Weird dropout and other behaviors just started happening

[theanalog808]

For reference, I have been using Bandcamp Cakewalk on this computer for 4 years, and Cakewalk Sonar for about a year.  I upgraded my interface to an RME Fireface UCX II about 6 months ago, and it has generally been working flawlessly.  I have several music projects that I have been working on in the past year that I have not had any real issues with either.  Then tonight, while trying to clean up a project for final mixdown that I have been working on for the past year, in the middle of the session, the audio became very distorted, then the engine dropped out, status (1).   I played the project again, and it more distortion and a drop out.  By the fourth or fifth play, the audio engine  just dropped immediate.   Here are the steps I took:

- I open the other projects that I have been regularly and recently working on, and the same behavior.  

- If I try to play the project in Bandcamp Cakewalk, it exhibits the same issue

- My windows audio works fine.

- If I open a very simple project (minimal tracks), it plays without any distortion or issue

- I am using Cakewalk Sonar 2025.08 (Build 035, X64)

- I have the ASIO drivers selected

- I switched my latency from 256 to 512 all the way up to 2048

- If I switch to WASAPI driver, I hear a quick blip of distortion, then silence.  The track visually is still playing, but there is no CPU usage in the meter.  

- Sometimes when I switch back to ASIO or to MME, as soon as I close the settings dialog, my CPU performance spikes an I hear distortion, or the first second of the project that is distorted and continues to play indefinitely (Automatically, without the play button being pressed).  

- I updated my RME driver and firmware. 

- Rebooted my RME Fireface multiple times

- Rebooted my PC multiple times

- I updated my BIOS on the motherboard.

- I tried another USB cable, and multiple USB ports

-  There is no out-of-the-ordinary CPU/memory/Disk/Power usage

- When the issue first started, there were 2 pending Windows updates, but I went ahead and downloaded and installed them (the issue started before they were installed), but I plan to roll them back anyway.  

This sounds like a Cakewalk issue, especially considering weird behavior of audio/distortion playing when the play button was not pressed.  It is frustrating because I have been working on an album for a year, and I just need to fix parts in 2 of the last songs, and this occurs... 

 

Thank you in Advance

- 

[Bristol_Jonesey]

Could be a plugin crapping out.

Try bypassing all your Fx using the Fx button in the Control Bar and then playing the project again.

You could then try opening in Safe Mode and enabling Fx one at a time

Edited yesterday at 06:46 AM by Bristol_Jonesey

[Wookiee]

@theanalog808 please note it is not Bandcamp but Bandlab Cakewalk. Bandcamp is a purely music promotional and distribution site.

[Promidi]

Microsoft just released the September updates for Windows last Tuesday (9th September US time). 

Strictly as a test, try uninstalling these to see if this is the culprit.

[theanalog808]

Update on this weird behavior.  So the issued occurred before the Window updates, but I updated to see if that would fix any issues, and when it got worse, I rolled back the updates, but it did not make a difference.

Today, I powered up my computer and opened the project and it worked like a charm, as it nothing ever happened.  Then a few hours into my project, the issue came back again.  Like the first time, it started slowly, and got progressively worse.  The issue persisted through reboots.

Based on this, I am wondering if the issue has to do with the PC hardware or Windows OS, where is some kind of underlying issue or activity that is impacting the PC performance.  My next steps may be to run benchmarking software to see if it can identify any performance issues.  

  

 

[Noel Borthwick]

Have you looked into background processes? Your symptoms sound like some background progress either consuming excess CPU or interfering with your audio driver. If it's only in this project it could also be a plug-in. Sonar cannot excess  cpu when it's not playing.

[theanalog808]

@Noel Borthwick yes, I looked at it using both the Windows Task Manager and Process Hacker (System Informer) and nothing stood out.  I just shut down the computer and let it sit for an hour and powered on and the project plays fine.  I'll see how long it takes for the issue to reappear.  I think next steps is to monitor temperature and check my fans, maybe the CPU or other components are overheating.  So for now, I believe this is not a Cakewalk issue.  Appreciate the help.  FYI, I have been using Cakewalk as my sole DAW since 1987 or 1988 (Cakewalk v2), and continuously until today.   

[Promidi]

Have you tried having a look with Latencymon?

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon