Constant dropouts

[Sunset Recording]

Hey gang,

Having a bad few days here.  I've been using Cakewalk about a year and haven't had many issues that weren't related to Windows updates. But lately, I'm getting a tremendous amount of " Audio engine stopped". This is on playback while mixing. The transport stops as well. It seems to happen when I make simple moves like turning a VST effect off, or rewinding. It can happen every few seconds. In the past the only ongoing issue I've experienced is the transport stalling while recording a take.

I have been through a great deal of research and I think I have basic stuff covered like no firewalls on, Wi-fi off and what I think are all the "usual" Windows 10 tweaks to enhance performance. I'm ASIO with a Steinberg Ur-RT2 and  Focusrite Scarlett interfaces. Everything is latest drivers ( minutes ago ). One specific question is when I go to preferences in Cakewalk I can't adjust my latency buffer size , the fader is all the way to the left and greyed out. 

Any direction for me?

 

[Robert Bone]

Hi - I had asked you for some details in an earlier post - can you please answer the following?

from my earlier posts:

"Also, is your Windows up to date on all maintenance, as well as your Cakewalk version, and any firmware or software driver updates for your audio interface?"

and:

"Also, do your issues go away if you temporarily bypass the effects?  (Hit 'E' on your keyboard or hit the FX button ub the Transport Module, to toggle effects processing for the project Off/On.)  Perhaps you have one or more effects loaded, like a convolution reverb or one that uses linear-phase processing, and those are really meant for use during mixing/mastering, and by temporaily turning them off perhaps you can expose that as something to look at."

Bob Bone

[Sunset Recording]

Hey Bob,

Yes, everything possible is up to date. And no, I have not tried running without efx. I understand that from a diagnostic approach, but real world I can't mix without a certain amount turned on.

I pretty much took a break from testing yesterday, just research and conversation with @NSFW. I just changed up some buffer settings and will be testing in a bit. I did order a DEll NVMe Optain drive, that will arrive on Friday. Btw, I use Brainworx SSL e quite a bit, my understanding is it has minimal drag on the CPU. You know anything about that plug?

Thanks again, and what day is it?

-Cary

[Jon White]

Sunset, in general, a problem that exists now didn't exist prior.  Windows and Cake seem to be, in my opinion, unpredictable.  The unfortunate thing about Cakewalk is that it is unpredictable in the very spine of its reality: the audio engine.  It has always, to me, been slow, risky and prone to dropouts well, well beyond almost any other DAW.  Sure, it may be working for some, sometimes, somewheres -- but that's not the point.  The point is that you can't count on it in general, on the average.  And in my experience, it is laggy as a rule compared to other DAWs.  Try some others and see if you need the stability.  I truly don't think you issue is hardware muscle.  I think it is an innocent, but all-too-common quirk between the details in the software and the Windows OS and your audio drivers.  Again, you can struggle for weeks and find the issue, but I feel that Cakewalk will always haunt the studio user with that looming possibility of various errors.  "General error" on saving a file is my latest ghost.  "Corrupt file, can't open (or the like" hits my most recent multi-track project IF I don't open a project before it and then close it and open that project.  Who can figure.  Clicks and pops, audio stoppage when Superior Drummer 3 loads, etc...

None of this happens with Nuendo, Sequoia or ProTools.

What is my system?!  What details am I stupidly not assessing?!  To the rescue, doubters!

My system is the same one that ran these types files two years ago or five months ago (but probably with different errors).

Edited April 7, 2020 by Jon White

[Sunset Recording]

I'm with you. There is a reason that every studio Ive ever worked in runs Pro Tools. Still glad i ordered the SSD.

Big thanks to all who provided input, Ciao

[Robert Bone]

On 4/5/2020 at 2:48 PM, Sunset Recording said:

Hey Bob,

Yes, everything possible is up to date. And no, I have not tried running without efx. I understand that from a diagnostic approach, but real world I can't mix without a certain amount turned on.

I pretty much took a break from testing yesterday, just research and conversation with @NSFW. I just changed up some buffer settings and will be testing in a bit. I did order a DEll NVMe Optain drive, that will arrive on Friday. Btw, I use Brainworx SSL e quite a bit, my understanding is it has minimal drag on the CPU. You know anything about that plug?

Thanks again, and what day is it?

-Cary

I was only asking you to temporarily bypass your currently loaded effects, only long enough to see if bypassing them made a difference with the dropouts. 

So - I again ask you - please click the FX button, to temporarily bypass your effects, then hit Play, let it run for a minutes, then go ahead and hit the FX button again to engage all the loaded plugins again, and report here with whether or not your project played back properly when the effects were bypassed.

It is a test that you could complete in less time than it has taken me to type this post.

I am not asking you to not use effects - I am only asking that you bypass them, to determine whether or not something with one or more of your effects is causing your issues.

The FX button is just to the right of the metronome button, just right of the Transport Module at the top center of the screen.

Bob Bone

[Sunset Recording]

Again thank you, didn't mean to make ya type so much. Yes, I've ran it with the fx off and that lowers the problems,but it's still an issue. To cut to the chase all my research, forum chatting and personal experience tells me Bandlab Cake walk is simply Junk. I purchased a perpetual license of Pro Tools  last night. This is my living, I have to have rock solid performance.

Again, thanks so much, I learn from everyone.

-C

[Robert Bone]

1 hour ago, Sunset Recording said:

Again thank you, didn't mean to make ya type so much. Yes, I've ran it with the fx off and that lowers the problems,but it's still an issue. To cut to the chase all my research, forum chatting and personal experience tells me Bandlab Cake walk is simply Junk. I purchased a perpetual license of Pro Tools  last night. This is my living, I have to have rock solid performance.

Again, thanks so much, I learn from everyone.

-C

Best wishes for success to you, regardless of the platform.