Don't change every audio preference at once. Play a known-good clip and follow the signal from its clip and track meters to the monitored bus, then to the speaker output. The first meter that stops moving identifies the part of the chain to fix.
This guide covers sound that goes missing while you're working: in the timeline, on the Edit or Fairlight page, through your speakers or headphones. If your exported file has no audio but the timeline sounds fine, that's a separate problem with a separate fix. Check the DaVinci Resolve export settings guide for that instead.
DaVinci Resolve No Audio: Quick Symptom Map
Match the symptom below. A waveform only proves that Resolve has audio data to display; moving meters show how far the live signal has travelled.
- No waveform and no clip meter: verify the source contains a decodable audio stream and the needed channel is mapped
- Waveform visible but clip or track meter idle: check clip mute/enable, clip level, channel mapping, track mute and solo
- Track meter moves but monitored bus meter doesn't: fix Bus Outputs, bus assignment and bus mute/solo
- Monitored bus meter moves but speakers are silent: check monitor mute/DIM, Bus Out patching, I/O Engine and Output Device
- Source Viewer has sound but timeline doesn't: test a new track, then compare track type, mapping, mute/solo and bus assignment
- Timeline sounds correct but the export is silent: use the export-audio workflow rather than changing playback monitoring
Before changing Resolve, play the source in another trusted player and confirm the operating system can reach the intended output. If the source is silent there, inspect the file's audio stream first. The Resolve checks below follow official Fairlight training and documentation.
If the source plays outside Resolve and the operating system reaches the intended speakers or headphones, continue inside Resolve without changing the source file.
Unmute the Resolve Master Volume and Clear DIM
The monitoring controls at the far right of the Fairlight transport include a speaker button, level slider and DIM button. In the final Resolve 21 manual, the speaker icon turns red when monitoring is muted and the slider turns yellow when DIM is active. Unmute the speaker, turn DIM off and return the monitor level to a safe audible setting.
No Audio: Check Track and Clip Mute States
Next inspect the M and S controls on every relevant audio track. A muted track is silent; a soloed track can make the others appear broken. Also check the bus strip for mute or solo and clear accidental solos before changing routing.
At clip level, confirm the clip is enabled, its Audio Inspector volume is audible, and the required source channels aren't muted in Audio Configuration or Clip Attributes. Resolve also provides a clip Mute command; a muted clip shows a mute icon. Use the guide to muting and splitting audio for the intentional editing workflow.
Confirm Track Routing to the Monitored Bus
In a simple stereo timeline, every audible track must feed the Main bus you're monitoring; its displayed name may be Bus 1, Main 1 or a custom name. FlexBus allows tracks and buses to feed different destinations, so never assume the first bus is receiving every track.
Open the Fairlight Mixer. In the Bus Outputs area of each track strip, use the + control to inspect its assigned bus, or choose Fairlight > Bus Assign for the full matrix. If track meters move but the monitored bus meter doesn't, assign those tracks to the correct bus and test again.
Keep the order strict: track output assignment, bus mute/solo and bus meter first; monitor patch and hardware output second. If the signal never reaches the bus, no speaker preference can restore it.
Patch the Monitored Bus to Your Output Device
If the monitored bus meter moves but the speakers remain silent, choose Fairlight > Patch Input/Output. Set Source to Bus Out and Destination to Audio Outputs. Select the monitored bus channels on the left, the actual speaker, headphone or interface outputs on the right, then click Patch.
Bus assignment and hardware patching are different. Bus assignment mixes tracks into the output bus; the Bus Out patch connects that bus to physical or system outputs. Verify both left and right channels for a stereo monitor path, and remove stale patches to disconnected interfaces only after recording the current setup.
Check Resolve Preferences for the Wrong Output Device
Open Preferences > System > Video and Audio I/O. Under I/O Engine, System Audio exposes Input Device, Output Device and Automatic speaker configuration. Choose the output that the operating system can currently play, rather than looking for the older Use System Setting label.
With Automatic speaker configuration enabled, Resolve uses the workstation's built-in system output. Disable it only when you need to define monitor sets and map channels manually. In a manual stereo set, confirm that Left and Right point to the intended device channels; a correct device name with empty channel mapping is still silent.
No Audio After Switching Headphones or Bluetooth Devices
After changing speakers, headphones, Bluetooth devices or an audio interface, first confirm the new device works at the operating-system level. Then select it as Resolve's Output Device. If Resolve still holds the previous device, save the project, quit the application completely and reopen it once.
A restart is a device-handoff test, not a routing fix. If reopening Resolve doesn't restore sound, return to the meters: track meter, monitored bus meter, then monitor output. That prevents repeated restarts from hiding a bus or patching mistake.
Check Project and Audio Device Sample Rates
Project Settings > Fairlight exposes Audio Sample Rate. The final Resolve 21 manual says it defaults to 48 kHz and locks after the first timeline is created. It also says imported audio at other sample rates is automatically resampled to the timeline rate, so a 44.1 kHz music file in a 48 kHz project shouldn't be silent merely because the numbers differ.
Sample-rate troubleshooting belongs at the audio interface or driver when the device refuses the active format, crackles or drops out. On Windows, inspect the device or ASIO control panel; on macOS, inspect Audio MIDI Setup. Choose a rate supported by the device and current project, then restart the audio engine or Resolve if the driver requires it.
Choose the project sample rate before creating the first timeline because it then locks. Do not rebuild a project merely because an imported file uses another rate; Resolve automatically resamples it. The beginner DaVinci Resolve tutorial shows where project settings belong in initial setup.
No Audio: Check Channel Mapping, Codec, and Cache
For one silent clip, inspect Audio Configuration or Clip Attributes for channel mapping and muted source channels. Identify the codec and container from metadata, then compare the platform-specific combination with the current Supported Formats and Codecs list on Blackmagic Support. A container extension alone doesn't prove codec support.
If the file has an audio stream that Resolve can't decode on this platform, make a new file rather than modifying the original. For audio-only replacement, use uncompressed WAV/Linear PCM with the same start and duration. If video must also be transcoded, use a documented edit-friendly codec and verify frame rate, duration and sync before replacing the clip.
Treat cache as a late test, not the first fix for silence. Select the affected clip and use Playback > Delete Render Cache > Selected Clips, or use Unused for orphaned cache. Check Preferences > System > Media Storage for a connected cache drive with free space, then let only the cleared section rebuild.
No Audio in Timeline But Fine in Source Viewer
If the Source Viewer plays the clip but the timeline doesn't, the source can be decoded and the fault is usually in timeline mapping, clip state, track state or bus routing. Put the same source on a new audio track. If it plays there, compare the original track's type, mute/solo state and bus assignment.
If the new track is also silent, inspect Audio Configuration in the File Inspector or the Audio panel of Clip Attributes. Confirm that the needed source channel is mapped and not muted, and that a stereo clip hasn't been placed on a track type that discards the needed channel.
Fast Resolve No Audio Checklist
- Monitoring speaker icon unmuted, DIM off and monitor level audible
- Clip enabled, required source channels mapped, clip level audible
- Track mute off and no unrelated solo isolating the mix
- Every audible track assigned to the monitored bus in Bus Outputs or Bus Assign
- Monitored bus meter moving and bus not muted or soloed
- Bus Out channels patched to the correct Audio Outputs
- I/O Engine and Output Device point to connected hardware
- Automatic speaker configuration or manual Left/Right mapping matches the setup
- A silent single source is tested against Blackmagic's platform codec support
- Only the affected or unused cache is cleared as a late diagnostic step
No Audio FAQ
Why does DaVinci Resolve show audio meters moving but I hear nothing?
Moving track meters mean the signal exists at least at that track. Check whether the monitored bus meter moves. If it does not, fix Bus Outputs and bus mute/solo. If it does, check monitor mute/DIM, the Bus Out to Audio Outputs patch, I/O Engine and Output Device.
Does restarting DaVinci Resolve actually fix audio device issues?
It can after an output-device handoff. Save the project, choose the correct Output Device in Video and Audio I/O, and reopen Resolve once if the previous device remains active. A restart doesn't repair track routing, bus assignment or a muted monitor.
Can a sample rate mismatch really cause silence with no error message?
Not by itself. Resolve 21 automatically resamples imported audio to the timeline rate. A device or driver that cannot operate at the active rate can still crackle or go silent, so check its control panel or Audio MIDI Setup rather than changing Clip Attributes or blaming every 44.1 kHz file.
Why is only one clip on my timeline silent when everything else plays?
Check the clip's Audio Configuration or Clip Attributes for channel mapping and muted source channels. Then identify the actual audio codec and container from metadata and compare them with the current platform codec list. Don't treat Clip Attributes as a codec detector.
Should I check bus routing before or after checking my output device in Preferences?
Check the signal in order. If track meters don't feed the monitored bus, fix bus assignment first. If the bus meter moves, continue to Bus Out patching, monitor mute/DIM, I/O Engine and Output Device.
Why do I see waveforms but hear no audio in DaVinci Resolve?
Waveforms show that Resolve generated waveform data; they do not prove the clip, track, bus and monitor path are audible now. Check clip state and channel mapping, track mute/solo, Bus Outputs, the monitored bus meter, Bus Out patching and the selected Output Device.
Why did DaVinci Resolve lose audio after I changed headphones?
Confirm the new headphones or speakers work in the operating system, select them under Preferences > System > Video and Audio I/O > Output Device, and reopen Resolve once if it still holds the previous device. Use manual speaker mapping only when Automatic speaker configuration doesn't fit the setup.
Related guides
- Fairlight Audio in DaVinci Resolve: the hub: the rest of the audio cluster, from loudness to cleanup.
- How to Mute and Split Audio in DaVinci Resolve: the deliberate mutes this guide rules out one by one.
- How to Export Video in DaVinci Resolve: if sound plays fine but the exported file is silent.
- How to Remove Background Noise in DaVinci Resolve: when the problem is noise on top of the dialogue rather than missing sound.
This article covers playback and monitoring audio problems. For Media Offline, render failures, slow playback, and crash recovery, start from the Fix DaVinci Resolve troubleshooting hub.
