Cubase Elements 10 transport freezes briefly

When playing back a song, the transport will stutter and drop off sound (I can see the mixer meters falling.) In a fraction of a second playback resumes until the next freeze. The time between freezes vary, but once it starts it won’t stop. If I happen to be recording a midi track, and the stutter happens, the recording stops and I am back in just playback mode.

i thought it might be the buffer size, nope. Thought it might be a certain VST or instrument, don’t think so.

Any help greatly appreciated. Been having this intermittent problem for about a month.

Hi,

Try to increase your Audio Device Buffer Size, please.

I’m up to 384, and still having an issue. I’ve tried changing VST’s, eliminating VST’s but the problem persists. The longer I have Cubase open the worse the issue gets. I’ve also closed as many background applications running as well.

Hi,

Could you test your system by using LatencyMon utility, please?

Report from LatencyMon
Seems I have at least one problem.


CONCLUSION


Your system seems to be having difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. At least one detected problem appears to be network related. In case you are using a WLAN adapter, try disabling it to get better results. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:01:10 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

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SYSTEM INFORMATION


Computer name: DAVE-4BKGMUC-20
OS version: Windows 10, 10.0, version 2004, build: 19041 (x64)
Hardware: Inspiron 3670, Dell Inc.
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core™ i5-9400 CPU @ 2.90GHz
Logical processors: 6
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8017 MB total

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CPU SPEED


Reported CPU speed: 2904 MHz

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

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MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES


The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 1352.90
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 43.309297

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1321.30
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 28.421142

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REPORTED ISRs


Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 99.498623
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.001519
Driver with highest ISR total time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.001728

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 1363
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-1000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

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REPORTED DPCs


DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 1733.812328
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ndis.sys - Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS), Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 4.677501
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: ndis.sys - Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS), Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 4.777219

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 749123
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-10000 µs): 54
DPC count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 5
DPC count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

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REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS


Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: svchost.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 3508
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 825
Number of processes hit: 36

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PER CPU DATA


CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 42.749215
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 0 ISR count: 0
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1733.812328
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 19.900889
CPU 0 DPC count: 716939


CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.442409
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 3.456267
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000030
CPU 1 ISR count: 29
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 322.307851
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.094337
CPU 1 DPC count: 13406


CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.093967
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 3.182507
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000137
CPU 2 ISR count: 240
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 313.245868
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.062849
CPU 2 DPC count: 7917


CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.818550
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 71.822314
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.001308
CPU 3 ISR count: 672
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 240.117080
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.043044
CPU 3 DPC count: 4247


CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.624973
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 99.498623
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.002978
CPU 4 ISR count: 139
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 235.381198
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.022548
CPU 4 DPC count: 2903


CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.596789
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 87.902204
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.002836
CPU 5 ISR count: 283
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 254.309917
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.021482
CPU 5 DPC count: 3770


I disabled Norton and ran the test again.
I’ve looked up the throttling issue but only information regarding laptops and batteries.


CONCLUSION


Your system seems to be having difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:00:13 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

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SYSTEM INFORMATION


Computer name: DAVE-4BKGMUC-20
OS version: Windows 10, 10.0, version 2004, build: 19041 (x64)
Hardware: Inspiron 3670, Dell Inc.
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core™ i5-9400 CPU @ 2.90GHz
Logical processors: 6
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 8017 MB total

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CPU SPEED


Reported CPU speed: 2904 MHz

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

\


MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES


The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 643.10
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 41.614756

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 629.30
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 29.516834

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REPORTED ISRs


Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 72.216598
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.000848
Driver with highest ISR total time: HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.000910

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 62
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-1000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

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REPORTED DPCs


DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 1173.737259
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: ndis.sys - Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS), Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 4.864505
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: ndis.sys - Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS), Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 4.967530

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 144197
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-10000 µs): 11
DPC count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 1
DPC count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

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REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS


Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: nortonsecurity.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 8
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 4
Number of processes hit: 4

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PER CPU DATA


CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.361055
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 0 ISR count: 0
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1173.737259
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 3.839661
CPU 0 DPC count: 139085


CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.496224
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 273.341942
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.027191
CPU 1 DPC count: 3438


CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.452211
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 1.963154
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000029
CPU 2 ISR count: 24
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 86.946625
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.005076
CPU 2 DPC count: 765


CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.451940
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 70.471074
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000167
CPU 3 ISR count: 8
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 124.775138
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.002677
CPU 3 DPC count: 319


CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.316965
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 44.686639
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000164
CPU 4 ISR count: 22
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 208.737603
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003096
CPU 4 DPC count: 291


CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0.351739
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 72.216598
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000351
CPU 5 ISR count: 8
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 96.741047
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001742
CPU 5 DPC count: 311


I have the same problem but I havent run the test yet. This problem exists on ly in cubase 10 not in cubase 5. So how is it possible to use the same vst, laptop and souncard the same tracks and wavs and have the issue only in cubase 10 not in 5?

The software found no problem but I have the same issues…steinberg? Wasted money?

CONCLUSION


Your system appears to be suitable for handling real-time audio and other tasks without dropouts.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:06:47 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

I increased the RAM in my PC. It has been the best investment with regards to performance. I have the MAX memory my PC will support. Everything runs better and Cubase doesn’t take any time outs during playback.