• Registered: 2021-04-09
  • Posts: 14

Topic: Major problems with Fireface UC in Cubase 10

I have a couple of problems that I have posted about repeatedly to Steinberg’s online forum with no success. Apparently nobody else there is seeing these nasty behaviors. FYI, my system is Win 10 (with the latest updates), Cubase 10 Pro (10.0.60, the most recent release), 2.5 GHz Intel i7 with 32 Gb RAM. My sound card is a Fireface UC. I am working almost entirely with virtual instruments, mainly from Orange Tree, Spitfire and East West. It doesn’t appear to be a pure Cubase problem. Nobody else is seeing it so it must be something related to my system configuration. It’s important to realize that no  application other than Cubase has any problem and the system is 100% stable except as noted below.I think that the most likely culprit is the Fireface, though that’s just speculation. I believe the problems started around the time I got the new sound card.

The behaviors are:

1) Every 2-3 hours Cubase playback is completely corrupted. This happens quite abruptly. The workaround is to save the project and kill Cubase. The project then has to be reloaded, which can take 15 minutes or so with all virtual instruments to load. This is a major problem with maintaining creative flow.

2) Noise spikes, loud, several times per minute.

I have tried Latency Mon. Occasionally this test has shown a problem with interrupt timing, making the system unsuitable for real time audio, but I don’t see that lately and the problems are the same.

I have to get this resolved, but I need to establish the cause. I would gladly take the hit for new audio and video subsystems, but there’s no guarantee that would fix things.

So what are my options to get this pinned down?

2 Reply by MetalHeadKeys (edited by MetalHeadKeys 2021-07-30 23:16:05)

  • Registered: 2019-10-01
  • Posts: 675

Re: Major problems with Fireface UC in Cubase 10

Hello!

Is your system a laptop or a desktop?
Can you please post the driver and firmware versions of the FF UC?(numbers, please)
On what buffer setting does this happen?

Some general tweaks for pc are:
- Disable C-states in the Bios
- Highest perfomance settings(Windows)
- Optimize for Background tasks(Windows)
- Disable unnecessary windows services

In Cubase, you can try these:
- Disable Multi-processing
- Try ASIO Guard On/Off

Also, if you have an nVidia graphics card, try setting it to highest performance, as well and check the nVidia site for their "Studio" driver(not all cards are supported)

RME Gear: Digiface USB, HDSP 9632

3 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,436

Re: Major problems with Fireface UC in Cubase 10

Also check the Fireface USB Settings dialog for errors when the sound is corrupted, then simply change the buffer size (latency) to reset the ASIO driver. That might be enough already.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2021-04-09
  • Posts: 14

Re: Major problems with Fireface UC in Cubase 10

Thanks to both for the ideas. On the advice of Steinberg tech support I tried the Asio4All driver. That seems to fix both problems except for an occasional pop. My RME driver is not up to date so I’ll try that today.  Does the RME driver have features that the generic one doesn’t? I’ll post another reply when I’ve tried the latest driver. I would have hated to go back to a lesser audio interface, the Fireface is the best.