Speaker static -- Cubase or what?

When I use Cubase 9.0.3, it’s frequently sending static and garbling the output. There may be a technical term for it.

It doesn’t matter if I’m playing midi or audio.
I’m using Focusrite 2i2 audio interface, out to some 5" powered speakers that I just got. But I recorded the static on my system, so it’s not simply a speaker issue.
Computer: Acer Aspire 5, a515-51g-82tp system, which worked fine until I changed out speakers.
I note that my HD has 26GB free, which shouldn’t matter since I already have Cubase Pro 9 installed. But I wonder if that might somehow have something to do with it?

I tried attaching a clip but I can’t, so find three here:


any help would be greatly appreciated as I can’t record anything with all this stuff.
thanks.

Hi,

Try to increase your Audio Device Buffer Size, please.

Thanks. I increased the buffer to the max.
Still sputters and cuts out.

Hi,

Could you test your system by LatencyMon utility, please?

By any chance, do you use any plug-in in the Trial/DEMO mode?

I don’t use any trial plugins, no. Some of my Waves plugins are older, if that matters.
LatencyMon report:


CONCLUSION


Your system seems to be having difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:03:50 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

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SYSTEM INFORMATION


Computer name: ACER-LAPTOP
OS version: Windows 10 , 10.0, version 1903, build: 18362 (x64)
Hardware: Aspire A515-51G, Acer, KBL, Charmander_KL
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core™ i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 12163 MB total

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CPU SPEED


Reported CPU speed: 1992 MHz

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

WARNING: the CPU speed that was measured is only a fraction of the CPU speed reported. Your CPUs may be throttled back due to variable speed settings and thermal issues. It is suggested that you run a utility which reports your actual CPU frequency and temperature.


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MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES


The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 1635.60
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 6.553003

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1555.40
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 2.318134

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REPORTED ISRs


Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 874.836345
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.003092
Driver with highest ISR total time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.005678

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 41779
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 37
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

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REPORTED DPCs


DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 1595.331325
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.129481
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.260078

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 1043420
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 1283
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 223
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

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REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS


Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: carboniteservice.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 7692
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 3882
Number of processes hit: 38

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PER CPU DATA


CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 14.276016
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 874.836345
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.103910
CPU 0 ISR count: 41751
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1595.331325
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 4.162046
CPU 0 DPC count: 808739


CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 8.209799
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 74.866968
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000574
CPU 1 ISR count: 65
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 929.65010
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.119879
CPU 1 DPC count: 26013


CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.955552
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 921.158635
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.153759
CPU 2 DPC count: 62441


CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 8.169898
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 571.506024
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.073077
CPU 3 DPC count: 34069


CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 6.506882
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 355.717871
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.093283
CPU 4 DPC count: 40897


CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.106710
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 5 ISR count: 0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 114.643072
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.047356
CPU 5 DPC count: 21159


CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 6.153801
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 454.191767
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.095346
CPU 6 DPC count: 33059


CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 6.191482
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 262.470382
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.040995
CPU 7 DPC count: 18549


Hi,

Then I would recommend to follow the LatencyMon recommendation.