Hi everyone,
I’m running into a strange issue with Synthesizer V (both Version 1 and 2) when used as a VST3 plugin in Cubase 14.0.20. As soon as I load the plugin, Cubase’s user interface starts freezing for about half a second at regular intervals. This happens continuously while the plugin is open.
Here are some details about my setup:
Cubase Version: 14.0.20
Synthesizer V Versions: 1 & 2 (VST3)
OS: Windows 11 Home, Version 24H2
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
RAM: 64 GB
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti (latest Studio Driver)
HiDPI: Happens whether HiDPI is on or off
Project: Happens even in an empty project
Standalone Version: Works perfectly, no freezing
Despite the UI freezing, audio output is totally fine. The plugin still renders and plays correctly — it’s just the graphical interface in Cubase that stutters.
I’ve recorded a short video to show what’s happening. You can watch it here:
Has anyone else experienced this? Could it be a compatibility issue between Synthesizer V and Cubase 14? Would love to hear if others can reproduce it or have found any workarounds.
Thanks!
Hi, yes. I’m on MacOS but I’ve had all kinds of issues with SynthV and Cubase in V1 that I’ve never seen in the standalone or when loading it into other DAWs. Instead I’ve been forced to use the standalone all the time, render the files and import them into Cubase.
I thought I’d wait until V2 came out (which was hours ago!) before I report it back to Dreamtonics and Steinberg if I can find a way of reproducing the issues reliably. But it does seem to be Cubase specific and it can act strange and crash randomly. It is very solid in Ableton and a bunch of other software where I load it as a VST3.
Also, the ARA plugin on V1 was unusable for me in Cubase. Also I’ve seen cases where Render In Place crashes Cubase.
I suppose it’s worth checking all the basics like your buffer sizes, etc, but those stutters look like a bug because V2 is much more efficient than V1 on CPU so if anything it should run better than before.
Thanks for the reply — I had the exact same thought! I figured I’d wait for V2 too, hoping these kinds of issues would be ironed out… but after testing it and seeing the exact same screen stuttering, I finally decided to email Dreamtonics directly about it.
I’ve had my share of random crashes too, but those I can usually work around. It’s the constant UI stutter that really makes it frustrating to use in Cubase. The audio is totally fine, but the freezing every half second just kills the workflow.
I also tried switching sample rates and buffer sizes just in case, but unfortunately, that didn’t help either.
It’s really interesting to hear that SynthV runs completely fine in Ableton and other DAWs. That definitely points to something Cubase-specific. Hopefully with more of us reporting it, both Dreamtonics and Steinberg will take a closer look.
Ok I will do more tests and email them too. I’ve just realised that the stuttering you get is very similar to something I saw when using SynthV in Dawdreamer a while ago (a software library for loading VSTs). I had gaps in the rendered audio that I just could not get rid of, but just this week I was able to get it working using a different library so I now have some clues to suggest to Dreamtonics. At this point I think its most likely a SynthV problem rather than Cubase.
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Hello,
Have you had an answer from the developer? On their forum I found someone who suggested to add it as an ARA plugin somewhere and that it changes the way the VST is handled. I’ve tested it and it does work, but if you have a better solution I’m interested to know.
You know what they say, “if it looks stupid but it works then it’s not stupid”, but yeah… this is stupid.