Maybe not everyone has realized it, but there are two types of DAWs, those that stop the audio while a new plugin is added to a track and those that don't cut it. And maybe not everyone is bothered by the audio cutting out when this happens, but I find it quite annoying. In fact, I use Studio One because I think it's the only DAW that doesn't cut off audio while a plugin is loading. I can say that Cubase, FL Studio and Bitwig cut the audio. I don't know other cases.
This has nothing to do with drivers, latencies, ASIO, etc. - It's a software design issue.
If anyone can inform me about this matter I would be grateful.

 

I only have Reaper installed at the moment, so I can't check any other DAW, but I can say that Reaper does not cut out. I don't think I've noticed it when using Live, Bitwig, Cubase or Pro Tools either.

The only time I've noticed any DAW cutting out is when I'm inserting a plugin with high latency, but there's literally no way to have the audio not cut out for a couple of milliseconds when inserting a plugin like that (unless your DAW can somehow break the space-time continuum). Plugins with a tiny amount of latency should be barely noticeable, at the most a very tiny "click".

 

What you say seems strange to me, because then it must be my problem, my audio interface, I suppose. However, why does it happen in Cubase but not in Studio One? However, I remember reading that someone else had that problem and was sharing it on a Cubase forum.

 

the only way this should happen is if the plugin you are loading requires a restart of the "audio engine", On Mac, I use Core Audio as the audio engine for Logic. If something restarts the audio engine, it will stop playback (and nearly everything else). If you unload or load a plugin to a channel which is actually playing audio, you can also get interrupted playback.

you might think that is mac, and not related to your question. But it's the same thing as in every DAW you have mentioned, no matter what OS it is on. @Arabian_jesus answer is correct. It is a resources issue, not a programming error or feature. No DAW is programmed to deliberately cut playback to add or remove plugins.

 

I understand that the problem is the same on Mac, it is not a question of the Operating System. And I also understand that the audio engine stops while the plugin is loading. As you say, IT IS NOT NORMAL and it does not happen usually. So the only explanation I have is that it's the fault of my audio interface, which is a Scarlett Solo. It seems strange to me that this happens to everyone who has this interface. And it's also strange that if it's a problem with my interface or my computer, it doesn't happen with Studio One. At least now I know that it's not normal for the audio to stop when a plugin is loaded

 

when you add a plugin, that plugin itself is likely to add latency to function properly (especially if it uses lookahead, linear multiband correction etc...),
similar can happen even if you just change a preset in a plugin (especially with rack/console/multi plugins, like channel strips or iZotope Ozone for ex.)

playback in DAW is plugin delay compensated, means, no matter what plugins you have across tracks, whole mix should never get out of sync - this is at cost of delay between you pressing play and playback starting,

you can see, such thing cannot be technically done in the background without interruption, because the time shift distortion would be even more annoying than a dropout,

as an example ProTools cannot even compensate more than around 16000 samples,
and for ex. older versions Reaper were "rounding up" plugin sample compensations to multiples of playback device buffer block size (which was rather simple, but resulted in way too much plugin delay compensation with lots of less demanding plugins)

 

There are DAWs in which you can switch this on or off as an option. In general, the temporary mute is actually a good thing, as it minimizes crashes that can occur when inserting some plugins.

 

The Focusrite software is garbage. I had an 18i20MK3 and the Focusrite Control software was a joke. The headphones output was not good, but i could have put up with that. The Focusrite software would frequently decide there was no interface connected. Sometimes turning it on and off worked, sometimes unplugging the cable and reconnecting it worked. Sometimes it took a reboot. I sold it used and got most of my money back. I replaced it with a Motu 828ES and have not had a single interface related problem since that.

Is the Focusrite causing your problem? I can't say. But you would notice how many times I will tell someone to buy something (read: anything) other than a Focusrite whenever anyone asks if you looked. 100% of them.

 

Last edited: Nov 3, 2023

Unfortunately I still have problems with audio cuts. In Studio One the sound never stops. In FL Studio it interrupts when loading a plugin and I am playing the keyboard but not when something in the playlist is playing. In Cubase the sound is cut off in both cases, and using this DAW seems like torture to me. I would like to know if this is normal or just happening to me. It has nothing to do with ASIO driver buffers or latencies. It's as if the audio engine is interrupted during certain events. The logical thing would be to think that it is a problem with my audio interface, but I have checked the integrated sound of my motherboard and exactly the same thing happens, so I don't know what to think.
I would be very grateful if someone confirms that your DAW does not interrupt the audio either when loading a plugin or when music is playing.

 

Last edited: Dec 26, 2023

Have you tried LatencyMon?

 

I can confirm that Studio 1 does not cut out the sound when activating or loading a plugin. Actually this is the main reason I use Studio one since version 2. You can keep recording or mixing even with low buffer sizes but the song never “stops” playing. I also use Nuendo for mastering and video work. I learned to live with this problem, I don't make abrupt changes. I’m on a Intel mac. Interestingly enough, I know people who work in Logic or Cubase and they don’t seem to notice or bother when this happens

 

@ ambbe , Not sure what your doing to lose your audio or how much 'juice' ya got there under yer hood ,
but Im on a PC tower , * AMD , ryzen 9 / 7950 CPU ,with a huge amount of memory as well. i use Sequoia as
my main DAW , i can bring in 12 tracks / 12-microphones into my DAW for a big drm set and no worries
whatsoever.
Also have compression , dynamics 7 EQ's all running at the same time , along with several other tracks already
recorded and playing back. ive never experienced what your talking about !??

Anyway , Im thinkiing you need to see whats up with your computer , not your DAW or plugins.

[ NOTE ]: Also , Im using two Focusrite Scarletett 18i20 breakouts to bring everything into the PC.

 

If a plugin adds lets say 32ms of latency to a track, how can it not cut the audio out?

 

Last edited: Dec 27, 2023

i mean why are you loading a plugin while things are playing , or rather why do you need the audio to to not stop?

 

Yeah exactly. Not saying it shouldn't be done, just a habit I've got into over the years!

 

It is not a latency or performance problem. It is not that the sound is heard with a delay or that it demands too much from my computer and I hear the typical clicks. The sound simply stops while the plugins load. My PC is Ryzen 5 1600X with 32 GB of RAM. It's not a super computer, but I'm not trying to record 100 tracks with Kontakt instances and EQs, compressors, etc. I'm just trying to load a plugin while playing the keyboard. At those times the CPU is at 10% and the RAM is at 35% of its capacity. It's not a performance issue!
If I'm playing on my keyboard, the sound stops in all DAWs except Studio One. It stops in Cubase, FL Studio, Bitwig, etc.
If I am not playing but what I have previously recorded is being played, it stops in some like Cubase and not in others like FL Studio.
I repeat, Studio One is the only DAW that never interrupts sound. And that is why I use it.

Can anyone who uses FL Studio or Cubase confirm for me that when you load a plugin the sound does not cut out when you are playing with your keyboard controller?

 

in fl studio it does , but its always been this way.

maybe im just tramatized from the ancient era of fl studio when a 1gb kontakt library took nearly a full 10 minutes to load with a 50/50 chance of crashing , or dcam synth squad melting my desktop but i used it anyway due to taking a month trying to figure out how to install it

 

fl studio can switch ungraceful, but it depends on your sound-card how that works out. eg. worked great on a rme, not so good on a behringer.

 

Tried it on WIndows 10 with Reaper, Ableton Live, Bitwig and Energy XT and no issues.
I remember a friend of mine had some issues with Cubase, but it depends, if the sound is only temporary muted it can be accepted, but if you have to restart the playback, it's more serious.

 

Last edited: Dec 28, 2023

this is one of those issues that made switching from cubase to reaper quite easy