I've been researching online for possible causes why I still suffer from occasional audio/stutter dropouts on my Windows 10 laptop running the 512 Build (I see Build 513 is now out). The more technical savvy Forumites might want to take a read at the following post which I found on the MSDN Forum (Microsoft Developer's Network).

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums...udiodevelopment

Seems that a software developer may have uncovered a "bug" in the way Microsoft is handling buffers and paging in the current release of Windows 10 (Build 1709, Fall Creator, Release 3) with respect to real-time audio streams. I don't understand all of the discussion, but the essence is that the way memory is being managed tends to result in occasional, random dropouts in the audio stream. This is what I continue to experience, with less than 1 second long dropouts occurring randomly, sometimes no more than once or twice per hour, sometimes after 20 minutes of operation, etc.

I've tried all the "tricks" and "tweaks" mentioned already on the Forum (e.g., buffer size adjustments, high priority setting in the Task Manager for BIAB, DPC Latency checking, power management settings, etc.). I'm using a Steinberg UR22MKii audio interface with the latest Steinberg ASIO driver for this hardware, and I am using an external hardware synth (Roland SC-88) fed thru the MIDI interface on the Steinberg, so if the audio stream starts lagging behind the SC-88 MIDI output, its really noticeable. Surprisingly, however, with the ASIO buffer set at 1024 samples, the combined audio output is OK. It's the occasional dropouts that continues to be a problem. The only other potential cause could be a data loss down the USB interface, which has to carry both the audio and MIDI data down the same link. I'm more inclined to think its a Windows 10 problem, however.

There's good news/bad news here. The MSDN discussion thread indicated that this "problem" may be mitigated or eliminated in the next Windows 10 upgrade (Release 4). Internal Beta tests of R4 suggest this might be the case. The bad news is that Release 4 will probably "break" 100 other things! It was a nightmare for me to get even some of the Microsoft software applications working properly after my Windows 10 systems (a laptop and a desktop) were upgraded to Release 3 a while ago. The MSDN thread mentions that Release 4 will start to be distributed in April (I can't wait!).

I've forward the MSDN discussion thread to PG Support and asked for it to be forwarded to development to see if they think this might be having an impact on the operation of BIAB 2018. I've also sent this info to Steinberg to have their developers see what they think as well.

Meanwhile, I'm heading back to my old XP system hooked to a Roland SD-50 Mobile Studio interface running BIAB 2011.....been working like a champ for the last several years.

P.S. Microsoft told the software developer that he may have found a "bug" in the Windows 10 O/S with respect to the operation of pro audio/DAW applications. They suggested the developer try some additional tests. The developer got pretty irate at that suggestion, replying Microsoft should de-bug their software, not ask the customer to do that.