SOLVED Spikes with Win7 x64 + Cubase 5 + 2x UAD2 Duo

[Vocalpoint]

Why do you ask? Does it not work for you?

Why do I ask? Because when I purchased my UAD-2 card back in July of 2009 - this problem was so annoying - I removed Vista/Windows 7 permanently and had to return to Windows XP - the only true working solution at that time - and it's where I am now.

So - before I embark on a major 2 day reinstall or OS, hosts, plugins, libraries etc - I would like to know if this fix is real or not.

Cheers!

VP

[Stephent28]

It "appears" to be fixed....win7 64bit with cubase 5.1.1 32 bit

I only say "appears" because I have not been able to test it enough. On existing projects with less than 20 tracks and approx 20-30 plugs I see no issues. No stutters, no spikes, no munching, and no distorted tracks.

buffers at 128 and 256

I have not however tried any new projects. I plan to play with this quite a bit over the next week before I delete my XP partition.

[billybk1]

There was one peculiarity over here. I installed the new drivers, rebooted and started Cubase. I notice a little improvement but not as dramatic as it was supposed to be. Later that evening I started the UAD-control-panel and suddenly the firmware-update started. That didn't happen automatically just during the installation of the drivers as it seems. When the firmware-update was complete I rebooted again and from then on had the dramatic improvement as it was supposed to be.

Anyway, I'm a very happy camper now.

You are right, if you don't do the firmware update then the v5.6 update is pretty useless, as far as windows performance improvements go. Good to see others are seeing improvements as well.

Cheers,

Billy Buck

[rhain]

Why do you ask? Does it not work for you?

Why do I ask? Because when I purchased my UAD-2 card back in July of 2009 - this problem was so annoying - I removed Vista/Windows 7 permanently and had to return to Windows XP - the only true working solution at that time - and it's where I am now.

So - before I embark on a major 2 day reinstall or OS, hosts, plugins, libraries etc - I would like to know if this fix is real or not.

Cheers!

VP

Ah, I see. I somehow got the impression you are running 5.6 on Win7 and still having problems.

[bysbox001]

Why do you ask? Does it not work for you?

Why do I ask? Because when I purchased my UAD-2 card back in July of 2009 - this problem was so annoying - I removed Vista/Windows 7 permanently and had to return to Windows XP - the only true working solution at that time - and it's where I am now.

So - before I embark on a major 2 day reinstall or OS, hosts, plugins, libraries etc - I would like to know if this fix is real or not.

Cheers!

VP

Just a suggestion . . . why don't you buy a second hard drive and keep both OS'es on separate hard drives? Or even better, why don't you get an imaging program like Ghost or Acronis? With Ghost or Acronis you can image your XP, then build and image Windows 7. Then if you need to swap back and forth it's just a matter of reimaging the hard drive to whatever OS you want. The reimaging process takes maybe 15 minutes.

Plus it's a great way to backup the OS on your hard drive. Either program is worth every penny as a backup image method. And you don't have to spend 3 days rebuilding after the first build.

[bysbox001]

My guess is that Steinberg is not playing well and UAD is having to go at it alone.

Well...you will have an extremely difficult time convincing Steinberg that anything is wrong if the exact same card, exact same driver and exact same host work perfectly in XP. In this case it's the introduction of Vista/7 into this particular mix that is causing the issue...so all fingers will be pointing to Microsoft.

But let's be honest - do you actually believe that MS is going to care about a microscopic percentage of their user base who suddenly decided it might be cool to use Windows for pro recording purposes? Hardly.

So failing a huge about face from MS and a suddenly influx of dev resources to change/alter the Vista/7 audio stack...sorry - but I fail to see a solution. UA and Steinberg can only work with what they are given (from the OS)

Also - considering UA has had this issue for 18+ months now - and presumably have a great dev staff...do you really believe a real fix is an 18 month ordeal? Personally - as soon as I saw UA include that lame Affinity checkbox in their driver - I knew it was over....they would rather throw a bandaid on this than fix it permanently.

Not sure about the rest of those who purchased this thing for hundreds (or thousands of dollars) but at this price point - I believe I deserve a fully functional card with no checkboxes, workarounds or fricken bandaids that just works in ALL current OS and hosts.

Cheers,

VP

I work in IT (during the day) and I have seen sofware vendors take 2-3 years to fix stuff. That is not unusual, and should be expected given the complexity of fixing a plugin for a DAW. When you really think about it you not only have the OS, DSP driver, VST plugin, and DAW software to worry about, but you also have to think about the sound card as well.

The fact that they came out with improvements in the 5.6 sofware shows you that they are still working on it and have not forgotten about the issue. And don't read anything into the checkbox for the performance improvements that it's a work around. What's great for one DAW may not work well for another, so the checkbox just provides a way to turn the feature on/off in case an older DAW, different PC, or different/newer soundcard does not need it. That does not mean it's a hack job or work around.

I get the feeling you want perfect nevana out of the UAD platform, and with all the moving parts involved (a lot of them being third party) you will not get that. Not every DAW will run perfectly with UAD. Notice the "Sonar Compatibility Mode" check box in the UAD configuration meter. Also notice the "Extra Buffering" checkbox that is needed for applications like Sound Forge, Acid, Vegas, and Older Cakewalk DAWs. All of these applications are making a computer do something that's not really natural for the nature of processing: record and playback professional audio in a realtime manner. With this in mind, there is no such thing as a perfect DAW, VST plugin, DSP processor, or soundcard. If that's what you are looking for in all your software, then it's time to go all hardware. And even with all hardware you will run into problems.

If you want perfection out of it, that's not attainable.

[Vocalpoint]

Just a suggestion . . . why don't you buy a second hard drive and keep both OS'es on separate hard drives? Or even better, why don't you get an imaging program like Ghost or Acronis? With Ghost or Acronis you can image your XP, then build and image Windows 7. Then if you need to swap back and forth it's just a matter of reimaging the hard drive to whatever OS you want. The reimaging process takes maybe 15 minutes.

As I mentioned in another thread - this is a commercial rig so taking it down for no good reason is probably not the best for biz. And yes - I have every imaging tool under the sun here so that's always an option. The biggest PITA is not the OS install...but the apps, VSTi's etc which usually take me a few days to get settled...to do all of that - and then find out I get glitches and pain when I move the mouse or resize a windows would be - well...you know...

Finally - Nuendo 5 is on the horizon as is Wavelab 7 and I will be all over those - so it's probably best to let this update settle a little and tackle a half week rebuild when there are enough new bits to warrant it...I need a quiet week later this spring where I can properly warn my clients that I will be down for infrastructure upgrades and do my playing around then.

I will keep on top of the reports as they come in...but looks promising so far. And I am sure a 5.70 is already in the works....

[Vocalpoint]

With this in mind, there is no such thing as a perfect DAW, VST plugin, DSP processor, or soundcard. If that's what you are looking for in all your software, then it's time to go all hardware.

Perfection as of today - is simply running this thing in Windows XP. Ironic that an old timer like that is all it takes.

Apologies - but at the price point of the UAD-2 - I do sorta expect perfection and I think everyone else does too. If this was a 99 dollar doo-dad - I wouldn't care but frankly I am not really interested (or thrilled) in handing over almost 4 figures to UA so they can screw around trying to "find" a fix for well over 18 months.

I realize perfection in software is not possible but if this thing does NOT work in DAW A, B and C - that needs to be put on a sticker right on the box, website and everywhere else so the user understands what they are getting into.

[bysbox001]

Just a suggestion . . . why don't you buy a second hard drive and keep both OS'es on separate hard drives? Or even better, why don't you get an imaging program like Ghost or Acronis? With Ghost or Acronis you can image your XP, then build and image Windows 7. Then if you need to swap back and forth it's just a matter of reimaging the hard drive to whatever OS you want. The reimaging process takes maybe 15 minutes.

As I mentioned in another thread - this is a commercial rig so taking it down for no good reason is probably not the best for biz. And yes - I have every imaging tool under the sun here so that's always an option. The biggest PITA is not the OS install...but the apps, VSTi's etc which usually take me a few days to get settled...to do all of that - and then find out I get glitches and pain when I move the mouse or resize a windows would be - well...you know...

Finally - Nuendo 5 is on the horizon as is Wavelab 7 and I will be all over those - so it's probably best to let this update settle a little and tackle a half week rebuild when there are enough new bits to warrant it...I need a quiet week later this spring where I can properly warn my clients that I will be down for infrastructure upgrades and do my playing around then.

I will keep on top of the reports as they come in...but looks promising so far. And I am sure a 5.70 is already in the works....

I have seen a LOT of good reports from Cubase users in multiple forums. I think you will be very happy with it.

[bysbox001]

With this in mind, there is no such thing as a perfect DAW, VST plugin, DSP processor, or soundcard. If that's what you are looking for in all your software, then it's time to go all hardware.

Perfection as of today - is simply running this thing in Windows XP. Ironic that an old timer like that is all it takes.

Apologies - but at the price point of the UAD-2 - I do sorta expect perfection and I think everyone else does too. If this was a 99 dollar doo-dad - I wouldn't care but frankly I am not really interested (or thrilled) in handing over almost 4 figures to UA so they can screw around trying to "find" a fix for well over 18 months.

I realize perfection in software is not possible but if this thing does NOT work in DAW A, B and C - that needs to be put on a sticker right on the box, website and everywhere else so the user understands what they are getting into.

I certainly don't. I have seen too many weird things in software to expect that type of perfection no matter what the price point. I had a Liquidmix I just sold because I never used it. It never worked right in 64bit (and I have a TI firewire chipset on my motherboard). I want a TC powercore but there are no 64bit drivers so I am stuck. And I had problems with UAD-1 in Sonar for almost 2 years. They all have their problems, regardless of pricetag. And it's normally one "DAW" or one configuration that gives any one card fits.

[Vocalpoint]

I certainly don't.

Well I do. And in this situation in particular - it's most likely a byproduct of how well the first iteration worked and how I never had a problem - ever. Yet the new one comes out - all hyped up and super charged - and it's about as useful as a Zip drive with today's modern OS and a very popular subset of hosts.

They all have their problems, regardless of pricetag.

Not disagreeing with you on this. The only problem with merch like this - as opposed to anything else on the planet I buy and have a problem with - is as soon as you crack the box or the software envelope - you are essentially completely screwed. UA won't be giving you a refunds or an exchange or anything so you are stuck with some useless piece of crap until they decide to get it together. You can't sell it either because the masses already know there's an issue so it's value is nil.

I guess it's probably more that I am burned about having to continually compromise my entire layout - all the way back to bloody XP - just to feel like I am getting any value out of my 800 dollars or whatever it was - while they stumble around looking for fixes.

However - in the coming weeks - I will give this new 5.60 a shot and see where I stand.

Cheers!

VP