Win7 64-bit + Cubase 5: worse performance than WinXP+CubaseSX3?

[Torniojaws]

I recently installed Win7 64-bit on my system and updated (with a clean install) Cubase SX3 to Cubase 5 (64-bit). In addition, I added an SSD as the system drive and added 6 GB of DDR3, bringing the total to 9 GB DDR3 (3x1GB + 3x2GB). The CPU is still Intel Core i7 920.

All is well, I thought, with such upgrades

Not quite. My Cubase performance is MUCH worse now, even in a cleanly installed system!

I'm now opening some projects I ran without any problems in Cubase SX3 on WindowsXP 32-bit, but I find I cannot use them anymore. The ASIO performance meter shoots straight to 100% and there is a constant stutter in the audio, even with my Fireface 400 at 1024 samples latency and bandwidth limited to just Analog

The major offenders seem to be impulses. With a full mix going, if I bypass the FX on four rhythm guitar tracks, the ASIO meter drops down to about 65%. Why on earth would impulses suddenly eat so many resources ONLY in Windows 7? And not in Windows XP...

I can't help but wonder what the hell Microsoft did to the audio backend after Windows XP, because some of you may remember my other problems with Win7 (some built-in limiter ducking music when I play a game, and reamp signal being much quieter with identical settings).


Edit:
Perhaps the 32-bit bridge is very inefficient in Cubase? Making 32-bit plugins take a helluva lot more resources to run.

 

[Torniojaws]

Oh and in other news, these plugins don't seem to work in Cubase 5 64-bit (they don't appear in the plugin list, even when running Cubase as administrator):

GClip
Classik Studio Reverb
Waves SSL 4000

 

[Williamn]

Running the 5.5 update ?

 

[Torniojaws]

Yes

 

[Torniojaws]

Ah well, too many important plugins do not work in the 64-bit version, so I think I'll just bite the bullet and revert back to 32-bit Cubase 5 and live with the 4 GB limit.

 

[valdiorn]

this is probably not just a cubase issue, but rather some hardware clashing that win7 64 is trying to handle simultaneously. Try looking up some of the performance tweaks you can do for audio, try disabling some other random hardware etc.

I once had an ethernet card fuck up my M-Audio Delta 44 so bad that I was about to buy a new computer, until I realized it was the built in ethernet. I disabled it, installed an old PCI card instead and BAM!, no more audio dropouts.

 

[SimonSez]

I have both Cubase 5.5 x32 and x64 installed on my computer and I usually end up using the 32-bit version just because half of my plug-ins aren't 64-bit native and you need to use the jbridge to get 32-bit plugins working in x64. As for performance, I can load a shitload of plug-ins in Cubase and I rarely hit the CPU usage limit. My PC specs are Q9550 @ 4GHz, 4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 memory, Gigabyte P45 motherboard, dual WD Velociraptor drives in RAID0.

I think you have something messing with your ASIO on your system. I know RME had some issues with Windows 7 so look at their forums for answers. They have a list of tweaks on their site also. They show a compatibility list of firewire devices on their website so make sure you are using one of those chipsets.

Also take note that if you run a 32-bit program in Windows 7 x64, then the program can allocate 4GB of memory, so if you have 6GB of memory and 1.8GB is used by Windows 7, then 4GB is available for Cubase 32-bit. This is different than Windows XP 32-bit where you were sharing 4GB (probably 3.5GB) with Cubase and whatever else was running in the background. So Cubase 32-bit should be sufficient unless you run some big sampled instruments.

 

[sprack]

You can use jBridge to fork the plugin to its own process and thereby give it its own 4GB of virt space. Again doesn't work with all plugin's but the developer is very proactive about fixing that.

 

[AboutBlank]

I have pretty much the same issues with W7.
CPU meter spikes in the red zone all of the time.

I rund a dual boot system(gladly) with my old XP and try to fix the W7 shit if I have time. But it's a mess, Problems with Firefaces Adat stuff, Spikes, and installations overall.

Steinberg's 5.5 should fix plugin problems, as they developed a internal bridge?!

W7 is a PITA, atleast for some people

 

[Perishh]

If I were you I would uninstall the 5.5 update and use only the 5.1.1 version of Cubase 5. Much more stable.
There are posts on the Cubase forums on how to do this. I was just about to do that but have been able to manage to get my 5.5 to run at a decent level.
Means I cant use my Drumagog or Line6 Gearbox plugins. Still trying to find a way to replace them but for now I can deal without them.

 

[Torniojaws]

it's not the CPU for me, it remains at around 20 % even during those heavy projects. It's only ASIO that shoots up with impulses & ampsims (6 separate instances - 4 rhythm & 2 leads). But when I export the ampsim tracks and then use them instead of the DI+plugins tracks, the ASIO stays at around 40 % (~12 instances of ApEQ is quite heavy for the VSTBridge too, it seems). Luckily I have no stability issues with the 5.5 update. Cubase is yet to crash a single time after about a week, which is a welcome change from Cubase SX3 crashing like clockwork: once a day, to keep the project away

As for the FW card, it's with a Texas Instruments chip.

 

[Torniojaws]

And in other news, Windows 7 64-bit doesn't play nice with Reaper 64-bit either! Last night we had a gig where I played my backing tracks (just wave files, no FX or anything!), and there were countless dropouts (sound stopped for a short time (~100-200 ms?), then continued where it stopped) during the entire show uke: It's the last time I use Windows 7 for my live performances. I'll upgrade to Vista 64-bit on my laptop, it worked flawlessly during our previous gigs. Something to consider for other people too.

Edit:
Oh and this was a barebones installation of Windows 7! I have disabled everything that isn't needed, from system services to system sounds, and screensaver. And no background applications.

There's definitely something sketchy about the Windows 7 audio backing engine.

 

[Plec]

Pretty much nothing works properly on a PC in 64 bit environment when it comes to audio production. On paper it might seem awesome, but in practice it just doesn't work without a major hazzle.

There is only one great solution for this if the reason for you wanting to run 64bit in the first place is to utilize more memory... GET A MAC!

 

[nwright]

If your OS is 64 but your programs are 32, I still think your computer will utilize all the available RAM. I'd be interested to know for sure.

 

[joeymusicguy]

with 5.5 i see performance similair to reaper over here
i can actually run whatever the hell i want and not think about it

im on windows 7 64 bit as well

running 32 bit cubase (cuz 64 bit isnt ready for prime time, yet)

 

[joeymusicguy]

If your OS is 64 but your programs are 32, I still think your computer will utilize all the available RAM. I'd be interested to know for sure.

nope it doesnt

each 32 bit app has access to 4 gigs of your ram tho

in xp land, you didnt even have the 4 gigs because half of it was for xp

but with win764, you get access to all the ram minus a small portion reserved for the os, so if you have 6 gigs installed, cubase can use 4

i havent had a project run over 1.8 gigs of ram before

 

[AboutBlank]

Oh guys, good to know!

 

[Plec]

A year ago I tried building a system running under Vista 64bit using Cubase 5 64bit. Half the 3rd party plugins wouldn't run and 32bit VSTi's would just crash the entire thing. Also read that even if you get that stuff going, the internal bridge converting 32bit plugs to 64bit takes up quite noticeable amounts of resources too. Had to install Cubase 5 32bit instead and everything went like clockwork from there. So the 8gb of RAM I had installed didn't do much good.

 

[nwright]

nope it doesnt

each 32 bit app has access to 4 gigs of your ram tho

in xp land, you didnt even have the 4 gigs because half of it was for xp

but with win764, you get access to all the ram minus a small portion reserved for the os, so if you have 6 gigs installed, cubase can use 4

i havent had a project run over 1.8 gigs of ram before

wow I didn't know that.

That actually REALLY REALLY sucks...Funny when you see pre built systems with 8GB of RAM and really half that will be used for most regular user purposes.

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

There's definitely something sketchy about the Windows 7 audio backing engine.

I've been using it for audio stuff since RC1 and I've never had any trouble with anything. I use Reaper 64 with no problems (though I don't use many VSTs in that) - I've had 100+ tracks running in it with no slow down etc. Sonar 8.5 works perfectly too (as did 8), and almost all my VSTs work in it - the only ones that don't are unstable in XP23 as well. And all that with a soundcard that so far still doesn't have any Win7 or 64bit drivers.

Steve