I still run Cubase 8.5 Pro with a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 Generation 2 interface.
I am getting constant and sporadic glitches with the CPU spiking to 100% on projects which are otherwise only loaded to 30% CPU usage. It’s unpleasant at best, although realistically, not usable in a creative way due to the constant disruptions from spikes.
I have tried all the different ASIO Guard settings, including off. System runs plenty of RAM on a quality Mobo from Asus with a decent quad core CPU. machine runs just SSD’s - three of them.
Cubase resource monitor shows CPU averaging 30% and disk activity not even registering on the indicator.
Everything is up to date, latest patches on Cubase 8.5 Pro. All VSTs are up to date. Windows 10 is up to date as are all drivers.
So, is Cubase 9 Pro likely to fix this? Has any real progress been made on the basic audio engine in Cubase with the new release?
Is anyone else using the same Focusrite interface successfully? If so, on what spec of computer?
I’m tearing my hair out here trying to work out what is causing these glitches, and I don’t want to waste £80 on Cubase 9 Pro unless it will improve this situation noticeably,
Too many variables in your equation. What OS are you using? Have you tried a different ASIO compatible soundcard? Do you have anti-virus software running in background… ? What else is running simultaneously?
A (semi) fast way to test if it is cubade or the system causing this is to install reaper demo and set up a test project and see how that behaves. If it is also problematic your system needs a fix. If reaper is fine, then maybe cubase 9 might help (or not).
Many people have had problems if you simply read the forums. Just because you don’t have a problem doesn’t mean the product does not have a problem. Do I really have to spell this out for you?
I am deliberately trying to get a consensus as to whether, IN GENERAL, 9 is better than 8.5.
I understand your comments and am fully aware of many ‘tests’ and comparisons I can do for my specific situation.
It just doesn’t help when you go to the doctor and tell him you are ill, and he replies, that his is not ill. Where is the benefit in that sort of reply.
Many users here have complained that 9 was a waste of money for various reasons, and others are pleased with it.
Many users have complained about jittering, stuttering and drop-outs with Cubase for a long time. I for one do not intend to upgrade yet again to get functions I dont need if they haven’t fixed the basics.
My specific situation is that I used to run an EMU1820M interface and had few problems with stabiity. That interface would not work for me on Win10, so I bought a Focusrite 18i20 Gen 1, which worked fine. Recently I upgraded the Focusrite to the new low latency Gen2 product, and ever since I have bad dropouts and CPU spikes.
So of course I reported this in the Focusrite forums and asked for others opinions. No-one else seems to have the same problem.
The PC is a clean build Win10 x64 with x64 Cubase. LatencyMon says there are no problems on the system which should affect music production critical timing. The same PC performed well with the EMU and the Gen1 Focusrite. The Focusrite Gen2 started the problems, but Focusrite reckon the problem isn’t with their hardware or drivers.
So all I came here for was to gather a general consensus as to the robustness of Cubase 8.5 and 9. That’s all I really want to know at this problem, but people haven’t really answered that.
Well in my experience and from reading here it is about the same.
Regarding your Focusrite, it could be a defect unit with a bad usb chip. Is it a clean install after getting the gen2. If not a deep driver cleanup might help.
Sorry can’t stop trying to help
No it is not a clean install since getting the Gen2, but I did completely uninstall the Gen1 drivers and rebooted before installing the Gen2. I have also reversed this process and gone back to the Gen1, which worked fine.
The Gen 2 can go to much lower latencies, but this alone doesn’t answer the problem, as even on high latencies the Gen2 spikes on Cubase 8.5 Pro.
I’m currently building another Cubase setup on a separate PC to try and dig a bit deeper, but as always its a problem as without duplicating every single VST on the new PC, the tests wont be conclusive, and some of these VSTs take an age to install.
I expected you to have removed the older gen1 driver! But it only takes one wrong registry or ini setting left over from the gen1 to cripple the gen2. At least in theory…
What I would try and this has sometimes helped here but also many times not (I have a failing in windows firewall that I can’t seem to fix and I don’t want to reinstall but it did cure may graphics cards issues), is to really clean all forcusrite traces before trying another clean gen2 install. You could even ask focusrite to assist what needs to be deleted. They were very helpful when I had issues with my liquidmix back in the days.
I hope you get it sorted!
If you have audio glitches, I would expect them happening in any Cubase version.
Stability vise I have to say Cubase 9 is the most stable version I have used. Not a single crash since installing it on day one of release.
One thing you could check are the USB port drivers, win10 installed generic drivers on my system and I had to hunt down the right Intel drivers. The generic drivers worked fine but did cause audio glitches sometimes. Seems to happen more often when having a memory stick in a USB port.
It’s hard to guess what or where there is a problem, but from experience I am positive it’s your computer and not Cubase. At least that has been the case for me since CubaseSX 3 til now.
Your safest bet would be waiting for the Cubase 9 demo to be released
I’ve had terrible problems with CPU spikes since 7.5, only the very last patch for 8.5 fixed most issues for me (phew because I was about to dump Cubase after quarter of a century as a user) CB9 seems to be behaving itself so far, performance wise I can’t say for sure if it’s better or worse than 8.5. Halion 6 hasn’t crashed on me yet either - which is great coz Halion5 was an enormous PITA for me (crash wise).
