Struggling to make USB audio work properly. First, there is no Steinberg driver for Windows under the YC61 downloads

Hmm! Thanks for the heads up... We’ll pass that along!

It brought it to life but I'm getting constant audio drops and stuck keys with my VST's. Working with a fairly new Surface Pro with plenty of horsepower and all other programs closed so not that...maybe some other conflict? Any suggestions how to get this working smoothly?

I have no experience with Surface Pro — we can look into this if you provide a bit more information.
Which Surface Pro?
Which VSTs?

How is the Surface Pro and YC61 behaving? Are you able to record and playback when working with the YC61?
We ask because it’s not clear if your issue is with the YC dropping out or just your VSTs.
Let us know...

Bad Mister...thanks for the quick reply...looks like you are with Yamaha in some capacity...have seen your responses to other posts...grateful for your presence here.

Looks like I figured it out. I use a small USB 3.0 Anker hub to plug in multiple USB devices...never had a problem with it with other devices but when I plugged the YC61 directly into the Surface, the problem went away. Now onto MIDI mapping...that will take up a few rainy days.

Yes that would do it. Excellent!

Wanted to follow up on this. I need to get a new USB hub but obviously want on that will work with the Steinberg USB audio interface in the YC61. Right now I have an Anker USB 3.0 which works great with everything else I have including the interface in my Presonus AR8 mixer. Do I need to use a USB 2.0 hub to get the YC61 interface to work properly? The interface works fine when plugged directly into the Surface Pro port which is USB 3.0 compatible so it's definitely something with the Anker hub that's throwing it off. Thanks...

Not the least expensive way to go, but the Surface Pro docking station would likely be the best way to expand USB ports. The new docking station that uses the power port connection is not much bigger than the average USB hub so it is still portable if using the surface pro in a live setting. The downside is it's 10x more expensive than the average USB hub.

That said, I've used primarily USB2.0 hubs and have not seen issues using those with Yamaha gear even though USB hubs are discouraged. I also have a USB3 hub (7 port) from Vantec that has worked. It was fairly expensive and probably worth, for the Surface, getting the dock. I use the Vantec with a laptop workstation.

This isn't to say a Vantec hub will work for you - only that I have limited testing with USB3 and have had success with one brand/model of hub.

The latest surface pro has a USB C port as well as a USB type-A port. Both are USB 3. The USB C port has a different master controller than the USB type-A port. So use of one port or the other may yield different results given the differences in master controller. I take it you are using the type-A port on the surface. But IF you have the newer surface pro with the type-C port - you may want to get a hub with a type-C connector and use that hub for all of your other devices while you continue to plug the YC61 directly into the type-A port. I'm not sure if you have the latest gen or not (if you have a type C connector or not).

Jason...thanks for the detailed response. I don't have a USB - C port on my Surface. I have the docking station in my home office but was trying to avoid dishing out for another one. The dock leaves the USB - A connection on the Surface available even in the unlikely event that the YC doesn't work through it so I should be good I guess.

Wanted to follow up on this. Finally had a chance to connect my Surface dock to my music room set-up. The results were not good. I plugged the YC into a USB port in the dock and then into the Surface Pro. The audio stream went into its choppy mode with a series of a few dropouts every 10 seconds or so. So then I plugged my other USB equipment including a Presonus Studiolive AR 8 mixer into the dock and the YC directly into the USB port on the Surface Pro. That gave me that USB interference noise that I haven't heard in years. I tried plugging things into different outlets to make sure it wasn't a grounding problems but no change. Looks like the YC interface is very selfish. It only wants to be plugged directly into the computer and it doesn't want any other USB audio devices plugged in at the same time. Open to additional suggestions but for now it looks like I will have to continue unplugging and replugging things in as I change around equipment usage.

Hi Jim,

I don't have any experience with the Surface Pro, but the driver works perfectly on a standard Windows 10 machine with multiple devices connected (YC61, Steinberg Interface, printer). If you heard that USB noise...Well, my solution is always to check to see that everything is properly grounded. Maybe swap out power strips? When you pull power from the Surface is does it still make noise?

Hey Blake...thanks for responding. First, thank you for all the great work you do for Yamaha. Have seen many of your videos and write-ups over the years and always appreciate their quality and thoroughness. The noise causing conflict is happening with the Presonus Studiolive mixer which has its own built-in interface as I'm sure you know. I have an Arturia Keylab Essential too and there's no noise if just that and the YC are plugged in...of course that's powered by USB only. I thought, like you, it was a grounding issue and moved plugs all around but no luck. I thought it might be having two interfaces but looks like you do and it's not a problem. So not sure where to go with it

Re hubs, I am running on Windows 10 and you're right...it runs perfectly...provided I plug it directly into the Surface. Not sure why plugging the YC into a hub creates an issue but it does...and Jason, above, alluded to the fact that "USB hubs are discouraged" by Yamaha...haven't seen that elsewhere but obviously I take him at his word. So anyway, it's not the end of the world. When I take my set up out to play, I only plan to plug the YC directly into my Surface so it will work fine. And in my home studio I'll just have to switch things around manually as needed I guess. Just thought there might be an easier answer. At least I didn't go out and buy another $200 dock...good thing I tried the one I have first. Thanks again for responding...

Just one more update on this...in case anyone is interested... Dug an old MIDI to USB connector I had out of the drawer and was able to connect the YC, MIDI only, to my USB hub and it all works fine for my studio set-up with a Presonus StudioLive mixer as the audio interface. No pops or stops. Must be something in the Steinberg audio interface creating a conflict with my computer when other things are plugged in. Otherwise, for playing out, per my previous comments, I can plug the YC USB...and only the YC USB...into my computer and it works fine...although, I am thinking of starting to use some backing tracks via Cantabile. Will need to bring the StudioLive or a different interface if I do as the two out Steinberg interface in the YC really isn't set up to deal with a backing tracks/click track set-up.