This one has been driving me crazy for a long time, but I finally see what’s going on.
If you start playback on the main timeline, then click around in the Media Bay in such a way that it will cause it to search, main Cubase audio drops out while Media Bay is busy turning folders red. This doesn’t happen if you search very small folders or disks, but if the results are of any size or the folders any depth, audio will stop and Cubase will “hang” while those Media Bay folders turn red.
What I couldn’t figure out was that this also happens if you just leave the Media Bay window open with a search queued up. If you’re not using it, just working on the main Cubase timeline, it will still (it seems) refresh results every now and then and cause what appear to be “mystery dropouts”.
A twist. Sometimes these dropouts are not just dropouts but nearly full volume noise that sounds like a loop of the last buffer Cubase was trying to get to the audio device. Needless to say, this is terrible because it lasts a few seconds while the Media Bay is doing its business.
I’ve tried the preference that says “Scan folders only when Media Bay is open”, but of course that’s no good if the Media Bay stays open. The only workaround I’ve found is checking that preference and closing the Media Bay as soon as I’m done with it. Not a terrible inconvenience, but inconvenient nonetheless, considering I might use it hundreds of times per day.
Also, I do frequently use the Media Bay preview “sync to project tempo” and “wait for project playback”. Unfortunately, that will allow you to get one of these noise bursts in.
Has anyone else experienced this? I can get the same behavior to happen in Nuendo and get the same behavior in both applications with different audio devices and different ASIO drivers. It’s pretty clear that it’s the Media Bay on Windows 10. Never heard this on the Mac before, but Mac Cubendo is so dang slow compared to Win Cubendo that it’s not worth going back.
I guess I write this just to help anyone else who may be experiencing mystery dropouts. Here are a few keywords for Google search:
Cubase Nuendo audio dropout playback media bay mediabay search folders red
I would open a support case, but I haven’t had any luck there in the past.
Hope this is helpful but I also hope you just don’t have any dropouts in the first place!!!
Best wishes for smooth playback,
- Jason