It seems that latest Windows 10 USB driver 2.1.1 for UR44C audio interface has issue with simultaneous playing audio/video from browser (i.e. Youtube), and use DAW at the same time. With that combination DAW is stable, but youtube stops playing sound and video starts to buffer. I have uninstalled 2.1.1 driver and reinstalled 2.0.4 immediately issue has been fixed, now I can play youtube and use DAW at the same time.
Same here with UR22C driver update. The audio device “Line” should be manually disabled and then enabled to get other things using windows audio run as expected once I launch DAW and even after I close it.
Same issue here.
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Same here. Downgraded to previous driver. (UR 44C + WIN 10)
Edit:
Updated to Win 11 and still same problem. Downgraded the driver again 
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Same issue here. Downgraded to 2.0.4 driver (UR816C - Windows 11)
No issues here > UR816C latest driver/W10/C12/YT playing all at the same time.
Maybe you can check if in Cubase the “release driver when applicatuon is in background” is activated? it should not.
The “release driver when application is in the background” option is NOT activated when this issue occurs.
Here’s steps to confirm if you really don’t have an issue.
- Open a web browser, head to Youtube and play a video with audio.
- Open Cubase (assuming you have the latest Yamaha USB 2.1.1 driver) while the Youtube video is playing audio.
- The audio from the youtube video will stop playing during the Cubase loading screen.
- Attempts to play the Youtube video will be met with a loading icon.
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Damn, you are right ! beats me why I did not notice this before. Can’t recall it anymore.
I will downgrade the driver, because DON’T count on Steinberg to fix this soon !!
me too, its a total pain, rolling back to v2.03
We can confirm this issue and we apologize for this inconvenience! The Yamaha Steinberg USB driver V2.0.4 for Windows is available again as a fallback right next to V2.1.1. We will address this issue with an upcoming update.
For the details, please have a look at this Help Center article: Windows: Issues with Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver V2.1.0 or later – Steinberg Support
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Same issue here with latest driver with UR44c: ASIO DAW mutes Chrome browser.
Removing driver and installing 2.0.4 solved! (altough dropout is present when starting daw)
What is that ? You should always stop playback before loading the channels into another driver, this is common sense… The two signals cannot merge and sync in real time (while the audio feed is still playing from one end), and it indeed has to cut out the audio which causes media players in Windows to freeze/display an error message. Just reload the YouTube page once the Project has been fully loaded in Cubase, and the audio will return.
The above isn’t related to the actual 2.1.1 issue at all.
The 2.1.1 issue only occurs when Release Driver is enabled, and causes Windows to lose audio even after Cubase has been closed, which is not what you are describing. The only way to undo the glitch is to restart the Audiosrv service or reconnecting the interface.
It really is mind-blowing to see how many people are struggling with the audio settings and are making things worse because they are not aware that it is necessary to stop any playback when loading a program/different driver.
I have recently made a Guide so people can know :
Audio Setup Guide - for Windows users
The simple fact is that Steinberg have explained the difference in behaviour - https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/6092392859026-Windows-Issues-with-Yamaha-Steinberg-USB-Driver-V2-1-0-or-later
As I said before, The “release driver when application is in the background” option in Cubase is NOT activated when this issue occurs. Enabling or Disabling Exclusive Mode within the Windows Sound settings does not change the outcome either.
Common sense or not, when running the steps mentioned using the 2.0.4 driver, audio dropouts occur briefly if audio from another program is playing duing the Cubase loading process but audio resumes after Cubase finishes loading without any freezing.
Back when I had a Focusrite interface, I would not have any audio dropouts with the Focusrite ASIO drivers when loading Cubase if audio from another program i.e Spotify was playing, so theres that.
Well you are telling me PreSonus drivers are bad, because I simply can’t do that. I have to stop playback prior loading ASIO or the players freeze and I have to reload.
Maybe Steinberg and Focusrite handle this “feature”, but in any case it is safer to stop playback in other drivers before opening or closing ASIO.
I never had any problems when watching YT Tutorials in the background and running Cubase at the same time. Would not miss that. So running the previous URCdriver again and are able to do this again without audiodropouts.
I use Yamaha Driver V2.1.3 with Windows 11 and the issue is not fixed as of February 2023.
Sometimes I don’t have these problems, sometimes I do. I can leave my PC turned on, wake up the next day and I’ll have to replug my UR44C to hear windows audio again, because choosing another sound output and then choosing Line (Steinberg UR44C) simply doesn’t work. Sometimes I can follow a Youtube tutorial with no problems, but most of the times I can’t.
I don’t know if all the UR44C users have downgraded to 2.0.4 driver and still keep using it, but there have been several driver updates released since then. And none of them fixed such an annoying and basic issue in my opinion. Just for comparison, if I connect Arturia Minifuse 2, I can run Cubase Pro 12 while playing Youtube in the background without any interruptions at all.
Also, whenever UR44C is used, Cubase automatically saves its scene data with a project file. And every time you open a project, it’s going to ask you “Do you want to recall urc scene data from project file?”, which adds another extra step before you can start working. It’s not possible to prevent Cubase from saving that additional scene info and there is no option to set "Do not load Scene Data from Project File” by default in the settings in case you don’t want to load the UR44C scene data with your project file.
I fully uninstalled and reinstalled the driver. It didn’t help, the issues got back in a couple of days.
My sample rate is set to 48k (everywhere as a default always).
Regardless whether I have “release driver when application is in the background” on or off and whether “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device” in sound settings of both “Playback” and “Recording” is on or off.