I have had some issues with firewire lags and glitches while recording audio in Cubase through the Firewire interface, and I thought I’d share a quick post on how to possibly eliminate these issues.

- If you are using Windows 7, make sure you are using the Legacy Firewire driver
Some things were changed in Windows 7 that affect Firewire driver stability.

I recommend using the Legacy driver, as this has proven a solution for many. This can be changed in the Device manager. Simply select the IEEE 1394 controller and switch to the Legacy driver using the “Update Driver...” function and selecting the driver manually from the list.

- Run the CPU at stock speeds
Overclocking (even very slightly) can lead to glitches and drop-outs. This was the case for me, and a source for much frustration untill I finally turned down the speed. (nominal overclock of 300MHz on an i2500K).

- Turn of Intel Speedstep
Intel Speedstep is the feature that allows your Intel CPU to turn down the the voltage in order to save power and generate less heat.
Firewire does NOT seem to like this feature at all, and turning it off can solve your problem.

It can be turned off either by simply changing the powerscheme to “High performance”, or in the BIOS setup (probably under “advanced chipset config” or similar) The driver may not always be obedient, so use the latter option if the first doesn’t seem to work.

I hope this helps someone

I have once again been struggling with pops/cutouts that kill my creativity when I have it, and want to record something..

I don’t understand why I have this issue, since I haven’t changed any configurations since the first post.

I have however, found yet another offender (or maybe the same one, but now properly identified) - so I shall update this lonely thread.
If nothing else, it will be my own little ‘adventure’..

When having the issue just now, I tried many things - buffer adjustment, checked with the motherboard utility that the cpu was indeed running without Speedstep (processor speed stays stable, and doesn’t really change when going from idle->load)

I found a Cubase setting in
Devices -> Device setup -> VST Audio System
called “Adjust for Record Latency”.

I turned it off, and after that I haven’t had a single pop/cutout/noise/manic crackle/FW hysteria (confirmed with two recordings)
Thank god.

My settings are currently:

(Yamaha FW Utility):
Sample Rate: 48 KHz
ASIO Buffer Size: 256 Samples
“Enable MMCSS” ON
Firmware version 1.07

System:
Intel i5 2500K
8 GB Corsair 1600MHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte X68XP-UD3P
Windows FW Driver: “1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)”
Windows 7 x64
x64 Yamaha FW driver V 1.6
5 m Firewire cable between Motif Xs & Pc

Cubase is in “High” priority (default), Not “Realtime”

I hope I won’t be necessary to come back here with more notes and troubleshooting..

In the Folder that included the “Yamaha Steinberg FW Driver” you will find a subFolder named: YSFW UTILITY.

Run that utility and find the proper CPU load for your computer to handle things. Try the different settings - we are sure you will find one that makes your computer happy.

Let us know.

Thanks Phil.

I daren’t mess with it unless it messes with me.
If I have issues again, that’ll be where I start,
and I’ll report whatever I find in this thread.

Strange, you’d rather start in a place other than what the manufacturer recommends as the starting point. Do let us know how that works out for you…
:-)

It’s been a while, as it happens..
I would just like to say that messing with the settings in the Utility mentioned DID indeed fix my problem.

FW Driver Utility (which isn’t installed with the driver, but located in a separate folder - as you said, BM) settings are:

IEEE1394(FW) Buffer Size:
Large
IEEE1394 Transmission speed
S400 [Default]

Thank you!