I’m going to file a proper report, but in the meantime, here it is …
Ever since Cubasis 3.3 (and 3.3.1 which seemed to make it even worse) a storm of cracks and pops makes using it a frustrating and never-ending cycle of quitting the program (which temporarily fixes it for a few minutes) and trying to make adjustments to the audio latency settings. In addition, getting Cubasis 3 to “see” my interface has become much more problematic. And then when it does connect (usually after having to turn everything off and on again), I have to deal with the intolerable crackling …
I’ve NEVER had this problem before 3.3. In fact, the stability of Cubasis 3 and low latency of my system (2018 iPP and MOTU Ultralite AVB) was probably its standout feature and what kept me coming back …
I’m honestly at the point where this is simply unusable to me.
Check the DSP. I had a very similar problem, and found that it occurred when DSP usage peaked at 99-100%.
I have a 2018 iPad Pro like you do, but use a Behringer XR18 for my interface.
I solved the problem (look for a thread with the word “distortion” in it) by switching some of my plug-ins. I found that MagicDeathEye (compression) and DDMF (EQ and limiting) plug-ins use less resources than some of the others I have. I love the FabFilter plug-ins, but am using them more judiciously as they seem to eat lots of DSP. With many of my 14 channels loaded with 2-6 plug-ins and a master channel with MagicDeathEye Stereo for “glue,” the DSP usage fluctuates between 25% and 60%. I’m sure that when I have more content in this template DSP will be busier, but it’s down from 99-100% with the same audio content. DSP hovers in the 30%-40% most of the time, so I have lots of headroom.
After the changes, the distortion/crackling went away completely.
I am still using FabFilter Pro-MB on some of the channels to tame annoying transients, and Pro-R for reverb. Switching from Pro-Q3, Pro-L2 and Pro-C2 to the MagicDeathEye and DDMF counterparts made all the difference.
As a nice side affect, these more basic plug-ins, that are software versions of legendary hardware, sound incredible!
I’ve never used any Cubasis version before 3.3, so I can’t compare.
I appreciate your comments, but unfortunately, I’m not using ANY plug-ins when this happens …
And even just getting ANY kind of signal takes a tremendous amount of jumping through hoops … tuning everything off and on … unplugging, etc. It’s ridiculous.
And then … the crackling starts eventually … and so begins the process of quitting the app and re-loading it (which is also much, much slower) than it used to be.
I REALLY regret updating to 3.3. Comparatively, everything was fine before …
Looks like I’m going back to my Mac. Possibly for good …
Overall, I can’t say I’ve been happy with my experience with Cubasis 2/3. I think I might be chalking this two-year experiment as a failure …
Yes … USB-C iPad model. I’ll give it a try. (Closing all apps is not something I was doing.)
However, all these headaches caused last night me to update my late 2012 i7 Mac Mini to Catalina and the LATEST version of Logic Pro 10.6, which JUST came out. Everything works, including my MOTU Ultralite AVB, Logic Remote for iPad (which gives a lot of touch-based functionality back to me), and even my trusty Roland V-Studio 100 from 2009 lol. I was fully expecting that to become “broken” and was the main reason I had previously “crystalized” my system way back at 10.10.6. (But I started reading about Logic 10.5-6 and realizing I could still use it, had to give it a shot.)
I wish you guys the best of luck. Fwiw, I want this app to succeed (and I spent ever penny you can on Cubsasis 2/3, including a hearty selection of AUv3s plug-ins and stuff like Korg Gadget, etc). But I’m putting my resources (time and money) back into Logic and the Mac platform.
I really don’t know what the answer medium-to long-term answer for “professional” music production on iPad. Try to match feature parity to desktop DAWs? Or keep it simple and rock solid for “mobile recording.” Then there’s the 600-pound elephant outside the room in what’s Apple going to do with Logic Pro on M1 equipped iPad Pro (obviously, that’s a tiny fraction now, but eventually every iPad will have it or better).
Since I have two iPad Pros, I’m still going to try and use one of them as a software instrument (possibly running Cubasis 3 as the hub) … so it’s not quite game over yet …
Hi,
thanks for posting this tread it really helped me - I have been having the same nightmare crackeling after 5mins on basic mono audio recordings after ios14 update
the order of plugging in devices, appears to be the key!
If it helps here is what I now do (will update if any steps are found to be irrelivent)
Switch on and unlock ipad (air 3th gen - ios 14.6)
connect camera conection kit to ipad
connect UR44 (orginal version) USB cable to camera connection kit
Switch on UR44
wait 5 mins (will be experimenting to see if I can shorten this time)
So I’m back … After getting my studio 2012 Mac updated with the latest Logic Pro X and good to go, my “work” 2013 Macbook Pro’s trackpad went bonkers and brought the whole thing to its knees.
So I’m forced to use iPad Pro again and Cubasis 3, and oddly … it’s all working mostly fine now.
However, I am now connecting and turning on components individually (something I wasn’t before). It seems like it shouldn’t have to be that way, but that’s that.
My start up routine is this:
iPad Pro off with USB-C dongle unplugged.
Plug in dongle.
Turn on iPad.
Wait for it to fully boot.
Turn on MOTU Ultralite AVB and wait for that to boot entirely.
Launch Cubasis 3.
Not only is the order important, I think, but also making sure none of the processes overlap. The longer one waits between steps seems to improve the process. I’ve only experienced the “rice crispies” once since coming back.
My plan is to return to Logic Pro X as soon as Apple releases the iMac/Macbook Pro I want to replace my fallen unit (hopefully before the end of 2021) … but I’m very close to establishing an iPad Pro-based music setup that will exist in tandem with main setup and/or for mobile situations or making a smaller, second music production space … (The main challenge is figuring out what MIDI keyboard/synth to get to go with it. I’ve looked at everything and for what I’m looking for, everything is a compromise.)
I’ve had some issues with a new Behringer UMC1820 recently. I sent it back and went back to my old Behringer XR18 and bought an X Touch interface for that instead. At the time I think we went to iPadOS 14.6 and 14.7. And behold, no more sound issues for my setup. So maybe it wasn’t the UMC1820 that wasn’t the issue per se, but it iPadOS.
Now I find the power-on order doesn’t make a difference. BUT I had one USB-C cable giving me troubles. I replaced it and now everything is fine. So cabling can be important too (as can be the USB-C dongle if you need one). Now I rarely lose the audio interface and have no audio corruption.
I think it’s a good idea to let the USB Hub (I actually use a dock myself instead, works great) and all peripherals boot first before attaching the iPad and fire up Cubasis.
As for working with an iPad as DAW. I prefer it by far over MacOS / PC DAW, because I do not need to keep all VST’s updated and stuff like iLok working. And I don’t need the OS ‘dumbed down’ to a less recent version for months because the DAW in question isn’t updated to work with the latest OS. I used to spend quite a lot of time to keep my system in working order to a point it became a real hindrance for just making music. With the iPad it’s so easy to keep it all updated and working. And its mobility is such a great feature as well. Sometimes an iPadOS update creates some issues, but overall I can say it’s not often.
So I’m back … After getting my studio 2012 Mac updated with the latest Logic Pro X and good to go, my “work” 2013 Macbook Pro’s trackpad went bonkers and brought the whole thing to its knees.
So I’m forced to use iPad Pro again and Cubasis 3, and oddly … it’s all working mostly fine now.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the community.
Glad to read that you’ve found a workflow which seems to work fine.
It seems iOS 14.7.1 addressed some problems in this area.
Do you use that version, and if so, has it improved the situation for you?
I’d like to add something … while I’ve been able to “get a workflow” going it seems using the microphone or possibly even playing audio throws a big wrench into the works. That happened to me the other night and for some reason I was completely unable to get Cubasis 3 rolling again even after trying the above steps several times. Giving up, I just plugged my monitors into the l/r outputs of my Fantom X7. Since then I’ve been able to use Cubasis 3 without major incident but I thought I’d throw this out there … If you’re doing ANYTHING with audio other than Cubasis 3 expect problems.
I’d also like to add, how I’m using Cubasis 3 is incredibly simplistic. Basically, it’s just acting as a host for my 2-10 audio tracks and record them if desired. Beyond that, I’ve never really been able to get farther …
If you only need something simple like a multitrack audio recorder why not use AUM? It’s very easy to route stuff with AUM, like FX. For doodling around I often use it, but for ‘composing’ I need Cubasis.
