No live sound in Cubase--CAN see levels--CAN hear playback

Cubase
1

Hi Cubase Community,

My name is Mike. I’m new to the forum. I recently purchased Cubase with a Steinberg UR242. I upgraded from Artist/LE, etc., to Elements 8. My issue is strange: When I plug into input 1,2,3,4, doesn’t matter, I can’t hear my guitar levels as I record to an armed track. As in I can’t hear my guitar levels live when I strum it. I can, however, hear the playback. I’m not exactly a newbie, but not a pro by any means. In the past I’ve had a Digi with Tools, a Presonus setup with Studio One, and have had no problem recording my songs with these interfaces/software, or just jamming with amp simulators for hours. Can’t do it with this setup. It doesn’t matter how I set the direct monitoring box, checked or unchecked, no sound. I have Steinberg ASIO set as my default driver. My ins and outs show the UR242 and are active. Have uninstalled/reinstalled multiple times now. I use an Asus ultra book with SSD, i5 processor, 12G Ram, running Windows 10. I should note that I can hear live sound from VST’s, like Groove Agent Etc. I can hear these live and upon playback. Audio tracks, however, with my guitar plugged into/tried in every input, with amp simulator selected, and an amp selected, does not produce a live sound in my headphone or through speakers via headphone out. I’ve tried mono tracks, multiple mono tracks at a time, etc., stereo too, even though I’ve always recorded guitars via mono inputs. I am scratching my head here because usually these things are pretty straight forward. My volume and levels are up. Have tried vocal/guitar track with Phantom on and off. HiZ on and off. Monitoring has been both checked on and off and tried every way I can imagine. Inputs show the UR242 as active. Correct ASIO selected. Not a chord issue. Tried several. Again, no mic sound either. I can see the levels and hear playback but no live sound. Again, monitoring tried both on and off. Can anyone in this forum shed some light for someone new to Cubase. I don’t see this issue anywhere in the forums. If there is one, feel free to direct me to it. All I see is people who have issues with not being able to hear playback. That’s not my issue. Mine is that I can’t hear my guitar/vocal levels live. I can see them though. And play them back. Thanks for reading my long post, looking forward to your replies and getting this resolved so I can make some music in Cubase. I’m guessing it’s something simple and I’m really hoping someone can tell me how to fix it. Thanks again!!

Regards,

Mike M

2

Hi Mike.

Have to be honest and say I only skimmed your post because of the lack of paragraphs…It’s very hard reading a huge block of text like this.

First thiong you need to check: In Cubase device setup for your audio device untick direct monitoring.
Now push the monitor button on the track and try playing…any good??

3

Thanks for the reply, Grim.

I was just trying to give a detailed description of the issue.

I mentioned it in my post, but I have tried playing/recording with direct monitoring ticked both on and off, in device settings, and at the track level, several times. No sound in my ears or speakers, but I can see/adjust levels and hear recording upon playback.

My ASIO is set to the Steinberg UR242

I have my ins and outs set to the UR242. They are active, showing levels.

My sound settings in Windows are set to record and playback via Steinberg UR242.

I’ve also tried out of the box Cubase project templates. Same thing. I can see the levels, can’t hear them as I’m actually playing. Press playback and it’s there. Very frustrating.

Hopefully this was less crowded. I really do appreciate the help, and if you have any other ideas please let me know. At this point I’m thinking it has to be a Windows/Cubase/UR242 communication issue, or mapping issue, because the levels are getting to the box and recording. Going to try to read the manual here. I’m new to Cubase, obviously. Thanks again!

4

OK…so to be 100% clear, the setting needed to monitor live thru Cubase is direct monitoring unticked in device setup and the monitor button engaged (little speaker icon orange) in the track.

My sound settings in Windows are set to record and playback via Steinberg UR242.

While this “shouldn’t” be a problem and I doubt very much is the cause of the issue, I would try setting windows audio to the built in soundcard (assuming you have one) while testing to be on the safe side