Running Cubase fixes a no-sound issue on Window 10 apps

[maxtar]

This weird problem was found when using the UR242 Audio Interface on a Windows 10 PC for both Cubase and Windows stereo output. It actually occurred just after installing the latest Windows 10 January “Cumulative Updates”(KB4532938 and KB4528760). Of course I do not expect Steinberg to look after possible bugs in MS updates, but I’m mentioning this issue here to report a “dependency” between the Yamaha/Steinberg ASIO driver and the Windows 10 sound system, which may have been changed/broken after the recent W10 updates.

Problem details:

1. I use an ASUS Z97PRO Desktop PC (with a high performance CPU, even though not the latest Intel gen) with Steinberg UR232 audio card and the latest Yamaha/Steinberg ASIO driver 1.10.4.
   Windows 10 version is currently 18363.628 (Windows “Feature Update” 1909). If you need more details on my HW/SW configuration, please let me know.

2. The UR232 Interface works great in Cubase Elements 10.0.40 for inputs 1-2 (with guitar and mic connected) and output 1-2 (also used as Windows stereo output). I do not use I/O ports 3-4 (FX).

3. If I use one of the standard MS “native” apps (like Groove music or Edge Browser), the sound is muted (I say “muted” because the Windows “Sounds setting” windows shows the audio level bar moving). As soon as I start Cubase (just the hub), the sound goes on INSTANTLY. As soon as I close Cubase completely, the sound is muted.

4. Just for test, I installed a generic ASIO driver for the on-board sound chip (Realtek HD): both Cubase and MS apps sound worked correctly with no “dependencies”. This seems to exclude (together with the fact that UR242 works perfectly with Cubase) an Audio Interface H/W problem.

Thanks in advance for any comment/suggestion.
Massimo

[peakae]

Cubase takes control over the 242 when started, so I would look at how the settings are in the dspMixFx.
I bet it reverts to these settings when Cubase is closed.
I could be wrong, but that would be my first thing to check.

[Barry_Ford]

Not exactly the same issue, but after the recent Widows update I had to remove the drivers for my Roland Tri-Capture, and let Windows re-install it.

[maxtar]

@peakae

Cubase takes control over the 242 when started, so I would look at how the settings are in the dspMixFx.
I bet it reverts to these settings when Cubase is closed.
I could be wrong, but that would be my first thing to check.

Thanks peake, I will follow your suggestion and let you know.

[maxtar]

@Barry Ford

Not exactly the same issue, but after the recent Widows update I had to remove the drivers for my Roland Tri-Capture, and let Windows re-install it.

Thanks Barry, I had already reinstalled the UR242 driver, but I believe with a subtle difference, in the sense that I used the Yamaha/Steinberg supplied setup.exe for reinstallation. You suggest to " let Windows re-install it". I will redo the installation in that way and we’ll see what happens.

[maxtar]

@maxtar

@peakae

Cubase takes control over the 242 when started, so I would look at how the settings are in the dspMixFx.
I bet it reverts to these settings when Cubase is closed.
I could be wrong, but that would be my first thing to check.

Thanks peake, I will follow your suggestion and let you know.

Hi peakae and sorry for mispellink your alias in my first reply.
You were right in suggesting to check the UR242 setting with dspMixFx!

I have used this tools very rarely, because I always relied on Cubase for controlling UR242. Anyway, I executed dspMixFx (of course with Cubase not running) after starting the Groove Music player (hearing no sound).
I noticed on the dspMixFx window that the VU Meter of the DAW channel was moving, but THE DAW CHANNEL WAS MUTED. I unmuted it and immediately heard the sound. I also successfully tested audio from Edge, Chrome and Audacity.

By doing a couple of tests (setting back the DAW channel to mute) I verified also (as you said) that Cubase takes fully control of the UR242 but reverts the AI settings (at least those of the DAW channel) to its initial values on exit. So if you unmute the UR242 DAW channel with dspMixFix, Cubase will keep this setting unchanged when released and every app using audio will work. PROBLEM SOLVED!

The UR242 resetting also allowed me to fix a problem with the audio setup in Dorico 3.1. To avoid confusion, I will not cover the topic here. People interested can go to this topic (last post by Ulf):

No Audio after Update

I was still curious about how the UR242 DAW setting could have been changed, since I’m sure I haven’t touched dspMix for months and it is a fact that the audio stopped working just after the installation of two recent Windows 10 January updates (KB4532938 and KB4528760). The only thing I can say is that rebooting Windows 10 does not change the setting, but my current build already contains two more cumulative updates and I believe it is impossible (or at least too time consuming) to reproduce the original Windows configuration. Not a high priority investigation for an end user anyway, especially when his problem is solved.

Thanks for your geat help,
Massimo

[maxtar]

@maxtar

@Barry Ford

Not exactly the same issue, but after the recent Widows update I had to remove the drivers for my Roland Tri-Capture, and let Windows re-install it.

Thanks Barry, I had already reinstalled the UR242 driver, but I believe with a subtle difference, in the sense that I used the Yamaha/Steinberg supplied setup.exe for reinstallation. You suggest to " let Windows re-install it". I will redo the installation in that way and we’ll see what happens.

Hi Barry, it happened that I started to test the first suggestion received (from peakae) which solved the problem, due to the setting of the UR242. Thanks anyway for your suggestion, which I will test anyway, to better understand how Windows 10 behaves if it does not find the UR242-specific ASIO driver at boot (e.g. will it detect the device? what driver will it install?).
Best regards,
Massimo