REAPER Audio Workflows

REAPER has no sound? How to fix it when playback is silent

By StudioRescue Editorial

Published August 10, 2026 · Updated September 8, 2026

Opening a project and hearing dead silence is one of the most common first-session problems in REAPER, and it is almost never a sign that anything is broken. REAPER is unusually flexible about audio hardware, which is great once it is set up and confusing on day one, because it will happily open with no working audio device selected and simply stay quiet.

The fastest way to fix it is to stop guessing and split the problem in two. Either REAPER is not connected to a real audio device, or it has a device but the sound is being muted or sent somewhere you are not listening. Two quick checks tell you which one you are dealing with.

First, find out which problem you have

Problem A: REAPER is not connected to a real audio device

If the Audio system box shows Dummy Audio or no device, REAPER has nowhere to send sound. Dummy Audio is a silent placeholder that lets REAPER run with no sound card, so the transport still plays and the meters can still move, but you will never hear anything until you point it at real hardware. Fix it in Options → Preferences → Audio → Device, starting with the Audio system dropdown at the top.

1. Pick the right audio system

On Windows the dropdown offers several driver types, usually including ASIO, WASAPI, DirectSound, WaveOut, WDM Kernel Streaming, and Dummy Audio. On a Mac you will see Core Audio. If the box is set to Dummy Audio, that is a silent placeholder and explains the problem immediately.

• Have an audio interface? Choose ASIO, then select your interface's own ASIO driver in the device box below. This is the lowest-latency, most reliable option when the manufacturer provides it.
• Just using your laptop or a USB mic? Choose WASAPI and pick your headphones or speakers as the output. It works well and needs no extra driver.
• Interface with no ASIO driver of its own? A free third-party universal ASIO driver such as ASIO4ALL can bridge the gap, but try WASAPI first since it is simpler.

2. If the device will not open

Sometimes you pick the right device and REAPER still reports that it cannot open it, or it opens and then goes silent. The usual causes are simple:

• Another program is holding the device. ASIO and exclusive-mode WASAPI generally let only one app use the interface at a time. Close other audio software (a browser tab playing video, Zoom, another DAW, game launchers), then reopen REAPER or reselect the device.
• The interface is not connected or powered. Reseat the USB cable, and make sure the unit is switched on before you launch REAPER.
• A sample rate the device does not support. Set the request sample rate to 44100 or 48000, which almost every device accepts, then apply.
• The computer does not see the device. Confirm the operating system detects it first. On Windows, check the Sound settings and Device Manager and make sure the device is enabled; on a Mac, check Audio MIDI Setup.

Problem B: the meters move but you hear nothing

If a real device is selected and the meters bounce but you hear nothing, REAPER is producing sound and it is being blocked or misrouted on the way to your ears. Work down this list in order. This mirrors the checks in REAPER's own troubleshooting guide.

1. Check the mutes and the fader

• Make sure the track is not muted, and that no solo is active on a different track, which silences everything else.
• Make sure the Master track is not muted and its volume is up.
• Check the track's volume fader is not pulled all the way down, and that the media item itself is not muted.

2. Check the routing to the Master

REAPER only sends audio to your speakers through the Master by default. If a track's output was changed, it can meter locally yet never reach the Master.

• Confirm the track's output is routed to the Master (through parent channels 1/2 for normal stereo playback).
• Confirm the Master output is assigned to the correct hardware outputs on your interface, usually channels 1/2, the pair your headphones or monitors are plugged into.

3. Check for an FX that is silencing the track

A single plugin can mute a track without any obvious sign. Open the track's FX chain and look for anything with its output turned down, a wet/dry mix set fully to dry on an effect that needs wet signal, or a gate or noise tool clamping the whole track. Toggling the FX chain off for a moment tells you quickly whether a plugin is the cause.

4. Check the system output

Finally, look outside REAPER. Make sure your computer is playing to the output you are actually listening on, that the system volume is up, and that the output is not patched to a different device in your interface's own control software. Playing audio in another app, as in the test above, isolates whether the fault is in REAPER or in the system.

What this will not fix

Getting playback working again is a routing and device fix, so it has limits worth knowing up front.

• It will not make a track record if the real problem is on the input side. Silence while recording, with no meter on the armed track, is usually an input or arming issue, not a playback one. If REAPER cannot see your mic or interface at all, see why REAPER is not detecting your microphone or interface; for the recording steps once it is working, see how to record vocals in REAPER step by step.
• It will not add sound to a take that is genuinely empty or muted at the item level. If the waveform is a flat line, there was nothing captured to play.
• It will not repair a disconnected or failed interface. If the computer cannot see the hardware at all, no REAPER setting brings it back.
• It will not fix stutters, clicks, or dropouts during otherwise-working playback. That is a buffer or CPU issue, not a no-sound issue.

If it still will not play

A reliable order to work through when nothing is coming out:

1. Device set to Dummy Audio or blank? Preferences → Audio → Device, and select a real audio system and output.
2. Device will not open? Close other audio apps, reconnect the interface, and set the sample rate to 44100 or 48000.
3. Meters moving but silent? Unmute, check the Master, and route the track to the Master through channels 1/2.
4. Still nothing? Bypass the track FX to rule out a plugin, then confirm the system is playing to the output you are wearing or listening on.
5. Silent everywhere? Fix your computer's sound in the system settings first, then come back to REAPER.