No sound
When the playhead moves but nothing comes out, the cause is nearly always one of a few things: a track muted or soloed, the sound going to another device, sounds still loading, or, on the web, a browser that hasn’t started the page’s sound yet. Check them in this order.
No sound
Available on every platform.
You hear nothing at all
- Check the device’s own volume and the headphones or speakers it plays through. Headphones or a Bluetooth device still connected take the sound away from the speakers.
- Check that the song is playing. Only one song plays at a time: starting one stops any other open song, in another window.
- Look at the Mixer. Open a Mixer pane: a track whose name is dimmed is muted, left out by another track’s solo, or silent. Turn off M on muted tracks and S on soloed ones, and check that the faders aren’t pulled all the way down.
- Check the output. The Audio tab of the Audio & MIDI pane, under Output, names the device every song plays through: “System Default: …” or one you chose. Device picks another. If it shows “Not connected”, the device you chose is unplugged: plug it back in, or pick System Default. Stab plays through Windows’ default output device, and follows it when it changes. To use another device, make it the default in Windows’ sound settings. The browser plays through the computer’s or phone’s current output. Change it in the system’s sound settings.
- Run the audio self-test. Choose Audio Self-Test (not on Mac)Audio Self-TestAudio Self-Test (not on Web). Stab plays the song in front for three seconds, then says in a dialog whether sound is working, with what it found: the device, its rate and latency, how much sound the device took, whether the playhead moved, and whether the SoundFont is loaded. If Windows gives Stab no output device at all, it says so straight away. Stab keeps running afterwards.
You hear nothing in the browser
- Click or tap the song once. Browsers let a page make sound only after you’ve clicked or tapped it, so Stab starts its sound at your first click or tap on the song. If something went wrong starting it, a line says “No sound: …” with the browser’s reason; reload the page and try again.
- Check the tab isn’t muted in the browser (a crossed-out speaker on the tab).
- A tab in the background rests. While the tab is hidden and nothing plays, Stab’s sound sleeps; it wakes when you come back to the tab.
- On an iPhone or iPad, if you hear nothing in Safari, check the ring/silent switch (or Silent mode): not every version of Safari lets a page play through it.
One part stays silent
- Just after opening a song, keys parts (piano, organ, strings and other parts played by the General MIDI sounds) can stay quiet for a moment while those sounds load. Guitars, basses and drums play meanwhile. If they never come, the self-test’s SoundFont line says “none (built-in synths)”: the General MIDI sounds weren’t found next to Stab, so reinstalling Stab brings them back.
- Check the track’s own sound. In the Sound pane, the track’s chain should end at To the mixer, and the master’s at Speakers. An effect turned all the way down, or a gate set too high, can silence a track.
- A sampled kit or instrument that isn’t installed on this device is played by Stab’s own drum sounds or a General MIDI sound instead. See Drums and kits.
- An audio track plays its recordings only where they’re found: a recording shown as “Missing” in the Audio & MIDI pane’s Recordings tab needs Relink… (see Relinking recordings).
Sound that stutters or comes late
That’s a different problem: see Latency and dropouts.
Not on Mac: Audio Self-Test.
| Command | Keys | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Self-Test | the Help menu |
Not on Web: Audio Self-Test.