Running Sonar Platinum - this issue is present in both 2017-01 and 2017-02.
 
When I change my ASIO Buffer Size to 2048 for mixing, it somehow is causing problems with sound quality of things like videos played back in YouTube or songs played in Windows Media Player - where Windows isn't even using the ASIO drivers - it is just using the on-board audio.  Only Sonar is using ASIO.
 
If I run the ASIO Buffer Size at 1024, NO such sound degradation occurs for YouTube videos or Windows Media Player songs - again Windows Default Audio Device is NOT pointing at the ASIO drivers - but only to the on-board audio.
 
The larger buffer size of 2048 actually drops the CPU load from 36% (buffer of 1024) down to 31%, and neither is taxing the CPU - at a buffer size of 128, CPU load is still only 62% with project loaded.  So, this is not a CPU load issue.
 
I am quite baffled by this.
 
The audio interface happens to be in this case a Yamaha/Steinberg UR22, (as my son has made off with my Presonus AudioBox 1818VSL AND the expansion unit, and my best vocal mic, and a grand piano - he is SO grounded even though he already has engineered several albums with the gear - hee hee).
 
SO - just wondering if anyone else has experienced any issues like mine, where somehow the sizing of the ASIO Buffer Size is causing a problem if I play something completely external to Sonar that doesn't even use the ASIO drivers.
 
I would SURELY like to understand how this could happen, and if there is some kind of workaround, or something I am just plain missing.
 
Bob Bone

Buffer control probably shared between driver modes - my MOTU buffer size control affects both ASIO and WDM for example.

I'd say it shouldn't be doing that. On my setup there's no physical connection between the two and they work fine independent of each other. They're also set to different bit depths and sample rates. ASIO is set to have exclusive control, onboard sound is not.
 
My interface doesn't do 2048 but @1980 and 2200 there's no issues while running both sound devices.

My bad - I'd misread about the interface. Yeah, should be no interaction if they're different devics.

I don't know if it's related Bob, but when I take my asio buffer size in Sonar or Abelton Live above 1024 whilst using midi sync to other devices/programs such as Traktor Pro or DMX control software, irrespective of the driver mode the other software is running (it is obviously never asio), the wheels fall off as well. They lose sync entirely. Anything below 1024 is fine. A weird quirk I have dodged for a couple of years now.

Theoretically that can be CPU issue. What you see as a "CPU load" is an average load. In fact momentary load is always 100% (I mean when some program runs with memory only data, it consumes all possible CPU cycles).
So if something let say block CPU for continuous 0.3 sec every sec (so the rest 0.7 sec it does not use CPU at all), you definitively get problems with audio/other streams while the average load is 30%.
In reality that is not so bad, you have more then one core, there are priorities, interruptions, etc. which "break" that 0.3 sec. But the scenario can be similar (especially if Sonar is using many cores) since to avoid audio glitches, Sonar tries to call the audio processing with priority while other applications (like youtube) and standard audio processing chain  care much less to make everything in time.
I mean VST needs 2x time more to process one buffer of 2048 samples compare to 1024 samples and so the resources (CPU) can be a kind of blocked for that time. Depending on the stream setting, this time can be close to the buffer size of Windows audio...

robert_e_bone
Running Sonar Platinum - this issue is present in both 2017-01 and 2017-02.

is it there if you rollback to an earlier version than 2017-01?
is it there if you change driver mode (to wdm or wasaspi)?
is it there only with ur22 or any device?
is it there on both your pcs?

I have found that too big a buffer is just as bad as too small a buffer. 

KPerry
My bad - I'd misread about the interface. Yeah, should be no interaction if they're different devics.

Hah. I was speaking to the OP but my comment probably applies to yours as well... maybe... I dunknow.
 
My interface control has separate buffer controls for streaming, ASIO & WDM but can't speak for other brands.
 
The onboard card shouldn't affect the interface and vice versa. System memory & CPU might though.