Big latency and artifacts on Cubasis 3.8 with Android

Cubasis
1

I’m getting a lot of latency and weird noises when monitoring recording guitars. I read a lot on the subject and I tried changing the latency and the multi core settings to no avail. I also went developer mode on Android to see if any changes tu USB behaviour coud help but no success either. It is litteraly unusable. The only option is to go direct monitoring on my interface which bypasses all cubasis effects so not a viable solution.

I’v read the generic response that it depends a lot on the hardware and so on but the thing is, I’m using the latest Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and I tried with three different interfaces (Scarlet 2i2 3rd gen, Behringer and Fender Tone Master Pro). It’s top of the line stuff (for Android, I know Apple is more powerful…) Works nice with FL Studio, Band Lab and N-track. The only issue is with Cubasis.

Now, I bought almost all add-ins which makes the bill jump quite high for something that’s not working. Any plans of real support in this matter? Or is there a way to get a refund for everything?

If it’s offered for Android, it must be working somehow? To me, Cubasis is the best daw on Android and I’d really want to stick with it but if I can’t record bass and guitar, it’s useless…

If someone has a magic solution, I’m all ears!!

Cheers!

2

Hi @maxcheese,

thanks for your message and a warm welcome to the Cubasis forum!

Are you able to see and select your audio devices in the “Input & Output Devices” tab under “Setup/Audio”?

Best regards,
Lars

3

Yes, the Scarlet 2i2 is automatically detected and behaves properly. Gives me option for both stereo and mono and both inputs are selectable. The result is the same with either inputs in mono mode. Tried different instruments too just in case.

4

Hi @maxcheese

You mentioned you’re on Cubasis 3.8, but please note that we introduced several monitoring-related fixes in version 3.8.3. Could you first confirm that you’re running Cubasis 3.8.3?

If you already are on 3.8.3, please try the following steps, which may introduce the behavior:

  1. Quit all other running apps
  2. Restart your tablet
  3. Enable Airplane mode
  4. Connect your audio interface
  5. Launch Cubasis
  6. Go to Setup ▸ Audio and disable Multi‑Core
  7. Set the latency to a medium value that’s still usable (for example around 16 ms)
  8. Try toggling “Sample Rate Conversion” on and off to see which setting works better on your device

Hope that helps!

Best regards,
Lars

5

I’m afraid the result is exactly the same. I tried with a Samsung S24+ with the same hardware and everything works fine. It seems the app as some kind incompatibilty with the Tab11 hardware or Android version. I can’t be the only one in this situation… :frowning:

6

I’m having the same problem in version 3.8.5. The Verve, Etude, Classic FM, and Halion Sonic Play instruments are causing audio crackling, regardless of the audio settings I use. I am using a POCO Pad M1 (with a 12.1-inch 2.5K 120Hz display, Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB expandable storage, 12,000mAh battery, and Xiaomi HyperOS 2) along with an Arturia MiniFuse 2 interface. All the instruments quickly hit peak volume/clip whenever I adjust the sliders in the mixer tab.

7

Hi @Fabio_Fortes_Firmino

Thanks for the detailed report.

The performance of Cubasis for Android is strongly related to the device in use.

Please try increasing the audio latency setting (Setup/Audio) and reducing the number of loaded instruments/tracks in your project, as these instruments can be relatively demanding in terms of CPU and memory usage.

We also recommend testing the affected instrument in a new, empty project and checking whether the issue persists. Additionally, please try running Cubasis both with and without the MiniFuse 2 connected, disable any battery optimization settings for Cubasis.

Hope that helps

Best,
Lars

8

Thank you very much for your reply.
Let me detail the scenario:
I have already tried various combinations of Latency and Buffer settings for Multi-Core Processing.
I have tested with Multi-Core Processing turned off.
I have tested with “Minimize System Processing” both on and off.
I have tested without any audio interfaces connected.
I have tested on three different devices:

  1. LG Velvet: Snapdragon 845 (octa-core up to 2.8 GHz), 6 GB RAM, 128 GB storage.
  2. Infinix 50x: MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultimate (octa-core up to 2.5 GHz), 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage.
  3. Poco Pad M1: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 (octa-core up to 2.7 GHz, GPU: Adreno 810), 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage.
    Testing methodology:
    Using just one track with Classic FM, HALion Sonic Play, Verve, Etude, or MicroSonic.
    Playing a chord progression with the sustain pedal held down on just one of these instrument tracks pushes the DSP meter to 100% in less than 60 seconds, resulting in audio crackling/popping.
    For comparison, I also use an app called Audio Evolution; on the same devices, I can play up to nine tracks simultaneously without any audio crackling.
    I suspect there is a flaw in the voice-stealing process that is overloading the DSP.
    I am genuinely interested in using Cubasis in my setup because the app has great potential, and the sound quality of instruments like Classic FM, HALion Sonic Play, Verve, and Etude is what convinced me to purchase them. However, I cannot yet rely on it for live performance due to these audio crackling issues. I also want to let you know that during one of the tests using Cubasis and the Yamaha SeqTrak as an audio interface, the tablet simply shut down. In other tests with the Yamaha SeqTrak, whenever I change any parameter in the Audio tab within Cubasis, the app stops recognizing the SeqTrak; it only starts working again if I disconnect the SeqTrak, close Cubasis, and reconnect the interface. I suspect the SeqTrak is limited to a 44kHz sample rate—which is another issue I’ve encountered in Cubasis for Android: I cannot change the sample rate.
    If you need users for testing, please know that I am available to help improve the app.
9

Hi Fabio,

Thank you for the additional details.

Please keep in mind that actual performance depends heavily on the device in use and the complexity of the project. The sample rate is fixed in Cubasis for Android and cannot be changed by the user.

As a general recommendation, please try higher latency settings and start with an empty project, adding instruments one by one to find the practical limits of your device. Using the Freeze Track function can also help free up CPU resources.

That said, we’ll share your detailed feedback and findings with our engineering team for further review.

Thanks again for your support and testing efforts.

Best,
Lars

10

Hi Fabio,

Thanks for the detailed report. A few settings that may help reduce DSP overload and audio crackling:

  • Set Latency to 16 ms.
  • Make sure Multicore Processing is enabled (default setting).
  • Make sure Minimize System Processing is disabled.
  • For FM Classics, HALion Sonic Play, Verve, and Étude, try reducing the Polyphony/Voices setting from 128 to around 32.

Please note that the Voices slider in FM Classics is currently not working as intended and will be fixed in the next update.

If the issue persists, please send us a short video showing the problem so we can investigate further.

Best,
Lars

11

I loaded in an older project , which always ran fine, but now it’s filled with crackling and distortion..
The culprit here is the “multicore processing”.. without it, there are no audio issues..

12

Thank you very much for the help. Reducing the number of voices stabilized the DSP, and the popping sounds stopped, even with the latency set to 8ms. I repeated the previous test using Halion, Etude, and Verve, and obtained the same result in every case.

13

Blockquote Please keep in mind that actual performance depends heavily on the device in use and the complexity of the project.

Im sorry… but anybody that has multiple generations of the same device, knows this statement holds no absolute truth.. the crackling and distortion i get now (because of multicore processing) on my Samsung Tab S11 has never been a thing on my Samsung Tab S7 (which had every possible setting on max without crackling and distortion).

I contest your hardware dependancy.. my tab s11 is like 2x as strong as my tab S7.

Besides that.. my tab S11 is from 2025 and is a flagship device..
People buy flagship devices so they have high range power, with a cpu that wont struggle with multi-threads.

So.. if anything.. multi-core processing should be stable and without hickups.
You cant blame the hardware everytime there are problems on Android. (Especially when it comes to people with a 1000 euro devices and on the latest flagship models)

14

Since your tip on reducing the voice count helped stabilize the DSP and resolved the audio crackling issue, I believe that future versions of Cubasis could include a hardware monitor responsible for automatically calibrating the number of voices based on the device’s capabilities and DSP processing load. This way, Cubasis itself could inform the user how many voices are supported in the session; as the user adds more tracks, the monitor would indicate the new voice count required to maintain trouble-free performance. Thank you.