Very annoying! New PC / Cubase 15 -> Asio driver (cannot hear anything in project)

[KT66]

@Psychlist1972

Power plans in Windows 11 work differently from Windows 10. That’s why I suggested “best performance” in Windows Settings.

Can you elaborate on this?

[Gottfried_Bergmair]

Hi!

My configuration/system is Win11, i7 13700KF, MOTU828(2024), RTX4070 and Cubase 15 Pro. MOTU-Gen5 Buffer Size = 128, Dedicated USB-Port and cable on USB 3 port.

Check the following settings:

- Follow the advices from user “Psychlist1972”

• No Virtual Desktops!
• Win11 Power Saving Mode: “Ultimate Performance”
  (Find/Search in the Win11 bottom line the app “Systemsteuerung” and set the performance mode under “Systemsteuerung/System und Sicherheit/Energieoptionen”) to “Ultimate Performance”!

- USB Power savings: Turn off all USB power saving features like power savings for USB drives.
(You can do this under “Systemsteuerung/System und Sicherheit/Energieoptionen” and right-click on “Energieplaneinstellungen ändern” and “Erweiterte Energieeinstellungen”). Here you can disable all the USB-power saving options. Additionally, set the minimal AND maximal processor power to 100%.

• Install only the latest NVIDIA core driver! [Avoid the NVIDIA Experience thing - deinstall it! Avoid any 3rd party graphics boost apps etc.]

If your PC is strong enough then disable in Cubase the option “Mode for optimized audio performance from Steinberg”. Set the ASIO Guide to LOW.

I hope this is helpful for you

Gottfried

[mazemania]

Didnt know about the Nvidia Studio Driver. Does it have any bad reaction on gaming? but yeah, i do 90% cubase and a bit video rendering.

By the way: i CANNOT edit sample rate in windows, see here? why is that?

[mazemania]

nice intel 9900k! but the amd 9950x3d should be a lot faster and more threats, tbh.
but obviously has to be compatible
dont have soundID. what u use it for? thanks

[mazemania]

ok guys. thanks so much, you are great! here are my upadtes for you and questions:

• the pc is brand new, MSI board, all drivers and Bios are up to date
• Win 11 is on “ultimate”
• maybe i should really use that Nvidia Studio driver?? i mainly do Cubase/Audio and a bit video rendering. rarely gaming (havent done yet). so the driver also be good for few games I hope but guess so.
• sample rate in win 11 is 44,1khz, just as Cubase
• my VR Quest 3 was never connected. i just installed but also deinstalled Virtual Desktop. I hope I can use it though and install it?
• my asio guard is on high, maybe i set it to normal better? CPU and Ram are pretty fast, so i dont need it
• usb root ports are all on “do not decativate for energy reasons”
• my goal is to get 128 samples in Cubase 15 and the hilarious thing is: my old PC (10 years old!!, intel7) could do 128 samples and maybe sometimes a cracked sound but was all fine. I bought the new PC mainly for super fast loadings from my M2 SSDs, which works, but in general for fast setting, not for “big sample packages like 512” etc.

[mazemania]

Well. I have Nvidia Studio Driver now. But still cannot go under 256 samples.
Asio Guard on/off, no change. And even if i change back to 256, then no sound. Cubase seems to block? ://
Will call RME.

[gitarul]

My PC is Ryzen 9900X on Msi Tomahawk X870E. Integrated sound card is disabled in the bios and I use Arturia Minifuse 4 as the only sound card in the system. In general I work on the buffer set to 64 samples but when I need lower latency I can go even to 32.

On Lenovo Loq laptop with Ryzen 7640HS I wasn’t able to go below 128 samples before the tweaks. I use it on 96 samples and can go to 64 with some tracks frozen. It’s over a year since I’ve got it and everything works as I expect.

[mazemania]

So update, called RME:

• using USB 2.0 and not USB 5G → think thats better
• latencyMon on 256 samples runs without error but a lot of hearable dropouts → i guess thats not ok? (or are those dropouts - when latencyMon running - on purpose for the test?) but why no error message then? see screenshot
• RME said i could also de-install nvidia app and driver, then restart win 11 and it will install a fresh (usable, maybe old) nvidia driver but not sure i wanna try that?
• from those AMD software, see screenshot. can/should i deinstall everything, just not the chipset software? but still im ok for future upadtes and what not AMD does? hope so?
• good news: for the first time i can go for 128 samples and hear my hammond organ/vst play

[Grim]

EDIT….comment deleted, sorry…missed that you installed studio driver already.

So now at 128 buffer do you still have dropouts playing your instruments? Is this is in an otherwise empty project? If you go to 64 does it go completely silent again?

[mkok]

SoundID is a speaker calibration software and changing sample rates means having to restart it. Not a problem if you don’t have it.

it still sounds like something is interrupting the flow. Does the motherboard have onboard video. If it has try pulling the nvidia card and see if that works. I know you don’t want to leave it like that but it could prove if that’s where the problem exists.

Have you watched to see if something runs in the background that might be causing it?

[mazemania]

ok, well maybe the problem is solved, maybe not?

• i mean I can even play midi with 48 samples now, hear the project, hear my midi instrument

• still no reply if “LatencyMon” hearable dropouts are by purpose or should it not happen at all? (its a stress situation on purpose and wants those dropouts?)

• what about the AMD software above, screenshot? delete it? (just not the chip software)

• how can i check what else is in the background? win 11 tool? and yes, in device manager could also deactive the nvidia audio/hdmi output, but for TV watching (rarely) i would need it

  but yeah, maybe overall im good to go, not 100% sure though! ;o

p.s.: GPT also said “vertical sync” or sth. off in nvidia app and also “max. power” at energy setting. maybe it helps, maybe not. and also g-sync is off.
however: i really wanna try my VR virtual desktop streamer (for quest 3) at some point and hope it will all work well with cubase? i mean i dont use it at the same time but in the future maybe yes, mixing over VR. beat the AI etc;)

[Grim]

@mazemania

ok, well maybe the problem is solved, maybe not?

• i mean I can even play midi with 48 samples now

Why maybe not…that’s what you wanted to achieve right?

[mazemania]

correct. just need to check with real big projects and lots of VSTs if performance still good but hope so!! i deactivatetd more background autostart software like “MSI center” etc. lets see

[Psychlist1972]

@mazemania

using USB 2.0 and not USB 5G → think thats better

5G?

I had asked a few times how the device was connected, because you indicated that it was completely failing sometimes, not just a little bit of buffer issue (the stuff latencymon tries to find). Whatever change this was is likely the key change you had to make.

@mazemania

latencyMon on 256 samples runs without error but a lot of hearable dropouts

LatencyMon is not aware of sample rate. You shouldn’t be playing any audio at all when you use it. It’s checking other drivers on your PC. If you play audio while running latencymon you can get dropouts, but those are due to the monitoring.

From the latencymon faq:

Should I run my audio software while LatencyMon is testing my system ?
In general, no. In particular, the interrupt to process latency that the software measures already simulates the workings of an entire audio process. You should run most tests without running any other software in the background. Running your audio software together with LatencyMon only makes sense if you wish to measure hard pagefaults of the audio process.

Pete
Microsoft

[Thor.HOG]

@Psychlist1972

@mazemania

using USB 2.0 and not USB 5G → think thats better

5G?

Yes, that’s the new USB over Cellular specification.

[Psychlist1972]

Not really. I don’t have all the info.

The kernel team explained to me that the old power settings are largely ineffective on current generation processors given how much is handled by the processors themselves and their drivers. That info was provided to me around 2 years ago.

The only processors I’ve verified this with are Arm64 and I can say that the “Best Performance” is the way to go on those for audio. I run my own 285k under “Best Performance”, but have not done any sort of A/B between that and any classic power plans.

Pete
Microsoft

[KT66]

Thanks Pete.

[mazemania]

Against what you say, no? or what did you mean by “dont play audio”?

Best practice / GPT says:

• Open a heavy Cubase project (many VSTs, low buffer).

• Press Play so audio is running in real time.

• Let LatencyMon run for 5–10 minutes while Cubase is playing.

Why:
Latency issues often appear only under real audio load.
Idle tests can look perfect but fail in real use.

So:
Cubase open
Project playing
Audio engine active
Don’t test only while idle

[Grim]

@mazemania

GPT says:

Pete is quoting directly from the LatencyMon FAQ. The developers probably know best practise better than chatGPT does….no??

[fese]

Is this by any chance a AMD processor? There is a known issue with Cubase and RME drivers on AMD Ryzen CPUs where seemingly randomly the ASIO driver wouldn’t get initialized properly and Cubase had no sound (and nothing on any meter at all). Probably a timing issue and supposedly more noticeable with lower buffer sizes.

The solution is to try other USB ports, until you find one that works. Preferably one where the interface is the only device on the USB hub.

Cubase Pro 11 and R.M.E. UCX Audio System problem

Thank you for giving it a try, @jojojojojojonas . I still assume that it’s a question of timing, which lets the initial handshake between audio interface and Cubase fail. The timing can vary between USB ports. Do you have a thunderbolt port on your AMD? You could try to a USB port on an external docking station. I have also contacted RME with this issue.