Cubase 13 crashing, freezing, unusable condition

Cubase
1

Hi everyone,

Ever since I started using Cubase some time ago, I keep getting crashes, freezing, even blue screens. It’s a horrible nightmare and I can’t believe how unstable Cubase is.
I have seen a million threads from other users having the exact same issues and I have been in contact with Steinberg’s support for the last couple of weeks (!), but it seems they don’t know what the problem is.

I kept getting the already infamous “wdmaud.drv” issue, so I was adviced switching to WinRT. Now WinRT only crashes/freezes half as much, but it’s still not stable. Also, one my hardware synthesizers (Korg Minilogue XD) is just not being recognized by Cubase 13 anymore. When switching to the old Windows Driver model, it’s being recognized again.
But it’s not only that one of my synths is completely unusable right now, I still get weird behaviour and crashes - every 30 minutes or so. I have to restart my computer and switch off and on my audio interface (Audient ID44) again and again. I updated every single component I could think of to the latest drivers without any luck.

Please, someone help me end this nightmare. I’ll attach a few of the most recent crash dmp files. Hopefull someone can chime in with a golden clue.

Thanks!
Marco

Cubase 13.0.41 64bit 2024.10.18 15.17.25.487-freezedump.dmp (2.9 MB)
Cubase 13.0.41 64bit2024.10.18 14.47.56.631.dmp (218.0 KB)

1 Like
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That second file: The crash happens in the Activation Manager. This is a territory I don’t want to get involved in.

3

What’s the reason you don’t want to get involved?

4

Maybe if you describe the details of your system – hardware, devices, graphics card, drivers, versions, etc., along with more details of your project, plugins, etc., you’ll get some more help. More specific detail = more help… usually.

Using Steinberg products across a bunch of systems, I haven’t had any issues with the Activation Manager, but I get why Johnny might take a step back. So if the crash is happening in that area, you probably have other issues and conflicts too.

5

Thanks for your reply.

Specs are:

OS: Win 10
MB: Asus Z170
CPU: I7700k
GPU: 3060 TI
Audio Interface: Audient ID44
Additional Hardware: Various hardware synthesizers, Eurorack system, NI S88 midi controller, 2 iLok dongles (Gen2 + Gen3).

Everything is updated to the latest drivers. I have all the issues mentioned in my first post with none of the hardware synths or midi controller plugged in as well as in a project with almost no tracks or plugins loaded.

The issue with the activation manager: I wasn’t able to update Cubase to its latest version so had to manually install it. Steinberg support did not mention anything about the issue with Activation Manager when sending them the crash dmp files by the way.

I have a legit copy of Cubase 13 and all the software I’m using. Been using Cubase since almost 20 years and never had any issues like this before. Still have a copy of 7.5 which I’ve been using up until recently when finally updating to 13 because of newer plugins/VST3’s not working correctly anymore. I don’t have any hints that any old plugins might have anything to do with the problems I’m having, but I can’t guarantee of course. Though there would be hints somewhere I guess.

I don’t have any issues or conflicts on my system and Cubase 7.5 runs fine without any crashes.

If any more info is needed, I’m happy to provide.

1 Like
6

Hi Marco,

I don’t know if I can solve your issues, but I can explain exactly what I would do in your situation. You may not like it at all though TBH… it’s a lot of work and potentially a lot of money, so please take my advice in the context of what I would personally do. I’m not Steinberg support. My approach has worked for tons of my own machines over many years. But I can’t speak in an official capacity.

1 - Consider getting a new computer. I told you may not like my advice! :slight_smile: The Core i7-7700K running on the Z170 (LGA 1150) is pretty old, and a current gen system will be 3-5+ times more powerful. Even a Mac Mini M2 for just $600 will be far more powerful. You are asking a quad core (eight thread) CPU platform from about 2016 to run a very advanced modern DAW from 2024, in comparison to Cubase 7.5, which is from about 2013 if I recall… all those years man… lots of things have happened with DAW engines. Give it some hardware love. I mean, the old hardware should still work. But still…

2 - ALSO, consider updating to Windows 11… keep in mind that Windows 10 EOL is coming in about one year, so you’ve got to be thinking about the future now. But… drum roll please… oops! Windows 11 doesn’t officially support the i7-7700K… so again, refer to #1 above. Time to upgrade… you can repurpose your i7-7700K machine as a great little Linux machine and run some amazing stuff on Linux BTW! That’s a different discussion though.

3 - Okay, so let’s say you don’t want to replace your hardware, this is what I would then do - a complete fresh install of Windows from scratch. New DAW with that many years of difference AT LEAST deserves a fresh install of Windows.

4 - During the fresh install, I would also take the time to test the computer thoroughly with memtest and Prime to make sure it’s 100% stable under heavy load. Test that baby like a new build. Make sure it holds up under stress.

5 - BTW, as part of that, take the opportunity to fine-tine your BIOS settings if needed. For example, if you have built-in Wifi adapter, disable it… etc. I can’t remember settings for BIOS back in the Z170 days, and I don’t know the extra features on your motherboard, but I’m sure some old guide exists for you to double check some settings.

6 - When installing the nVidia GPU driver, make SURE you are using the Studio version, not the standard driver. nVidia’s standard driver sucks for modern DAWs. Many people don’t know that and assume that the normal nVidia driver update will be the best… nope… search for the Studio driver. Also, if that doesn’t work out for you, I tend to use AMD GPUs on my Win/Linux DAWs now anyway, I’ve had much better luck with AMD. Still your 3060 TI should be okay with the Studio driver.

7 - Don’t use your DAW for anything but DAW stuff. I do NOT cross purpose my DAW hardware, ever. A DAW is a DAW is a DAW. Not a gaming machine. Not an Adobe Creative Cloud machine. Not a word processing machine. It’s exclusively a DAW. That’s just me. Again, you may not like what I’m saying.

8 - Once the proper GPU driver and ASIO driver for your audio device are installed, I would then run a DPC latency check to make sure it’s super solid for low latency audio.

9 - Now you are finally ready to install Cubase 13. I would test it thoroughly, without any extra third party plugins. As clean of an install as possible to eliminate all other possible conflicts. Fresh Windows + proper GPU driver + ASIO driver + Cubase 13. That’s it. That’s your baseline.

10 - Once that passes your own stability test – and test it hard, throw Steinberg’s own plugins at it to the max load, see how it behaves… then and only then would I install each third party plugin developer one at a time, and test for stability each time as well.

The above steps are what I personally actually would do, and HAVE done many times. It has uncovered unexpected conflicts and helped me get very stable systems, across the years, across platforms, across DAWs, with hundreds of plugins and countless huge projects.

Good luck!

2 Likes
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Hi uarte,

Thank you so much for your lengthy reply. I appreciate you taking the time and I feel bad for not being able to address you personally with your name after this very thorough reply - but alas, it’s the internet. :wink:

First off: I think you’re right on so many levels. I have been thinking about upgrading for quite some time, but I always said “never change a working system”. The current system with Cubase 7.5 has worked VERY well and I have produced a number of albums and done about a million mixes on it. Only because some plugins stopped working correctly after updating or after purchasing new ones, I considered upgrading to a newer Cubase platform. But I simply cannot say that the system still works now, so it’s probably indeed the best moment to upgrade. Although, maybe not quite when looking at the Intel situation…

All in all, since Steinberg is absolutely no help, your reply was probably exactly what I needed to get motivated for a new system. I mean, re-installing everything and setting it all up again… It will take weeks until I’m back to my workflow, but I gotta bite the bullet. If I still encounter issues with Cubase 13, then I will morph into Hulk probably, but hopes are high that stability should come back.

Now the question rises: AMD or Intel? With Intel’s 13th/14th gen disaster , I’m considering an AMD now (9950 maybe), although the new Ultra 9 285k - which is somewhat just a working 14900 :smiley: - looks interesting as well. You said you use an AMD GPU. Are you on an full AMD system?

Again, thank you so much for the insight!! :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Marco

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Hi Marco,

Yeah, it sounds like it’s time for the hardware upgrade to begin. Your current machine can serve as a backup DAW or you can experiment with Linux!

As for hardware, I have a lot of machines in the studio in operation, including latest AMD 9950x and on Intel I have a 12th gen (12900K). And many older systems too. I would not hesitate to use 14900K today since the overvoltage issue has been resolved now. I avoided it when I built the 12900K but now I’d have no problem with 14th gen, and at some point may upgrade the 12900K machine to it.

I do have a slight bias toward AMD in general due to their superior track record overall with Linux.

In any case, both current gen AMD and Intel platforms have been excellent for me personally, contrary to what some other people may have experienced in this forum. Most people who are struggling IMO either have bad luck, or are doing something basic that conflicts with DAW usage, or there’s some underlying hardware issue that is very tricky to resolve. My only suggestion to you is to think of your DAW as only a DAW and use it for nothing else, and you’ve solved 50% of the potential problems right there.

BTW the new AMD Zen5 series currently has an issue with iLok, but that is being resolved right now, and we should be getting a BIOS update that will solve it once and for all.

So I can’t tell you what to get, since your needs, budget, experience, and frankly luck will be different than someone else, but again, like with everything in building DAWs, there are dozens of variables, so do the normal amount of homework before you buy parts… or just buy from a reputable DAW builder! Or buy a Mac.

I did mention that I typically use AMD GPUs… there are a few reasons for this – 1 - nVidia has given me more problems over the years for DAWs than AMD, so I have developed a bias. 2 - AMD has much better open source drivers and I also use Linux. 3 - Having said that, if you use nVidia, just use the Studio driver, not the regular driver and I know it works well. 4 - Lastly, I DO use nVidia specifically for Davinci Resolve, which I find performs better with nVidia in my experience. So if I only had ONE machine and I HAD to use Davinci Resolve AND Cubase on it, then I would choose nVidia.

Other people may have very different opinions, lots of good input here in the forum and elsewhere. Good luck with whatever you do!

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Just a word of caution: I’m running a “not so younger than yours” system, with the 8700k. Music production only, with internet only for plugin and software authorization, etc. Even an old interface, the Delta 1010 PCI. Windows 10, by the way. And running Nuendi 13 without a glitch, even not using direct monitoring and monitoring everything through Nuendo. And you can hear a lot of what I’ve been doing for many years in streaming platforms, so I’m not a random and well-purposed amateur. In the studio I have a much more modern system, but at my home studio this is a breeze of a system.
So, what am I saying? Even obviously yours (and mine!) are old systems, that is no reason in itself for the problems you’re facing. Even though Windows 10 is now superseded by W11, it’s still in use by a vast amount of pro producers and composers. I don’t even believe your system can cope with its w11 and its requirements. A new system will be immensely more powerful, but the matter of fact is that if you don’t need all that power your system might just be ok. Recording audio is much more about a streamlined and lean system than about waves of powerrrrrr! Of course if you do a lot of Vstis, sample libraries, and heavy mixing a lot of other stuff comes into play, and yes your system will struggle. A lot.
So, take a long breath :slight_smile: and try to run some diagnostics. For example, what happens when running internal gpu, disabling the external video card? Second, is your system overlocked? Asking as you have a K processor. Mine is oc’d to an all-core permanent 4.7GHz, almost technically NOT an overclock. Perhaps you’re having trouble with ram and overclock. Do you run other intensive apps? What is happening in Cubase prior to crashing? An empty idle project also crashes?

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Hi @syndrone_music and welcome to the Steinberg forums.

What I would suggest is to add a temporary new Local Account (with admin privileges) to see if you encounter the same issues.

This will indicate whether it is a user account problem (corrupted files e.t.c, assigned to a user’s account) or a system wide issue.

If it doesn’t help, nothing lost, and you can just delete the Local Account afterwards.

This approach has saved me twice in the past.

Good luck.