System Resources

Cubasis
1

For the entire 3+ years I’ve used Cubasis on stage (iPad Pro, then Android, now iPad) I’ve never revealed the system resource meter while playing a gig. Never a need. But I did earlier this week and all of a sudden I’m getting audio glitches, and I watch the DSP meter jump to 100% and back down to the teens. The CPU stays steady at 3-7%. This is during a song with just 3 audio tracks playing, no plugins, no anything else. Just three .wav files.

So, my question is: does showing the resource meter use additional resources? I can’t think of another explanation. I play songs a lot more complicated than this, audio/MIDI-wise, without any issues.

And what would make the DSP meter spike?

9th Gen iPad, latest iOS, no other programs running.

2

For the first time ever, Cubasis glitched on my iPad Pro (brief audio dropouts) the other day. The only change was upgrading to iOS 26. Not sure if there’s a causal connection, but after seeing your post, I’m curious whether you also recently upgraded iOS?

1 Like
3

I have not upgraded to iOS 26, and am still on the latest traditional iOS.

4

Ah, that’s not it then. Thanks for checking!

1 Like
5

Hi @DCinFlorida Hi @Timo00

So far we are unaware about any issues when using iOS/iPadOS 26, but I will share this topic with our engineering.

Best,
Lars

6

Thank you Lars. For what it’s worth, that audio glitch I experienced after upgrading to iPadOS 26 only happened once. I’ll post here if/when it happens again.

7

I still haven’t gotten an answer to my original question: does revealing and showing the resource meter use additional resources? It’s the only time I’ve ever had an audio glitch. So I am looking for correlation.

8

Hi @DCinFlorida

Thanks for your message.
Displaying the DSP meter has no impact on DSP load.

Best,
Lars

9

Hi @Timo00 Hi @DCinFlorida

We are currently not aware of any performance issues with iOS 26.

If someone of you still experience problems, it may help to review the latency and multi-core settings and adjust them for better results. Additionally, updating to iOS 26.1 could also improve stability.

Hope that helps!

Best,
Lars

1 Like
10

Thanks. Normally I would just leave it hidden but lately I’ve been trying some of the plugins and was wondering how much it affected performance.

1 Like
11

I have to say, it’s getting worse. I started my gig the other day with a song that was 48MB, just a bass and drum track. Despite no other open apps and Airplane Mode, the DSP kept pegging at 100%, with a lot of associated audio noise and stuttering. I don’t know if these updates are straining the resources of a 9th Gen iPad, but I think I am going to be forced to migrate back to Cubasis 2 for on-stage playback. It’s not getting updated any longer, and I suspect that most of the Cubasis 3 updates are more recording-oriented, which are great for my home iPad but unnecessary for stage playback. But I don’t know. It’s just frustrating and unprofessional to have happen at a gig.

12

Hi @DCinFlorida,

Could you provide us with more precise details about the issue?
A clear reproduction would be required so we can investigate the issue.

Also, are you using any AUv3 plug-ins alongside Cubasis?

Best,
Lars

13

I can’t figure it out, Lars, other than assuming that, like all software, once it gets too large the hardware can’t keep up. It’s a 9th Gen iPad, 256 GB. Apple only offered the iOS 26, so I updated to that, and I am running the latest.

Then I was thinking, “This usually happens during my first song. Maybe Cubasis needs a minute after launching. Or maybe iPad does a little housekeeping when you first turn it on.” But last week it happened 40 minutes into my set. I don’t use any plugins, generally. Maybe hi-hat or snare on a song or two, using the Steinberg default.

I have great sounding sequences already with my old rack modules, so I just use that MOTU UltraLite AVB to record my sequences on tracks 1-16 of Cubasis, while recording the audio on Tracks 17 (bass/kik/metal), Track 18 (snare), Track 19 (sequenced keyboards). On stage, I play back the audio. The MIDI data on 1-16 never gets used, unless I need to duplicate my recorded hi-hat or snare. But that’s only 2 or 3 songs out of 300+. The songs that made the DSP meter peg were very simple. One of them was ‘What a Wonderful World’: a simple drum track, bass track, and background synth pad. 42MB total, no plugins.

There is no way I can duplicate the issue on demand. And I don’t know how I would capture it for you while I’m playing a gig. It’s a random occurrence, but it acts like all of a sudden there is an operation going on in the background of the iPad, stealing resources. As I said in my post, I am in Airplane Mode and no other apps are running. I also do not have any non-music apps on this stage iPad, to maximize storage and speed.

If this is just an issue of Cubasis 3 outgrowing 9th Gen iPads, I’m sure that Cubasis 2 should do everything I’m needing until I end up purchasing my next iPad. I would also like to get Cubasis 2 back on my Android tablet, but it’s been removed from the Play Store.

Thanks for your help, and sorry for the long email.

David

Someone mentioned you in a post.

| LSlowak
February 5 |

  • | - |

Hi @DCinFlorida,

Could you provide us with more precise details about the issue?
A clear reproduction would be required so we can investigate the issue.

Also, are you using any AUv3 plug-ins alongside Cubasis?

Best,
Lars

14

Since I’ve been using Cubasis 3 since release, I’ve backed up all my songs to an external SS drive, but after loading them into the Projects folder of Cubasis 2, upon playback I get an error popup telling me that it was created with C3 and is not backward compatible. Even though the majority of them were created with C2. It’s understandable, but I wasn’t expecting it. So I will continue to use C3 at gigs and hope for the best until I purchase my next iPad. Maybe one of the AI chatboxes can tell me how to further reduce other iPad activity while using the app.

15

Hi @DCinFlorida

Below please find the feedback from our engineering.

In general, we try to optimize Cubasis 3 from time to time, to make it more efficient and require less system resources, which is why we’re puzzled about your issue.

The DSP meter indicates the time Cubasis takes to fill an audio buffer. Low values means that Cubasis is quickly finished calculating the audio output. 100% means that Cubasis was not finished when the system requested the next buffer already, which can result in crackling noise. This should only occur at low latency and lots of resource-intensive plugins. Displaying a meter should have no performance impact.

What are your settings under Setup / Audio? Can you post a screenshot?
The default settings are:

  • Latency 5.3 ms (you could increase it to be on the safe side in live situations, unless you require low latency)
  • Multi-core rendering on, guard buffer set to “default”
  • Studio quality off
  • Background audio off

Another possibility is that an Audio Unit (or IAA) plugin from a previous project got stuck and still requires system resources, even though it should have been unloaded already and the project where the issue occurs doesn’t use any Audio Units. Do any of your projects use Audio Unit plugins, or Inter-App Audio?

Best,
Lars

16

My latency is set to 1.3ms. That might have something to do with it. :face_with_diagonal_mouth: I certainly never changed it from the default. Question: does it try to retain the last latency it saw? My MOTU UltraLite AVB has very low latency. I’m wondering if, when disconnected, Cubasis still tries to apply the lowest latency that your particular iPad can produce. Can you confirm?

I just checked my 2nd Gen iPad Pro 12.9 and it is set to 1.5ms

I changed my stage iPad to your recommended 5.3ms and will let you know how it goes in a few days. Thank you!

C3Setup-Audio
C3Setup-Audio2160×1620 388 KB

17

I asked this 8 days ago and haven’t received a response, so I asked Microsoft Copilot:

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I think it’s kind of obvious that the next update should include an automatic return to default latency whenever the iPad or Android device is disconnected from an audio interface or any device that would change the Cubasis default.