Corrupt .cpr ?

So after completely tracking a project, during the mixing stages, I opened up a project and randomly the CPU meter went to about 98% and started bumping into the 100% area. Seeconds earlier, the meter was averaging at about 51%.

I am very cautious and “save as” a backup .cpr every 20 minutes or so. Opening the backup, it goes back down to 51%. Then after running some tests, I’ve realized that even doing NOTHING to the project, it will randomly become corrupt and max out the CPU again.

I’ve literally spent 100’s of hours trying to find the guilty plugin… with no luck. It doesn’t seem to be a ‘bad plugin’. I’ve lost so much money by not making any money on projects trying to problem solve. I hated to do it, but I switched from PC Cubase 5 over to Mac Pro Tools 9. It was a gruelling switch because I just wanted it to be like Cubase… which it isn’t. Both have cool features (like the bussing in PT is very handy and cool), but obviously neither are perfect. I’ve run into a handful of stupid problems with PT too. And every day I curse at it, just like I did Cubase.

Anyway, Cubase 6 looks awesome and has all the features (plus more) that I love in PT. Having said that, I’d love to switch back to Cubase. But I refuse unless someone has an answer to my ghostly Cubase corruptions.

Any insight? Please… bring be back to Cubase land! . . . oh how I miss her.

I had one project a few years back that went nuts like this all of the sudden. It would crash constantly, the CPU usage would be spiking, and the audio was stuttering pretty badly. I’m guessing it was a corrupt plug-in instance, but for some reason, I chose to recreate the project rather than find the culprit. Since then, I have steered away from free plugs or ones released from small companies, because there is a better chance (in my mind) of poor coding with them. One plug-in that I currently use will CPU spike when no audio is running through it – similar behavior to what you’re experiencing. I wrote to the licensing company, and tech support said it was a “classic denormalization scenario,” and that it was part of normal operation. So, my solution was to just bypass the plug when not in use.

My question to you is do you notice this type of behavior in every project? If so, it may be related to a conflicting computer process. Maybe your computer hasn’t been optimized for audio. But, if it’s just one project or even a few, I’d still consider the possibility of a plug-in issue.

C4 and earlier had an option to Save Project To New Folder. This changed to something else like Project Backup in C5. I’d try this option.

Maybe it is a plugin, but again, I only use a handful of plugins regularly. . . this project was no different. I suppose I could just keep trying and keep an eye on what plugins I’m using.

PT has it’s bugs too though. . . big time.

I wish PT and Cubase could have a halfer baby… with their good genes only.

+1 this is probably your best bet!

I think I found the happy medium between Cubase and PT. Reaper :wink: