Hi everyone,
I'm hoping someone can help me with a frustrating playback issue in Cakewalk by BandLab. I'm trying to get basic playback working through my laptop's built-in speakers/headphones, but I'm getting no sound, and critically, no meter activity on any individual tracks or the Master Bus when I press play. The playhead moves along the timeline across audio clips as expected.
Current Setup & Goal:
Software: Cakewalk by BandLab (latest version)
OS: Windows 11
Current Goal: Simple playback of existing audio tracks through my laptop's built-in Realtek audio (speakers or headphones). My Tascam DR-40X is currently disconnected to simplify troubleshooting.
Cakewalk Audio Settings:
Driver Mode: WASAPI Shared
Output Device Selected: In Edit > Preferences > Audio > Devices, my laptop's "Speakers (Realtek Audio)" (or similar name) is selected and is the only output device checked.
Input Devices: All unchecked for now to focus on playback.
Sample Rate: I've tried matching Cakewalk's project/audio settings (e.g., 44.1kHz, 24-bit) to my Windows sound settings for the Realtek device.
Observed Behavior:
I load a project with visible audio waveforms on several tracks.
When I press the main Play button, the playhead moves across the timeline and the audio clips.
Crucially, there is NO activity on the individual audio track meters.
Consequently, there is also NO activity on the Master Bus meter (which I've located in the Console View).
No sound is outputted from my laptop speakers or headphones (which are confirmed working with other Windows audio like browser videos).
Troubleshooting Steps Already Taken:
Confirmed my laptop's speakers/headphones are working correctly with Windows system sounds and other applications (e.g., movies in a browser play sound fine).
Ensured the correct "Speakers (Realtek Audio)" is selected as the output in Cakewalk's Audio > Devices and that the Master Bus output (in Console View) is assigned to this device.
Checked that no tracks (including the Master Bus) are muted or soloed (unless intended for testing a single track).
Verified all fader levels (tracks and Master) are at reasonable positions (e.g., 0dB).
Checked the Windows Volume Mixer to ensure Cakewalk itself is not muted or turned down low.
Attempted to match sample rates and bit depths between Cakewalk's audio preferences and the Windows settings for my Realtek audio device.
Tried toggling the "Suspend Audio Engine When Cakewalk Is Not In Focus" setting in preferences.
Tested with a brand new empty project and imported a fresh, known-good audio file – same result (playhead moves, no track meter activity).
(I was previously attempting to use a Tascam DR-40X with ASIO drivers, which also led to issues, but I've disconnected it and uninstalled those drivers to focus on this more basic playback problem with onboard audio).
It seems like Cakewalk isn't actually processing the audio from the clips on the tracks, given the lack of any meter activity even at the track level. I'm not sure why the audio engine wouldn't be processing the audio.
Any ideas what could be causing this lack of audio processing/meter activity at the track level, or what else I can check?
Side note, this playback was working fine before I got fancy and tried to get live monitoring working with ASIO.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Well, I just started over with a new project, and it is working in wasapi shared mode ... no live monitoring but record and play work. Guess I'll be happy with that!