Sudden gaps in audio playback?

[shane]

Long time Cakewalk/Bandlab user here. 2022.11 build 21

RME Fireface UFX

I've noticed in the last two weeks normal projects suddenly have gaps in playback audio. Sometimes as frequently as every minute, sometimes not until the middle of the song, ALL audio drops out for less than a second, then resumes. Strangely, timing doesn't seem to be affected by this, so after the gap it continues as if nothing happened, right in time. 

Other computer audio (YouTube, Sirius, Windows Media Music playback) doesn't exhibit this behavior. 

I originally thought I had changed something, but all preferences seem to be the same. 

I am going through all my plugins one by one to see which ones may be the culprit, including: 

SoundToys 5.4.1

UAD

Eventide

Sausage Fattener

 

Anyone else having the same issue? 

I haven't rescanned audio buffer/driver in awhile (maybe a year?) as it does when you first setup Cakewalk and now I can't remember how to do it. That might be built in these days. 

[John Vere]

Plug in demo mode will cause this. 

[shane]

Yup, agreed. 

None of these are in demo mode, and I've re-authorized them.  Playback gaps still happening. 

Narrowed it down to the SoundToys 5.4.1 and Sausage Fattener. 

Will try adding the same amount of VST's, but NOT the above to see if it's plugin count. 

[shane]

Narrowed this down a bit with a test sequence of 5 stereo audio tracks. 

Seems to be that if I turn all the SoundToys plugins OFF, the gaps/dropouts no longer happen. 

 

Is anyone else experiencing this issue? 

[Promidi]

If you are sure it's not a plugin in demo mode - try increasing your buffer size.  If using a sample rate higher than 48K then try it at 48K.

[Leizer]

Yes, I have the same problem, got it when I updated to 5.3.9. Its like a 0,5s gap. I have had Soundtoys effects for years and never had any problem before. Also got the "Cannot load preset - unknown error" message when I upload old songs. Already had checked both VST3 Migration boxes, so no luck there.

[Promidi]

38 minutes ago, Leizer said:

Also got the "Cannot load preset - unknown error" message when I upload old songs. Already had checked both VST3 Migration boxes, so no luck there.

Wouldn’t you be wanting to be unchecking those boxes?

[Leizer]

Yes, it seemed like I would. I also upgraded to 5.4.1 and with the boxes UNchecked it worked, no error message. Thanks Promidi!

My audio gaps looks to have disappeared as well, maybe they fixed something in an update? Shane, do you have the latest version (5.4.1.17134)?

[shane]

Yup, I've got 5.4.1.17134 running. 

One thing I haven't tried: uninstalling and reinstalling. I'll try that and report back. 

[shane]

...after fully uninstalling all SoundToys--- had an older installation pre-5.4.x there--- and reinstalling, its BETTER, but still gaps. 

iLok showing no issues either. 

I've reported this to SoundToys. Hopefully they get back to me, because I really love these plugins. 

[mbradt]

I experienced the same dropouts with 5.4.1.  I reported to Soundtoys and got an immediate response. I sent  the project file to Chris and I assume they are still working on the problem.  In the meantime they sent the link to 5.4.  I reinstalled that and the dropouts went away.  I didn’t have previous projects , so I can’t verify that problem.

 

 

[shane]

Dang. Thanks for the update. I'll update this post if/when they have a fix. 

[Billy86]

On 6/13/2023 at 8:55 AM, mbradt said:

I experienced the same dropouts with 5.4.1.  I reported to Soundtoys and got an immediate response. I sent  the project file to Chris and I assume they are still working on the problem.  In the meantime they sent the link to 5.4.  I reinstalled that and the dropouts went away.  I didn’t have previous projects , so I can’t verify that problem.

 

 

Same issue here with 5.4.1. Love ST as well; hope they fix soon. Problem is, they rarely email about updates. I still have the 5.3.5 installer, but afraid if I roll back, I'll lose the new SuperPlate I got when I updated to 5.4.1. Will you post if ST contacts you about the fix? Thanks!

[shane]

Has anyone heard back from SoundToys on this yet? 
I have not and will probably email them again about this. 

[Michael Reynolds]

I’m also experiencing this with Soundtoys 5.4.1. Hoping they fix it soon as I can’t really use any of their plugins despite having the entire bundle.

[Jorge Tata Arias]

The problem with the Soundtoys has been fixed for the moment with a beta version (5.4.2.17167_64) until a new release takes place. You can download it from here

https://storage.googleapis.com/soundtoys-download/download.html?beta=true

Edited July 27, 2023 by Jorge Arias

[shane]

Thanks for this!

So far, so good with the Super Plate VST3. No more audio gaps!

[Billy86]

Does anyone know if this has moved out of beta? I've reached out to Soundtoys, but no answer. 

[shane]

@Billy86 : same here. I don't think so. I wonder if they have a 90-120 day bake like other software companies. 

In the meantime, watch here for my comparison vs. the real hardware.  

 

[Billy86]

Thanks for the vid. Primal Tap is one of the most difficult to for me to get my head around at a basic level. Is it essentially two delay paths working in various synch ways?