I am writing to report a persistent and critical technical issue with Sound Forge Pro 18 that is affecting five (5) different studio setups under my management, all running licensed versions of the software.

The Setup:

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700 (12th Gen) @ 2.10GHz.

RAM: 32 GB.

OS: Windows 11 Pro (Version 24H2).

Audio Interfaces: Various professional hardware, including PreSonus StudioLive 32SC and Focusrite Scarlett series (all using official ASIO drivers).

The Problem: We are experiencing random clicks and pops during audio playback. The issue has specific characteristics that suggest a conflict between the UI engine and the audio engine:

UI/Waveform Conflict: The frequency of clicks increases significantly when performing Zoom In/Out operations during playback. The artifacts persist for a few seconds even after stopping the zoom action.

Audio Corruption: Most critically, if any processing is applied or if the file is saved while these clicks occur, the artifacts become permanently embedded in the audio file (rendered into the data).

Comparative Baseline: On the exact same hardware and OS, Sound Forge Pro 9 works perfectly without any audio artifacts, which rules out hardware failure or driver incompatibility with the interfaces.

Hardware Consistency: The problem is identical across 5 different workstations with the same specs, regardless of the USB port or audio interface used.

Troubleshooting already performed:

Adjusted ASIO Buffer Sizes (from 128 up to 1024 samples).

Changed Process Priority to "Time Critical" and "High".

Disabled Windows 11 Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling.

Disabled VST scanning and cleared plug-in directories.

Adjusted CPU Affinity to bypass E-cores.

Loking forward to your help here as I can´t find a way to report this to Magix via e-mail (error message)

Best regards,