# Cubase taking an eternity to load my projects/templates



## Franky7103 (Jul 14, 2022)

Hi, I've been having trouble with my loading times in Cubase for a few months. When it started, I contacted Kontakt and Cubase supports but nothing worked. So I when I worked on a project, I would let it open to avoid the loading time. It takes 15+ min. loading my not so huge template. I recently started to work on new projects, but the loading time is killing me every time I open a project.

I’ve been trying for the past few days to load my template, disable every tracks and load one plugin/kontakt library at the time to find out what’s causing the issue. Loading all my strings, a few CSB, CSW and Noire takes about 30 sec to 1 min. But, as soon as I add some percussion (Damage 2, HZ perc, 8dio) the loading time increase exponentially, even if I purge sample them.

Also, when loading the project (with the disabled track, except from the ones listed above), the loading time varies quite a lot. Sometimes it only takes like 1 minute and sometimes it takes like 5 min…

I hope someone can help me, because I’m starting to get very discouraged. In the meantime I will continue trying to fix it and keep you updated if I find something.

Edit : Okay now even the project with only orchestral instrument loaded takes 6 minutes (which took 2 minutes yesterday....)

Thanks!


----------



## The Gost (Jul 14, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> Hi, I've been having trouble with my loading times in Cubase for a few months. When it started, I contacted Kontakt and Cubase supports but nothing worked. So I when I worked on a project, I would let it open to avoid the loading time. It takes 15+ min. loading my not so huge template. I recently started to work on new projects, but the loading time is killing me every time I open a project.
> 
> I’ve been trying for the past few days to load my template, disable every tracks and load one plugin/kontakt library at the time to find out what’s causing the issue. Loading all my strings, a few CSB, CSW and Noire takes about 30 sec to 1 min. But, as soon as I add some percussion (Damage 2, HZ perc, 8dio) the loading time increase exponentially, even if I purge sample them.
> 
> ...


Strange..... do you have 
Internet security programs or firewalls, anti-virus software off ?


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 14, 2022)

The Gost said:


> Strange..... do you have
> Internet security programs or firewalls, anti-virus software off ?


I have Windows Defender, but I've already excluded folders that contains Cubase, my plugins and libraries.
As for the Internet and firewalls, I don't know. You think that can affect Cubase?


----------



## The Gost (Jul 14, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> I have Windows Defender, but I've already excluded folders that contains Cubase, my plugins and libraries.
> As for the Internet and firewalls, I don't know. You think that can affect Cubase?


Yes a lot !!!!! I have windows defender off all the time !


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 14, 2022)

The Gost said:


> Yes a lot !!!!! I have windows defender off all the time !


I disabled real time protection and didn't change anything... :/


----------



## The Gost (Jul 14, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> I disabled real time protection and didn't change anything... :/


HUMMMMM............


----------



## Pier (Jul 14, 2022)

Are you using an SSD?

Have you done batch resaving?


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 14, 2022)

Pier said:


> Are you using an SSD?
> 
> Have you done batch resaving?



Yes, my kontakt libraries and plugins are on two SSDs and Cubase is install on my main drive which is also an SSD. I've already batch resaved my libraries


----------



## labornvain (Jul 15, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> Yes, my kontakt libraries and plugins are on two SSDs and Cubase is install on my main drive which is also an SSD. I've already batch resaved my libraries


Batch re saving isn't always permanent. As your project is loading, pay attention to what takes longest to load. Cubase will list whatever track it's loading at a given moment. Pay attention to that, and if there are some egregiously long loading Kontact patches, batch resave them again.


----------



## AcousTech (Jul 15, 2022)

Potentially silly/dangerous question - are you current on OS patches, Cubase patches and your VST libraries/players? Sometimes factors like this will impact performance, too, as newer updates my address prior issues. Of course, sometimes the updates make things worse, but in your case it seems like it would be worth a try, since your experience is getting worse by the day.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 16, 2022)

labornvain said:


> Batch re saving isn't always permanent. As your project is loading, pay attention to what takes longest to load. Cubase will list whatever track it's loading at a given moment. Pay attention to that, and if there are some egregiously long loading Kontact patches, batch resave them again.


I've already batch resave the ones that take a longer time. Also, Cubase is often not responding while loading.

Also, sometime even things like "Stereo Out" takes a while to load...


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 16, 2022)

AcousTech said:


> Potentially silly/dangerous question - are you current on OS patches, Cubase patches and your VST libraries/players? Sometimes factors like this will impact performance, too, as newer updates my address prior issues. Of course, sometimes the updates make things worse, but in your case it seems like it would be worth a try, since your experience is getting worse by the day.


Yeah, I'm up to date. It actually started about a week after an update of Kontakt (from 6.4.2 to 6.6.1 at the time). I switched back to the previous version when the loading issues started and it didn't change anything. Now I'm on 6.7.1


----------



## NuNativs (Jul 16, 2022)

I don't have any advice to offer but somethings definitely not right. I have a 1700+ track template, all disabled, with over 60 Group tracks and 8 Sends and it loads in 10 seconds or so. Do you have iLok Cloud plugins by chance?


----------



## jononotbono (Jul 16, 2022)

Are you using SINE player in your template? Cubase took an hour to load for me a while back and when I got rid of SINE, it took about 20 seconds. Just saying, you may wanna look at what stuff is in your template because Cubase is great. C11 is rock solid and I've just moved to C12 and so far, its absolutely great. And I'm using it on an old shitty computer compared to what's out now so I would bet 100% its nothing to do with Cubase.


----------



## NuNativs (Jul 16, 2022)

I'm using Sine player with JXL Brass and no problems.


----------



## jononotbono (Jul 16, 2022)

NuNativs said:


> I'm using Sine player with JXL Brass and no problems.


Cool. That doesn’t mean other people haven’t or have problems. Many recorded problems of things like this. Anyway, it wasn’t a direct slagging off of Sine, it was to explain it could be anything third party in Cubase.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 16, 2022)

NuNativs said:


> I don't have any advice to offer but somethings definitely not right. I have a 1700+ track template, all disabled, with over 60 Group tracks and 8 Sends and it loads in 10 seconds or so. Do you have iLok Cloud plugins by chance?


If I disable every track, it loads really fast. I have Hollywood Orchestra (only a few instruments) in my template, I think that's an iLok Cloud plugin.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 16, 2022)

jononotbono said:


> Are you using SINE player in your template? Cubase took an hour to load for me a while back and when I got rid of SINE, it took about 20 seconds. Just saying, you may wanna look at what stuff is in your template because Cubase is great. C11 is rock solid and I've just moved to C12 and so far, its absolutely great. And I'm using it on an old shitty computer compared to what's out now so I would bet 100% its nothing to do with Cubase.


Hum... I have one sine player track in my newest template, but the older ones don't and they take a while.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 16, 2022)

jononotbono said:


> Cool. That doesn’t mean other people haven’t or have problems. Many recorded problems of things like this. Anyway, it wasn’t a direct slagging off of Sine, it was to explain it could be anything third party in Cubase.


That's clearly because of a third party plugin, because an empty session loads in a few seconds.


----------



## NuNativs (Jul 16, 2022)

What kind of drive(s) are your samples housed on especially EW?


----------



## jononotbono (Jul 16, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> That's clearly because of a third party plugin, because an empty session loads in a few seconds.


Well there we have it. May I wish you good fortune on your road of trying to isolate what it is. Let the misery commence 😂

Top tip... when did it start happening and what have you installed around that time or since? These are questions I would ask myself trying to figure this out. Anyway, hope you sort it soon.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 16, 2022)

NuNativs said:


> What kind of drive(s) are your samples housed on especially EW?


On SSDs


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 16, 2022)

jononotbono said:


> Well there we have it. May I wish you good fortune on your road of trying to isolate what it is. Let the misery commence 😂
> 
> Top tip... when did it start happening and what have you installed around that time or since? These are questions I would ask myself trying to figure this out. Anyway, hope you sort it soon.


Well, it started when I updated Kontakt from 6.4.2 to 6.6.1 (now using 6.7.1). At the time, I reinstalled Kontakt 6.4.2, but it was still slow. Something f*cked up during the process😅


----------



## NuNativs (Jul 16, 2022)

Yup that's the thing with DAW's and plugins and even operating systems, there are so many moving parts. Get it to where it's solid then proceed with caution...


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 16, 2022)

NuNativs said:


> Yup that's the thing with DAW's and plugins and even operating systems, there are so many moving parts. Get it to where it's solid then proceed with caution...


Yeah I know, now I'll be more cautious with the updates. For now, I don't, think an update can make it any worse ahah


----------



## jononotbono (Jul 21, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> Yeah I know, now I'll be more cautious with the updates. For now, I don't, think an update can make it any worse ahah


So... do tell... Have you got to the bottom of it?


----------



## Nigel Andreola (Jul 21, 2022)

I noticed horrendous performance in Photoshop when working on large project files after a recent windows update. I illustrate and design book covers. I found enabling performance mode in the windows power plan settings fixes it. I wonder if the windows default power plan now pushes for lower clock speeds to save power more aggressively than it used to. With my PC, Cubase barely runs without Steinburg power plan on. I also noticed running Discord somehow effects the performance of Cubase. You might want to disable your startup programs so you have less stuff running.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 21, 2022)

jononotbono said:


> So... do tell... Have you got to the bottom of it?


Unfortunately no :(


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 21, 2022)

Nigel Andreola said:


> I noticed horrendous performance in Photoshop when working on large project files after a recent windows update. I illustrate and design book covers. I found enabling performance mode in the windows power plan settings fixes it. I wonder if the windows default power plan now pushes for lower clock speeds to save power more aggressively than it used to. With my PC, Cubase barely runs without Steinburg power plan on. I also noticed running Discord somehow effects the performance of Cubase. You might want to disable your startup programs so you have less stuff running.


My computer's already in "high performance" mode... The problem is still there even when Discord is closed. I tried closing as much thing as possible and nothing changed...


----------



## BenG (Jul 21, 2022)

I am by no means an expert but I suspect the issue may lie with a wonky plugin. I had similar issues in the past and methodically removed each plugin and reloaded the project to find the culprit. Turns out it was Spaces that had an issue with iLok, so I re-installed/activated it and now it works great.

Give it a try!


----------



## Nigel Andreola (Jul 21, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> My computer's already in "high performance" mode... The problem is still there even when Discord is closed. I tried closing as much thing as possible and nothing changed...


Perhaps it is a new effects plugin or something like that that's causing problems. Have you tried opening a project while in safe mode?


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 21, 2022)

Nigel Andreola said:


> Perhaps it is a new effects plugin or something like that that's causing problems. Have you tried opening a project while in safe mode?


Yeah, but in safe mode it disables everything, so it's normal that it loads fast ahah


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 21, 2022)

BenG said:


> I am by no means an expert but I suspect the issue may lie with a wonky plugin. I had similar issues in the past and methodically removed each plugin and reloaded the project to find the culprit. Turns out it was Spaces that had an issue with iLok, so I re-installed/activated it and now it works great.
> 
> Give it a try!


That's what I was doing, but it takes so much time loading the thing every time to find out it's not any faster... In your case, was the plugin loaded in your project or just installed on your computer? Thanks


----------



## BenG (Jul 21, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> That's what I was doing, but it takes so much time loading the thing every time to find out it's not any faster... In your case, was the plugin loaded in your project or just installed on your computer? Thanks


Yes, I hear ya but at least once it’s found your load times will improve drastically. In my case, the plug-in was loaded in the project and as soon as I closed all instances + re-saved, it loaded up in seconds.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 22, 2022)

BenG said:


> Yes, I hear ya but at least once it’s found your load times will improve drastically. In my case, the plug-in was loaded in the project and as soon as I closed all instances + re-saved, it loaded up in seconds.


Alright then, I'll continue when I have some spare time


----------



## Freudon33 (Jul 22, 2022)

have you tried to launch the kontakt and play Opus or Sine plugins in standalone mode
to check loading times
Then I may try to delete Cubase preferences and reload the session


----------



## ssnowe (Jul 22, 2022)

Sounds like a Windows caching issue (sometimes fast load, sometimes slow load). Your Windows system drive may need to be optimized, you may need to adjust the cache file, you may be low on memory, you may have something running in the background that is messing with things, a recent Windows update may affected something, etc.


----------



## will_m (Jul 22, 2022)

I've had very similar issues in Cubase and I solved them by updating the ilok licence manager software and also the Steinberg e-licenser software. Best to also perform a sync on your ilok key and do the maintenance thing on your e-licenser. I'm not sure which of these fixed it for me but I went from load times of 20-30 minutes down to 1-2 straight after doing this.


----------



## BlueGlassBottles (Jul 22, 2022)

I had a massive Cubase load slowdown recently after having made various changes to my PC. I _think_ the main trigger was updating all my NI plugins via Native Access. I did lots of testing to see what the cause was and my eventual solution was to move most of my VST2 plugins out of their folder so the VST3 versions solely got loaded instead. It might be that I'd only installed the VST3s for NI plugins in the past and updating to the latest versions added the VST2s, which were dead slow to load for some reason.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 26, 2022)

Freudon33 said:


> have you tried to launch the kontakt and play Opus or Sine plugins in standalone mode
> to check loading times
> Then I may try to delete Cubase preferences and reload the session


Yes, I've tried it and things load pretty fast, but I haven't tried everything. That's a good idea to check libraries one on one. It will take less time than loading a project every time.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 26, 2022)

will_m said:


> I've had very similar issues in Cubase and I solved them by updating the ilok licence manager software and also the Steinberg e-licenser software. Best to also perform a sync on your ilok key and do the maintenance thing on your e-licenser. I'm not sure which of these fixed it for me but I went from load times of 20-30 minutes down to 1-2 straight after doing this.


Oh wow! I'll try this as soon as I get home!!!!


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 26, 2022)

BlueGlassBottles said:


> I had a massive Cubase load slowdown recently after having made various changes to my PC. I _think_ the main trigger was updating all my NI plugins via Native Access. I did lots of testing to see what the cause was and my eventual solution was to move most of my VST2 plugins out of their folder so the VST3 versions solely got loaded instead. It might be that I'd only installed the VST3s for NI plugins in the past and updating to the latest versions added the VST2s, which were dead slow to load for some reason.


For some reason I can't find any VST2 for Kontakt so I guess I'm using the VST3 version and that's not the problem?


----------



## marclawsonmusic (Jul 26, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> Oh wow! I'll try this as soon as I get home!!!!


If the iLok thing doesn't work, you may want to try deleting your Kontakt prefs and reinitializing the Kontakt database:


https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004169849-KONTAKT-Crashes



I suggest this since you said this started after a Kontakt update (and subsequent rollback).


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 26, 2022)

marclawsonmusic said:


> If the iLok thing doesn't work, you may want to try deleting your Kontakt prefs and reinitializing the Kontakt database:
> 
> 
> https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004169849-KONTAKT-Crashes
> ...


Didn't change anything. I'll try the kontakt thing tomorrow morning.


----------



## Franky7103 (Jul 28, 2022)

So, deleting Kontakt preferences didn't help :(


----------



## Freudon33 (Sep 3, 2022)

Have you installed any hardware recently?
Writer or other reader type
I say this because I stayed more than 3 years without being able to use kontakt
due to a hardware conflict with a dvd burner
and at the time even the Native hotline had not managed to solve
I found the error by chance


----------



## Franky7103 (Sep 5, 2022)

Freudon33 said:


> Have you installed any hardware recently?
> Writer or other reader type
> I say this because I stayed more than 3 years without being able to use kontakt
> due to a hardware conflict with a dvd burner
> ...


No, it happened after I updated Kontakt and even after going back to the previous version it took so long to load. Also, when I launch a 41.4 khz project, then closing it and opening a 48 KHz project, it opens really fast... That a really weird problem😅


----------



## Pier (Sep 5, 2022)

Franky7103 said:


> Also, when I launch a 41.4 khz project, then closing it and opening a 48 KHz project, it opens really fast... That a really weird problem😅


I always assumed Kontakt did that on the fly... but could it be that Kontakt is doing some work to convert the samples to 48K?


----------



## Franky7103 (Sep 5, 2022)

Pier said:


> I always assumed Kontakt did that on the fly... but could it be that Kontakt is doing some work to convert the samples to 48K?


Idk🤷


----------



## glyster (Sep 5, 2022)

Just to throw this out here, I had long load time on Waves plugins. It turned out to be shared network drive connection to other machines. Even though nothing is accessed on those drives.

If you can load an empty project pretty fast, just create more and more tracks and add more kontakt instances till you reproduce the issue.


----------



## Franky7103 (Sep 5, 2022)

glyster said:


> Just to throw this out here, I had long load time on Waves plugins. It turned out to be shared network drive connection to other machines. Even though nothing is accessed on those drives.
> 
> If you can load an empty project pretty fast, just create more and more tracks and add more kontakt instances till you reproduce the issue.


That's what I tried to do. I will continue 😅


----------

