Please help - Strange echo on Audio Tracks

Cubase
,
1

I have been using Cubase 8.5 pro for a few months
Today a strange Echo on my audio file playback has become very apparent
I attached a screen shot of a Kik I bounced and then I normalised the ECHO-ey audio that follows to highlight it for you to see
This was in an empty project with 0 plugins , FX or EQ
I went to my headphones to reference some drums and its was really annoying
I have noticed it on a few kicks previously but I just thought they were bad sounds
Today I realised it is on every sound
Needless to say I can not mix anything like this. I have checked with different audio files, restarted my PC etc. etc.
Changing ASIO drivers doesn’t help. Playing with project settings does not help
I have an RME pcie soundcard which should be good but maybe its on the way out as it is quite old
Can a faulty Soundcard affect the Cubase processing ?
The rest of my PC is solid as I built it myself
Instruments are not affected

Thanks for any help , this is driving me nuts
Stuart B

Cubase-problem.jpg
Cubase-problem.jpg1768×992 94.5 KB

2

Today all was ok for about 6 hours and then it started again
I notice it immediately because the echo of the kick clashes with everything I have on side chain and throws it all out
I have switched it off for a while to see if it resets
Total pain in the butt

I have attached a WAV file so you can hear what I mean
I changed the extension to ZIP so just change it back to WAV - why are WAVs not on the list ???
You will hear the echo better in really clear headphones
It’s impossible to mix with this is on every track all the time
Any help appreciated
echo problem.zip (413 KB)