Since weeks now, I’ve been experiencing issues when switching from other Windows 10 apps back to Cubase. It took Cubase 12-15 sec to respond again. I tried pretty much everything I could (including Win 10 troubleshooting) but couldn’t resolve the issue.
Now, finally, the culprit has been found…
In “Studio Setup” I had “Release Driver when Application is in Background” checked. Once unchecked, the issue disappeared completely. It seems this was caused by the Steinberg UR-824 / USB driver.
What is strange: I have and am having issues with my UR-824 driver, but have never had this specific issue before. Switching between apps - also with the release option checked - was never a problem before!
I must have introduced the glitch with one of the latest Steinberg UR-824 / USB driver updates. I haven’t really changed anything else in my system besides the forced Windows 10 updates, Cubase’s maintenance updates and Steinberg USB driver updates. I can’t rule out a problem in my system. I have deactivated my onboard sound device in the hope that maybe compatibility issues could have been the cause. I’m still observing the issue, it’s an ongoing process…
Regarding my UR-824 audio device driver, I have so far only experienced problems after problems. I can rule out the device itself, because I hooked up another UR-824 and the problem still exists. So it’s software. I am still having distortions, noise crackles you name it. I have written to Steinberg support, they told me to re-install the driver and do a hard reset of the UR-824. The issue seemed to have been resolved only to reappear again. When opening the driver, I am also experiencing lag times. Somehow this driver is not working well in my Windows 10 environment. Never really has been.
Anyway, I thought I mention the lag-time issue when switching windows, in case someone is experiencing a similar problem. You can give my solution a try. Just deactivate: “Release Driver when Application is in Background”.
Cheers.