Corrupted audio playback when switching to external audio interface

Cubasis
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I use a Behringer UMC404HD external audio interface connected to my iPad Pro via USB-C. I’m running the latest version of Cubasis and I have frequent issues with corrupted audio playback.

This seems to be occurring most often when I launch Cubasis on the iPad without that audio interface connected and then connect the audio interface.

I have to force-quit the Cubasis app, wait for ~10 seconds, and then relaunch Cubasis and then the problem goes away.

With this workaround, this is an annoyance, but not a dealbreaker.

However, yesterday, the same type of audio playback corruption happened without changing anything:

I had Cubasis connected to the audio interface, we went through our set in rehearsal, everything played back fine, I left everything connected and powered on and didn’t touch anything, and took a 15 minute break. When I loaded the first track of the set to go through it again in Cubasis, the same audio corruption happened (and the same workaround fixed it).

This would be a dealbreaker - we leave everything powered on after soundcheck until it’s time to hit the stage, and I just can’t have Cubasis playing back corrupted audio when we walk on stage. If this happened in a live situation, I’d have to force-quit and restart Cubasis, but that’s the kind of amateurish thing that just doesn’t fly for our band.

The audio corruption (which happens on the stereo out/master bus) sounds like an incorrectly sized audio buffer: You can still sort of hear the audio that’s supposed to be played back, and then there’s this distorted noise on top of it, so it sounds like some extra uninitialized bytes at the end of the audio buffer, but that’s just a wild speculation on my part.

@LSlowak What can I do to help diagnose and fix this issue?

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Hi Timo00,
I am having similar unstable issues, I have put my issues on the forum :
Cubasis skips and jumps during play back
Mike

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3

Not sure if it’s the same issue (seems like mine is specifically related to changing audio interfaces), but either way, thank you for posting your issue as well!

I use Cubasis as the heart of our live setup, and reliability issues are something that just cannot happen in that scenario. I’ve had to get rid of a previous piece of audio hardware for reliability reasons, and I’d hate to have to do that with Cubasis as well since there aren’t a ton of options out there for this use case.

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4

This is something I plan on doing in the near future with my grandson who is a vocalist in a band, I will provide my own programmed backing arrangements and play live keyboards using MIDI Layers to control the different synth app switching.
I am interested to know how you use Cubasis in a live situation, are you using audio track, audio tracks and midi or mainly just midi using AUv3 plugins.
Mike.

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5

I use ~10 audio tracks (which are basically group stems of our recorded songs), along with one MIDI track each to control external video projection gear and DMX lights.

I don’t use plugins for sound generation, one of the reasons being that I need rock-solid reliability, and the less code runs on the iPad, the lower chance of things being buggy.

I also don’t use any effects plugins for the same reason (it’s all pre-rendered into the audio stems), aside from a bit of compression/limiting on the master bus.

Cubasis renders into an audio/MIDI interface that has two stereo outs, so I have separate external signal paths for backing vocals and instrumentation. All this goes into a Behringer XR18 digital mixer, which mixes in our live vocals, and does a bunch of routing to feed the FOH mixer. It also makes a separate monitor mix for the in-ear monitors we’re using. Really cuts down on soundcheck time if your monitor mix is already fully pre-made!

And this is what the whole thing looks and sounds like live:

We’ve played a bunch of shows with this setup, and I’ve loved the reliability of Cubasis on iOS, esp. after dealing with different hardware that would randomly crash, which is obviously a no-go in a live situation. And hopefully this recent issue that started this thread is something that can be diagnosed and fixed.

Hope this helps - happy to elaborate on any aspect of this!

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Thanks for sharing all the information and video. I am impressed with your set up. Cubasis is a real work horse by the looks of it, I did not realise it could control so much and I can understand your concerns with instabilities within Cubasis.
My son and late daughter were both into goth music,
In the late 2000s my wife wrote the lyrics for a goth song composition, I composed and arranged the backing arrangements and played lead guitar, my wife sang the vocals, we won the competition that was on a indi music site in America, it was not as heavy as your video but it was pure electronic and all composed in Cubase SX2 which I still sometimes use, but everything I do now is 100% Cubasis 3.

I will be uploading a Dropbox link with a video of a new empty Cubasis project displaying its erratic behaviour after pressing play.

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Hi @Timo00

Thanks for your message and report which will be shared with our engineering.

Unfortunately we are not equipped with the Behringer UMC404HD ourselves. I suggest to share the issue with Behringer too. I’m at hand to hand over Cubasis promo codes for testing, if required.

Did you make any changes in your setup (e.g. using additional hardware devices such as a hub etc.), or run an iPadOS update that introduced the issue? Does the problem occur recently?

Thanks
Lars

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Thank you Lars! I’ll report the issue to Behringer as well.

No changes in my setup, and this problem has always been an issue and has persisted throughout iOS and Cubasis updates.

Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help get to the bottom of this, and thanks for always being accessible and communicative!

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Hi @Timo00

Below please find a few more questions from our engineering:

  • Which adapter do you use to connect your interface? We recommend Apple’s USB A to USB C adapter.

  • Which iPad model and iOS version do you have?

  • Can you send us a screenshot of your Setup / Audio page?

  • Which sample rate does your project have? Does the issue occur less or more often with a different sample rate (preferably the iPad’s sample rate, which is probably 48kHz)?

  • Which latency did you select in the setup? Does the issue occur less or more often with a higher or lower latency?

We look forward to your reply. Also, please share the feedback from Behringer with us, and let me know if they are in need for promo codes for testing purposes.

Thanks
Lars

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Hi Lars, here are my answers:

I’m using this Anker USB adapter:

My iPad is a 6th gen iPad Pro running iOS 18.3.1

Here’s my Setup / Audio page:

cb
cb2723×642 113 KB

All the WAV files in the project are 48 kHz, and the project is set up to 48 kHz as well. I deliberately have never changed the sample rate to avoid problems.

I’ve always left the latency at the default setting (5.3 ms).

Behringer simply sent me this, so they’re washing their hands of this:
https://community.musictribe.com/kba/article/KA-04466/Music%20Tribe

Standing by to provide further info as needed!

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Hi @Timo00

Thank you for the additional information.

The problem might be related to the issue, that Behringer didn’t design the device for iOS. Are you able to run the same check with a class compliant audio device?

Thanks
Lars

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This is the only audio interface I have - I needed one that has dual stereo out, and is the only one I found that, according to folks online, works with iOS (albeit only “unofficially”, as we’re finding out here).

If you happen to know any audio interfaces that are officially supported for iOS/Cubasis and that have dual stereo outs, I’d love to hear about those!

EDIT:
At the high end, there are the RMX Fireface UFX II and UCX II. They have plenty of I/O (including MIDI, which I forgot to mention I need as well), but they’re also about ten times the price of the Behringer.

I don’t mind spending the money if this is the only solution that’s supported and has the I/O I need.

So, does anybody have any experience running those RMX interfaces with Cubasis on iOS, and/or does anybody know any audio interfaces that are equivalent in I/O to the Behringer, but are officially supported on iOS (and similar in price)?

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Focusrite Scarlett series are great. The 18i8 is superb. Never had a problem using it with iPad Air 5 or 2020 iMac running Ventura.

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14

Awesome, thank you for that pointer!

Something like the Scarlett 18i16 has the I/O I need, and is a quarter of the price of a somewhat equivalent RME interface, so that’s a great option!

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I have my eye on the 4th generation Scarlett 18i20. Interestingly, the 3rd generation of that interface is tested for compatibility with USB-C iPad Pros, but the 4th generation is not.

When I emailed Focusrite technical support about this, here’s what they said:

To clarify, our Scarlett interfaces are class-compliant USB audio interfaces, however, they’re not officially tested with iPads and iPhones but we expect it to work. With Apple’s “Core Audio” driver available on their device, they are designed to work with external USB devices.

With Scarlett 18i20’s firmware updated on a Focusrite Control 2 compatible computer, it will be detected by the iPad correctly and this is something I personally tested. It would also be worth keeping in mind that the accessibility of Scarlett’s input/ output would depend on the support of the specific app. Unless specifically specified by the app developer, the app may only designed to support the first 2 input & output channels by default

Two questions:

(1) I’m willing to take the chance on this interface given their reply, but I’d feel a whole lot better if someone on here is successfully using this interface with Cubasis on an iPad Pro over USB-C. Anybody?

(2) I do need the full I/O connectivity of the interface. @LSlowak - will Cubasis correctly recognize all of the inputs and outputs of this interface, and allow me to route tracks/channels to them in the Cubasis mixer?

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Hi @Timo00

Thanks for your message.

Cubasis for iOS/iPadOS fully supports using class cliant audio devices, and up to 64 inputs and outputs (depending on the capacities of the audio device in use).

@LSlowak - will Cubasis correctly recognize all of the inputs and outputs of this interface, and allow me to route tracks/channels to them in the Cubasis mixer?

Since we’re not equipped with the Scarlett ourselves, please get in touch with our friends at Focusrite to have this question answered. If required, we’re at hand to hand over a Cubasis promo code to them for testing purposes.

Best,
Lars

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Wonderful, thank you Lars!

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Hi @Timo00

Please keep us updated!

Best,
Lars

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19

Steinberg UR44C? Would that qualify for you? I’ll bet it’s supported😃

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It would have to be the UR816C (I need the additional I/O), so that’s an option for sure!

The specs on the Steinberg web site for that interface claim compatibility only up to iOS 16. Which hopefully is just missing information as I can’t imagine iOS 18 not being supported??