Jim Roseberry

If you have a Yamaha keyboard (Montage, ModX), it can function as both a MIDI controller and audio interface. Yamaha owns Steinberg... and users their audio interface/driver technology. When you load the drivers for your Yamaha keyboard, the "Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver is installed". FWIW, I've seen a similar issue when a Windows update was (first) released. In the short-term, had to roll-back to the previous Windows build (everything then worked fine). Long-term, the issue was resolved.

Any meta-data embedded with the kick sample? Does it happen with any kick sample... or just a particular sample/library? If you're talking loops, they're being time stretched/compressed to match the current project's tempo.

I'd try deleting the Aud.ini file (stores information about audio settings)... then re-open CbB and see if the issue persists.

If it were TI, it would mention it in Device Manager.

Yeah, it's most likely a Via or Ricoh chipset Firewire controller.

In the meantime, if you go to Preferences>Audio Driver>ASIO Panel... and change the ASIO buffer size (to another value and then back to what it was), this may clear the distortion without having to close CbB (Sonar).

Are you using a TI chipset (Texas Instrument) Firewire controller? In almost every case regarding a problem with a Firewire audio interface, the end-user isn't using a TI chipset Firewire controller.

Effects count - processor speed is the largest factor Track count - disk speed is the largest factor 1. Faster bouncing/freezing of tracks would be mostly down to CPU speed. 2. Faster loading of projects would be affected by disk speed and CPU speed. If you're dealing with large sample-libraries (that load particularly slow), you can put those on a M.2 Ultra SSD (sustain ~3500Mb/Sec). 3. Ability to run more tracks and plugins (as you can probably guess) is down to faster disk-speed and faster CPU. As a point of reference: Conventional HD sustains ~200Mb/Sec SATA SSD sustains ~540MB/Sec M.2 Ultra SSD (using 4 PCIe lanes) sustains ~3500Mb/Sec When it comes to CPU speed: Not all processes in a DAW can be multi-threaded. Playing/monitoring in realtime thru an AmpSim plugin at 96k using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size... isn't something that lends itself to being heavily multi-threaded Some plugins/instruments like UVI Falcon only use a single core This is why clock-speed is the single most critical factor when choosing a CPU for DAW purposes. Note that CPU core performance doesn't scale 1:1 IOW, Doubling the number of CPU cores doesn't double performance. Having more cores is beneficial... but not at the expense of significant clock-speed. This is why Xeon CPUs are typically a poor choice for DAW purposes. They have more cores... but often significantly slower clock-speed (resulting in significant performance hit). In a perfect scenario, you want highest available clock-speed... and the most cores you can get.

It's one simple thing that can make a HUGE difference in the clarity of your mixes.

One use of EQ before compression is to use a high-pass filter (to roll out unwanted low frequencies). Doing this prior to compression can ensure the compressor doesn't respond to those (unwanted) low-end frequencies.

Unfortunately, Steinberg installs the Generic Low Latency ASIO driver (by default). This driver can bump your desired ASIO driver out of position. IOW, If the proper RME ASIO driver was selected in CbB, it may now be "bumped" out of place (leaving the Generic ASIO driver as the selected driver). In the locations scook mentioned above, delete the Generic ASIO driver entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASIO HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\ASIO Once deleted, no application can see/select the Generic ASIO driver. This works for ANY ASIO driver you don't want to use. ie: Many hardware guitar processors, drum modules, and synths now function as an ASIO audio interface. If you know you never want to use your Helix, AxeFX, GT-1000, TD-50, Montage, etc... as an audio interface, this is a quick/easy solution.

Latency has but two sources: Audio Interface Latent Plugins If sounds like you're trying to monitor via software (vs. the audio interface's onboard hardware based mixing which is close to zero latency). If that's the case, you're dealing with round-trip latency. Round-trip latency is the sum of the following: ASIO input buffer ASIO output buffer The driver's (often hidden) "Safety" (sometimes called "Streaming") buffer Latency of the A/D and D/A converters To reduce Round-Trip Latency: Set your ASIO buffer size as small as possible If the audio interface allows you to change the Safety Buffer size, set it as small as possible You can also reduce round-trip latency by using higher sample-rates Note that reducing Round-Trip Latency comes are the expense of higher CPU use. Regarding Latent Plugins: All popular DAW applications feature Automatic Plugin Delay Compensation. If you have a latent plugin inserted ANYWHERE in the project, Automatic Plugin Delay Compensation (Automatic PDC) delays all other audio to maintain sample-accurate sync. To work around this issue: Avoid latent plugins while tracking Some DAW applications feature a global PDC bypass feature (enable this when tracking)

You can remove short spots of digital and analog clipping. What you can't do is take a constantly/heavily saturated recording (like distorted guitar) and remove it. Samplitude Pro X Suite comes with declipping capabilities. There's also Izotope Rx.

My advice... If you want a smoother ride, stay on the backside of the update wave. If you ride the crest, sometimes you're gonna wipe-out. (cue that tom intro)

When playing virtual-instruments, you're dealing with one-way (Playback) Latency. Playback latency is (roughly) half the total round-trip latency. Certainly workable (decent) with the Apollo... The RME Fireface UFX+ can achieve lower Round-Trip and Playback Latency. The Presonus Quantum can achieve even lower Round-Trip and Playback Latency than the UFX+. If lowest possible latency when using 3rd-party EFX/Instruments is a paramount concern, Apollo isn't the interface you want. Apollo's forte' is fidelity... and being able to run UAD plugins at ~2ms round-trip latency.

By very definition, ASIO can't use more than 1 audio interface simultaneously. Some manufacturers get around this by allowing using two (or more) of that same/similar model of audio interface... that each use the same ASIO driver. IOW, The additional audio interface shows up as more audio I/O... using the same (single) ASIO driver. You can create an aggregate audio device using ASIO4ALL, but then both devices would need to share a common clock (otherwise tracks would drift apart over time - due to the slight difference between the two clocks). It's (at best) a half-baked solution. If you need more I/O, you're infinitely better off getting a single audio interface that has the necessary I/O.

You'll want either the Apollo x8 or x8p. x8 has four onboard mic preamps x8p has eight onboard mic preamps Both will allow playing/monitoring thru UAD plugins at ~2ms total round-trip latency (using their "Unison" technology). Apollo's only real downside is if you're trying to achieve lowest possible round-trip latency when using 3rd-party plugins. Apollo can achieve ~3.7ms total round-trip latency. That's not particularly bad... but you can achieve about the same with a top-tier USB-2 audio interface (ie: RME Fireface UFX).

Hi Craig, I'm sure the 64Bit mix engine makes any rounding error moot. 😉 With CPU power available today, it seems unnecessary to make Normalize a destructive process. I'd like to see (per-clip) Normalization and Static Gain... as those features combined would (non-destructively) address any Normalization need... and allow quick means to level out a performance.

I agree. Non-destructive Normalize and Static Clip Gain should be tied together. Make it so!

FWIW, Thunderbolt-3 is rock-solid on the PC side. I've been running Thunderbolt audio interfaces on PC for a good while (UA Apollo-8 and Satellite, Antelope Zen Tour, RME Fireface UFX+, Presonus Quantum). All ran flawlessly... I'm currently using Quantum and UFX+ Quantum for when I want ultra low round-trip latency UFX+ for when I want hardware based monitoring We have many clients running Thunderbolt audio interfaces.

Another thing to be aware of... Some older USB-2 audio and MIDI interfaces don't work well with USB-3 controllers. Usually, the issue is with 3rd-party (not Intel) USB-3 controllers.

Presonus Quantum can get down to ~1ms total round-trip latency. UFX+ can get down to ~2m total round-trip latency.

I was running an Apollo-8 (Quad) and Quad Satellite expander (both via Thunderbolt) for a good while. Fidelity is excellent (super low noise-floor). Stability was excellent. My only gripe with the UA audio interfaces is that (due to their onboard DSP), round-trip latency is a little higher than something like a UFX+ or Quantum. Of course, if you're wanting to run UAD plugins, you can play/monitor in realtime thru UAD plugins with 2ms round-trip latency (via their Unison tech). The lowest round-trip latency you'll achieve with the Apollo series (and Arrow) is ~3.7ms. If you go Thunderbolt, you've got to make sure all the details have been tended-to. The combination of Asus Thunderbolt EX3 and the Apple Thunderbolt-3 to Thunderbolt-2 adapter has worked extremely well in all scenarios we've tested. This includes many different desktop builds, laptops, etc... Though Presonus recommends the StarTech Thunderbolt-3 to Thunderbolt-2 adapter, the Apple adapter works perfectly fine with Quantum.

In this day and age, Normalizing should absolutely be non-destructive. It would make sense to tie this into that Per-Clip "Static Gain" parameter I've been lobbying for. 😁 There are many cases (when mixing), where I'll use static gain changes (per clip) to even out a vocal performance. Yes, Clip Envelopes work... but it's slow (compared to a Static Gain/Normalize parameter).

As a test, what happens if you switch to the onboard audio? Does the issue with crashing persist? The reason I ask is the HD500x drivers are getting a bit long-in-the-tooth. First thing I'd do is rule it in/out as a culprit.