[UPDATE+TL:DR] I’ve discovered that Cubase needs a certain environment or it kicks and screams. Changing my video drivers from Gaming to Studio has resolved most of the issues I’m having
I just bought version 15 yesterday and haven’t had a copy of Cubase for what feels like 20+ years, but it was always the top-of-the-line when it comes to DAWs in my opinion. I have plenty of “DAWs”, like Live, FL, Reason, etc.
So finally, I buy a copy with the intent to start doing some serious work, but I’ve been met with nothing but crashes, unresponsive GUI and MIDI bugs.
I come to the forums and see that there are more than a few people having problems. I started with an orchestral template, then thought, maybe it’s just not working well with my PC, so after a full day of trying to work around bugs, I create an empty project and just load 1 instance of Kontakt. Even with the Orchestral Template and a few instances of Komplete Kontrol hosting Kontakt, my web browser is using more memory, so it can’t be my system… can it? Even with the unresponsive GUI, I’m not getting spikes from my CPU or GPU either…
I can’t even get it to make sounds when pressing a key.
Should I just ask for my money back?
Windows 11
i9-9900k
48GB RAM
Multiple SATA and M.2 SSDs
NVidia 5070
Komplete Kontrol S49 MK3 (Hardware and Software up-to-date
Hi and welcome to the forum!
Cubase is a professional DAW so there’s a learning curve involved. It is absolutely worth it. You’ll see!
First two things that spring to mind:
Make sure to install the NVIDIA Studio driver and not the Game ready driver.
Also make sure to properly setup your audiointerface:
If you are still not hearing a sound please provide more details. I am confident that your system will be up and running soon.
I’m sorry, but this type of posts really gets on me. Cubase is a wonderful piece of software, as are almost all other daws. It is filled with so much complex features it is obviously not a plug and play affair. As aren’t all those other daws, actually. You could get by doing very simple stuff, but for that you have free software available.
Now, I’m professionally using an even older cpu than you, 8700k, and I can assure you it runs smoothly on large orchestral projects. Assumidely I’m running Nuendo (still 14) and not Cubase 15, but the journey is very similar. And no, I don’t browse the web when working. And god only knows what else are you running alongside Cubase. But coming here and claiming the software must be so flawed that you have no other choice than to ask for a refund is just silly, in a forum where you have hundreds of continuous users, and many on a pro level.
Never had this kind of problem with ANY other DAW.
I came here because I thought it was crazy that I was having these problems. I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t crazy. Surely, the renowned Steinberg wasn’t releasing software with this amount of problems, and everyone was experiencing them. And thankfully, I’m getting suggestions to resolve the issues. I guess everything is open to interpretation, but I feel like you came here, to this post to lash out at me for some reason.
It isn’t just any other DAW. For what I do, it’s far superior to the ones you mentioned. (Apologies for sounding like Im a fan.)
It can happen on occasion. The first move I would make, as suggested above, is junk the game ready driver and install the studio driver. Then get back to us.
Always keep in mind the vast majority of users in this forum come here with issues. Why come here and proclaim “hey this is great, everything is working fine?” And keep in mind that this forum represents a very small amount of all Cubase users. It’s easy to find others with an exact or similar problem then proclaim “WE have had this problem for years” when the fact is that only a small group of users have the problem.
I’m thinking there are probably thousands of verified issues in Cubase over its lifespan. Most don’t surface or come to light very often, and are of little concern.
Here is something I think many should use when working with Cubase.
34,000 Cubase topics.
Well, it says it’s your first post and you write this? I suppose in certain forums someone would agree and suggest you get your money back. Usually here there are some pretty smart and experienced users who will try to help.
I can’t speak for @jmtapadas , but for me it does become redundant when a post like this is made. Your specs generally look just fine except get rid of the game ready and replace it with studio. Then come back and discuss a bit more. Again, there are 3,689 smarter people than myself. One of them, who has been on forums for years, and happens to work with Cubase and iirc, is employed by Microsoft is very helpful.
Either be content with the other DAWs you listed that work great, or take a step back, and be patient and willing to accept suggestions.
If you’re seeing crashes, post the .dmp files and/or file a bug. The pinned posts provide details on how to do that. Fairly often, a crash dmp file points to the problem being a single misbehaving VST.
@Laserbeak43 Hi, you’re not alone in your frustration. Cubase is an absolute great and powerful platform for music production, mixing, and mastering, but I too have experienced similar issues. I have come to the conclusion that PCs in general pose many potential conflicts and issues with Cubase. For whatever reason, there are so many things that have to be optimized with your PC to have a smooth and consistent working experience that it is just ridiculous. From drivers to the various hardware parts in the PC itself. I have plenty of experience with various DAWs, and like you I have never experienced so many technical difficulties such as I have with this DAW. I have an above average powerful custom built PC, so there shouldn’t be any excuse. That being said, if you are serious about your music production I really do advise you to take the time and effort to find the right PC or MAC. In my situation, I’ve given up on PCs for music production. Just simply doesn’t make any sense that so many PCs don’t work out of the box straight away, and you shouldn’t have to go to a specific PC vendor to purchase a computer that’s been tested to work for DAWs specifically. I am currently in the market for a new Mac, as I’m looking to finally make the switch. There are plenty of videos out there highlighting the advantages of Mac over PC by serious professionals. Macs are not without issues, but they are definitely without the issues and constraints that you find on PC. Good luck.
Your post was great until we circled back to this. Do I deserve it? Maybe? I don’t think so, but whatever. Thanks for the link to the INDEX. Didn’t know it existed.
@Psychlist1972 Seems like almost all my problems have gone away.
I’ve only tried Komplete Kontrol with Kontakt, but I still get the stuck notes on octave 0.
I’ll try other Kontakt libraries and other plugin instruments to see if the issue persits.
As far as KK S49 MK3 controller, Transport controls don’t seem to completely work. Pressing Restart (shift+play) does nothing.
@Psychlist1972 Hi there. I did send one (because the software asked me to) and saved the dump locally. Not long after, I sent an email before posting in the forums, but I did see that sticky thread. So if they need anything more from me, I’ll wait for them to reply, which i expect to be business hours tomorrow.
Well it worked for me, figured out that Waves plugins running version 10.00 cause issues and need to be installed using the old Waves installer not there new one.
Gemini 3 is a monster, maybe you were using Gemini 2.5.
Be careful about using the free versions of AI, they are limited. I Pay for access to Gemini 3, and it can code an app in under 3 minutes, not sure why it would struggle with a very simple crash dump file ?
And the app is free of bugs and security issues? I’m sure the answer is no. I had to work with Claude (Anthropic) for a while and it builds even complex code and build environments. Not a single one was free of issues and working out of the box.
Because it has no clue about the application, the code and all the internals. A crash dump is far away from being simple.
I’ve contemplated doing that…