Groove Agent 5.0.40 - GUI sluggish on macOS Big Sur

Virtual instruments Groove Agent
1

Hi everyone,

while the 5.0.40 update has fixed the GUI rendering problems under macOS Big Sur, I have noticed that the GUI performance is worse than before. Most parts of the GUI feel sluggish. For example, the switching between different tabs (i.e. “Edit” and “Mixer”) is not smooth but takes a while, and the animation is stuttering. It is even worse when a pattern is currently playing: The mixer is hardly usable - every part of the UI is sluggish and reacts really slow on user interaction.

I’ve tested this using the standalone, the VST3 and the AU version - it is always the same.

Has anybody else experiences these problems?

Best regards,
Stephan

2

Does nobody else have this problems? I created a support request, too, but unfortunately Steinberg has not given any answer yet.

3

I have noticed this too on a MacBook Pro 2020 running Big Sur. Cubase 11/GA 5.0.40 SE

4

Thanks. At least it does not seem to be a specific problem of my hardware. Hopefully, Steinberg will fix this soon as currently GA is sometimes nearly unusable as the window servers starts crashing if the lags are getting too high.

5

Same problem here on intel Mac with Big Sur and also on M1 Mac mini with Big Sur. I’ve stop using it.

6

Yes. I have the exact same problems. Intel iMac with latest Big Sur. Stopped using it too.

7

I have opened a support case two months ago! Steinberg didn’t respond … not at all. I’ve posted several updates to the support case, requesting at least some acknowledgment, but there was zero activity! Is the support team still alive?

8

Still no fix nor any response from Steinberg. I’m loosing hope on Groove Agent as it is simply unusable in the current state with macOS Big Sur.

9

It’s only half year since is like this. Give it a little time

10

On my system it helps somewhat to run Cubase and GA on a non retina resolution. Which Big Sur only allows me to do on a external monitor. You can do this at the screen settings panel by pressing the option key while choosing a scaled resolution which yield a list of resolutions and an extra checkbox which must be checked to provide the non retina resolutions. The downside of this that the image quality is sub par. However I have also noticed that the cooling fans of my MacBook do not constantly run at maximum velocity. Which is an issue that I also have when running cubase 11.

11

I am using Cubase 8 and Groove agent 4 on Windows 10 and I have GUI glitches: when switching tabs, they do not respond, and on the second click there appears the wrong tab, for example, when I click on the edit tab, nothing happens, and then when I click on a different tab, now the edit tab appears, but id does not allow me to use the functions there, because, when I click on an item in the edit tab, it switches to a different tab. I played with different resolutions and scales, but id does not work.

12

We have released Groove Agent which improvements regarding the performance on Big Sur.
Please find it in the Steinberg Download Assistant or on the download pages.

13

Great news. I’ll give it a try…

14

Finally, the problem seems to have been fixed. At least on my machine.

15

I’m still seeing sluggish performance with GA 5.0.50.255 on iMac/MacOs (Monterey).

If the GA window is open the rest of Cubase slows down, especially transport/play cursor which gets choppy during playback. If I move the GA window to my external screen it gets even choppier. While on the external screen the GUI elements of GA itself is also pretty laggy while they are decently responsive while on the main screen.