extremely slow start up with new Macbook

Cubase
#1

MacBook pro Mojave 10.14.1 2.9ghz/i9 chip 32gb ram 1TB SSD 15" screen Cubase 10 pro (10.0.30) X32 rack digital board

Anyone seen this or have a fix - I’m tearing my hair out.

The MacBook is blazing fast until: I start Cubase, Dante Virtual Soundcard, and/or Dante Controller - any one or combination thereof. Then the Mac slows to a crawl. I timed it with my phone. Clicked on Cubase 10, nothing happens for 30 seconds and then I get the logo, 3 mins and 10 secs later the program is finally up ( 3:40 total). DVS takes over a minute. After starting/clicking on any of those, the MacBook takes 3-5 seconds to respond mouse clicks on ANY program. I’ve tried the reboots, restarts, etc. Nothing seems to help. And the reboots can take up to 3-5 minutes. I’ve tried with nothing plugged into the mac but a thunderbolt to usb adapter and the Cubase dongle. Same problem.

This is my second go around with a MacBook. I returned one six months ago for this same problem. The kid at best buy was in utter disbelief - said I should have checked that my programs were compatible with a Mac first. Is Cubase NOT compatible with a mac? Seems like plenty of mac users on the forum.

I’m using my original dongle back from Cubase 4 (I think - I’ve been using Cubase a very long time). I thought I saw something about older dongles being slow HOWEVER, I’m switching over from a 6 year old Dell Inspiration that I think the hard drive is going bad on - sometimes takes several boot attempts to get it up at a gig and I need 100% reliability - hence my reason for the new computer at all. All of those programs, and any others, come up within seconds on the old Dell after it’s up and running.

At the moment, the 6 year old Dell blows away the MacBook with any program related to music production. That just can’t be right. I’ve been a PC user for years and thought I would take the plunge and see what all the apple fuss was about. So far I’m underwhelmed although I can’t help but think there is an explainable reason for this.

Thanks for any insight.

#2

If you’re not familiar with IT in general and the Mac ecosystem, then make an appointment at the Genius Bar in an Apple store. Let them have a look at your setup.

#3

I updated Cubase to 10.0.40 and the Mojave and the problem seems less. It appears to have something to do with whether or not MS Word is loaded or is started before/after Cubase is loaded. If Word is already running, Cubase loads but I can’t get the screen to show up i.e. it’s “stuck” minimized. I have to “force quit” Cubase and Word to get them to close. If I start Word after Cubase, I have better luck. Word loads a little slow but does come up and Cubase seems to be unaffected.

So, the short answer is don’t run MS Word and Cubase at the same time on a MacBook. Now that I appear to be able to duplicate the conditions that cause it to act up, I will make a trip to the “geniuses” at the Apple Store and see if they can shed any light on it. The last time I visited the genius people re. an issue with mac users being able to log into a ftp site (supposed to be as simple as command “K” or something like that) where I had all my charts for the band stored, they were baffled and I ended up creating a workaround on my own.

Anyone have the time to check out running Cubase and MS Word on their MacBook and letting me know what happens?

#4

I would use Activity Monitor to examine what’s happening in order to find an explanation. Is the cpu fully utilized when this happens? If so, what process is using the cpu? I know you have plenty of RAM, but the symptom sounds like you’re starved for RAM, so use the Activity Monitor to check your RAM usage. Or maybe you’re I/O bound, in which case, again, the Activity Monitor will help you troubleshoot this.

#5

Cubase is not compatible with the i9 cpu.
I’m planning on buying a new 16” MBP. They come with the i9 cpu, super fast chip and up to 64 gb ram, 4 times faster than the i7, 16 gb ram.
But unfortunately Cubase / Steinberg products are not programmed to take advantage of that cpu. The same can be said for window machines:

https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=125492#p742211

Personally I wouldn’t wait around for Steinberg to get up to date with new technologies. Logic Pro X works with the new MBP i9.

I was in the same situation as you in 2012 I’m not making sacrifices again for Steinberg. Like returning a $3000 MBP Retina only to get another years later.
Maybe it will take Steinberg years to catch up like it did for the MBP Retina.

#6

This is very old but I found the problem/solution - although I can’t fully explain it.

I am using the MacBook with a DANTE network live with a band, a Behringer X32 rack, and a wireless router so my guys can connect to the X32 and run their own mixes. Through a ton of trial and error I found the MacBook only slowed to a crawl when I had the CAT 5 cable connected to the MacBook and Router. It doesn’t appear to have the slightest relation to the IOS or anything physical within the MacBook. Cubase and the MacBook and as many programs as I could open at once all worked fine and blazingly fast… UNTIL I plugged in that CAT 5 cable

As I said, I can’t explain it, but I bought a new wireless router, threw out the old one, hooked it up into the DANTE network, and no more problems. I had tried gazillions of tweaks in that old router (when I discovered that’s when the MacBook slowed down) for point of service, prioritization of MAC addresses, anything I could imagine.

Put the new router in with zero tweaks and it works fine. Go figure.