Sudden problem with no audio; suspect plugin issues but can't isolate.

[AxlBrutality]

Bear with me here; this is an interesting one.

So this morning I'm mixing this project that I've been working on for weeks.  No issues, made no major changes (just parameters on plugins, volume, etc.  No new plugins, no deletion of old plugins, no new recording, no alteration of existing clips).  It's playing just fine.  I then go to export the project, as I've done a hundred times before.

The export is screwed...it's ten seconds of mangled feedback and noise, and then silence for the rest of the project (roughly 15 minutes or so).  I try exporting again, same issue.  I then try simply playing my project...and suddenly, I have no audio whatsoever.  The meters are moving, but there is no sound.

I closed and reopen Cakewalk;, no dice.  I restart my computer; no dice.  I check that my interface is working with other programs; it is.

So then I figure it's gotta be a plugin issue.  Sure enough, I bypass all FX bins on the tracks themselves, and bypass my master bus chain.  Suddenly, I have audio (albeit unprocessed of course).  Leaving the FX bins on the tracks bypassed, I enable my master bus FX bin and have zero audio again.  Cool; so now we know it's a plugin that's on my master bus (makes it easier to isolate, because I only have a handful of plugins on my master).  Find that, and disable it there and anywhere in the tracks I also have it, and we'll go from there, right? So I disable the plugins one-by-one until suddenly, my audio comes back.  Seems JST Clip is the culprit.  Kind of annoying, but something I can do without if need be.

Except that I disable it again to test, and my audio is still playing and now being processed by that plugin, as if nothing's wrong.  So I start reenabling plugins in reverse...one, two, three, everything's good until the random 4th one (happens to be LP EQ the first time).  But if I start at the beginning of the process, it'll pick a different plugin to have a problem with each time.  You can see where this is going.  I cannot isolate a specific problem plugin.

Frustrated, I uninstalled my entire FX chain and reinstalled.  Viola, it works!  Go to export....and the entire situation repeats.

Also, now every time I reopen the project, there's insane feedback for about 10 seconds, and then it's gone (and then of course I have no audio).

Out of curiosity, I've gone through other elimination processes...there's no commonalities.  It's not a "Slate" thing, it's not a "JST" thing, it's not a "Voxengo", it's not a "Sonitus" thing, etc... and it doesn't appear to be any of my synths (Addictive Drums 2, TruePianos and SI Strings).

Cakewalk is fully updated, as is W10 and my interface drivers.  And again, this problem quite suddenly appeared out of the blue today.  Anyone have any ideas?  I am literally at a standstill right now and quite frustrated.

I guess just for additional info, my Master Bus FX Chain is currently: LP EQ>Slate Virtual Mix Rack (FG Bomber and CS Lift)>Slate Virtual Tape Machines>Slate Virtual Buss Compressor FG-Grey [x2]>JST Clip>Boost11>Voxengo Span.  But again, none of these appear to consistently be "THE" problem, as it seems to vary.  Also, obviously I have other plugins on various tracks...but there's definitely a problem with something on my master chain specifically, so I'm trying to start there.  Unless there's a bigger, overall problem with Cakewalk itself.

Edited February 11, 2019 by AxlBrutality

[CJ Jacobson]

Just for the sake of doing it and ruling it out real quick, raise your ASIO buffers (if you are in asio) and try again.  if you are at a buffer of 128, raise it to 512. If you are  at 256, raise it to 1024

[AxlBrutality]

I actually seem to have figured out the problem, after a lot of headaches, trial and error, and a lot of searching.

I have stumbled across a weird bug with Slate's Verbsuite Classics, where that plugin will randomly cause massive feedback loops and wreak havoc with everything.  I've come across one other instance of this: http://forum.cakewalk.com/Weird-problem-with-Slate-Verb-Suite-Classics-m3586469.aspx

In my case, it seems to be the VSC on my snare tracks.  There's no issue on my strings or piano tracks, which I also use VSC on.  As with the other poster, there seems to be no rhyme or reason for the feedback loops.

As the other person did, I replaced VSC with another reverb plugin on those tracks, and the problem is no more.

Sucks, because I really like the VSC 'verbs.

CJ, out of curiosity, I double-checked, and I'm actually at 1024 already because I'm no longer recording, just mixing.   

I appreciate the response in any case.

Edited February 11, 2019 by AxlBrutality