my devices to 1h standby.
I might have fixed it. At least… I can say things sound way better but still need to do some further testing. Things sound more full and direct, not muffled and clippy. Doesn’t appear to have that phase sound either.
I watched many videos on optimizing Win 11 for best audio production/ audio performance and changed many settings. Also followed focusrites help tips for optimizing performance. I don’t any of these setting changes made a hug difference until turning off a lot of background apps. I think one of these background apps may have been the problem.
If you get “clicky” sounds that “kinda” sound like clipping, it might be the buffer size.
Try cranking the buffer size up. 1024 might be a good place to start.
This will add latency in play-through, but at least it will tell you whether this is a problem or not.
If 1024 sounds good, then try reducing it until you get the clicking sound again, and go back up one notch.