Elements 11 not processing live input, not recording it

I’ve been using Cubase 7 and 9 for about 4 years now on my MacBook Pro. I was forced to update the MacOS to Catalina (10.15) by a software project, and that broke my Cubase 9 DAW system. I’m on my 2nd UR44 (the first one got dropped and damaged).

Having gotten through the arduous install process for 11, and updating to this level:
UR44: v2.2.1 firmware
Yamaha-Steinberg Mac Driver: v 2.0.5
Cubase Elements v 11.0.20

the app runs, and plays back my Elements 9 projects, but is missing some key features.
If I switch a track from recorded → live channel input (e.g., mic):
• the mic input is pushed into output, but without any of the fx processing specified for it in Inserts
• the aqua-colored volume bar for the track goes to zero despite input being received
• when I try to re-record a mic track, the waveform shows flat 0 signal
• upon playback, it’s clear the recorded signal was flat 0.

The Studio Setup is showing “active” for all the inputs.

It’s confusing to have added “loopback” as a default. It makes it difficult to tell what is failing in the input signal processing chain.

Why would only these specific aspects of Elements 11 not be working?

I can’t perform my 1-man band act until this gets fixed. Has anyone encountered this, or understand what all the above missing features have in common?

Hi,

Make sure Cubase has enabled Mic in the System Preferences, please.
Open macOS System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Microphone. Enable Cubase here.

Wow, Martin…that fixed it! It looks like Apple added this “anti-microphone sniffing” feature to the MacOS somewhere around Catalina.

The Installation Notes for all the DAWs that run on Apple should definitely include this Preferences tweak as part of the install. I’ll put in a suggestion as a “bug fix” to Cubase.