UR22 - audio keeps cutting out on new Windows laptop

Hi, I recently got a new Windows laptop (more specifically a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7). I have a Steinberg UR22 which I use both with Ableton Live and to play with my guitar through a virtual amp simulator. When I got my new laptop I downloaded the latest Steinberg driver and got everything setup according to the instructions. After a few days of use I noticed that the audio started to cut out at random times. This mostly happens when I play with my guitar plugged in, when I’m watching Youtube or listening to music on Spotify (or any of the above in combination) but it even happens when I don’t do anything on the computer at all. Normally the audio just stops for half a second and then continues. It sounds as if the computer loses connection with the audio interface and then regains connection immediately.

I’ve done everything I can think of to try and do something about it:

*I’ve tried different instrument cables, headphone cables and USB 2 cables but the issue still persists.

  • I’ve tried using different ports on my laptop (USB C, USB A), but the issue remains no matter the input jack used
  • I’ve never had any issues with the audio interface before and when I try it on other computers it works just fine and the audio doesn’t clip at all.
  • I’ve tried uninstalling the driver according to the instructions in the manual and downloaded it again several times without any success.
  • I’ve looked through the Steinberg forum but not found any solution that has made this issue go away,
  • I’ve gone through Microsoft’s own 13 troubleshooting steps without any success.

When I don’t have the audio interface plugged in everything works perfectly fine.

I’d be vary grateful for any help!

One thing I’ve seen repeatedly mentioned online is Windows laptop users disabling their onboard audio, while using ASIO interfaces. Potentially in the device manager, but maybe even in the BIOS.

Hi pras97!

Glad to see your question. Of course not because I am happy that you have issues with interface, but because I have very similar problem with the same interface.

Recently I have bought new Lenovo ThinkBook 16 g6 irl with i7 and 16 GB RAM. I wanted to have a good machine for recording. And as I mentioned, I use STEINBERG UR22 audio interface. The DAW I am using is REAPER.

When I plug the interface into PC and use it with DAW for recording/playing or whichever software (VLC, YouTube, anything what plays media), the sound gets like chooped/freezed. The song/video/Reaper project is playing normally and in some random moments it just frozen for half of second, than plays for example 1 second and freezes again, then plays 2 seconds and freezes for 1 second and then ok. This was just example but this combinations appear randomly - sometimes 4 times per minute, sometimes 1 time per minute, sometimes it happens 1 time in 10 min. The biggest problem is while recording. I can’t rely on the PC because while recording, the soft freezes randomly, suddenly you are out of rythm and 90% of such recordings is useless. It looks like you mentioned - as if the computer loses connection with the audio interface and then regains connection immediately.

I don’t know what it js, firstly I was wondering if there can be issue with laptop because this was happening even while only listening a song in VLC, no other programs were running. This looked strange - how this can happen in brand new PC with such parameters. A few days ago I found out, that this issue appears only when playing media via audio interface. No freezing when unplugged. Of course I could not record anything but the issue was gone.

What is interesting, before I bought this Lenovo Think Book with Win 11, I had Lenovo V310-15IKB with Win10 on it, 8 GB RAM, 128 SSD disc and Intel i-3 and this guy had absolutely no problem. Until several months ago, when this PC started to have issues with battery and power supply (laptop was at least 7 years old, so…) and then I decided to buy a new machine.

I tried to reinstal the newest Steinberg driver but this did not help. I decided to switch audio interface with my friend’s one for some time to see if this problem is only at my computer or not (what is funny, he is also having some issue with his one Komplete Audio 6 MK2 - the sound is like distortioned or how to say it but this is not related to this thread).

So pras97, you can try to plug your interface into other device and see what will happen.

When I plug in my interface into another device it works perfectly.

I do think that I have solved the issue following these tips from the Microsoft community:
I. Power Management Settings:

  • Verify that the power management settings for the USB port are correct. Open “Device Manager”, find all USB Root Hub items under “Universal Serial Bus Controller”, right-click on each item, select “Properties”, and select “Power Management” in the “Power Management” section. Uncheck “Allow computer to turn off this device to save power” in the “Power Management” tab.

It seems to work fine after following this tip.