Driver Support/ knowledgebase/ When Adobe Audition is Not Recording Sound – Fixes and Causes

When Adobe Audition is Not Recording Sound – Fixes and Causes

Adobe Audition is a digital mixer that can be used to create original and remixed music; however, technical problems may occasionally prevent Adobe from recognizing your soundboard, playing tracks, or recording sound. Related recording issues may include:

  • Audio skipping tracks and Audition is not recording sound
  • Audition will not play tracks
  • Empty audio file recordings
  • Subpar audio quality

Technical issues can most easily be resolved by troubleshooting and adjusting settings in Adobe Audition, and then Windows.

Adobe Audition is Not Recording

Troubleshoot Adobe Audition

Adobe allows you to configure your audio inputs and outputs and configure your audio channel mappings. Improper channel mappings are often the first remedy to loss of sound; however, it’s wise to first make sure that minimum system requirements are met.

Make Sure Your Computer Meets the Minimum Requirements

Adobe Audition may not respond at all if minimum requirements are not met. Adobe Audition comes in three different flavors: Audition CC, Audition CS6, and Audition CS5.5. For all three, the following minimum system requirements must be met:

Minimum Requirements for Windows
Processor 64-bit Multi-core Processor
Ram 4GB
Operating System 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows 10 with version 1703 or newer
Monitor Resolution 1080×1920 or larger
Hard Disk Space 4GB minimum for installation
Control Surface Support USB and MIDI interfaces (depending on your hardware)
OpenGL OpenGL 2.0
Sound Card Microsoft WDM/MME, WASAPI, and ASIO protocol
Internet Necessary for activation, validation, and online services

 

Make Sure Other Applications are Not Conflicting with Adobe

If your computer meets minimum requirements, check that other programs are not conflicting with Adobe Audition. Adobe requires a hefty 4gb of RAM, and other programs may use quickly use up the needed RAM – negatively affecting audio and causing Adobe Audition to freeze. Follow these steps to prevent other applications from interfering by disabling them from startup:

  1. From the Start menu search for Task Manager or press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to pull it up
  2. In the Task Manager navigate to the Startup tab
  3. From the Startup tab, disable all unneeded programs (if you’re not sure then leave it active).
  4. Restart your computer.
  5. Power on and open Adobe Audition. If Adobe Audition runs smoothly and plays sound, your Adobe problems were most likely caused by software interference. Open Task Manager back up and re-enable your programs until you find the culprit. If your issue stays unfixed, continue on to the next section.

Make Sure Audio Inputs and Outputs are Correctly Set

Incorrect input and outputs could prevent Adobe Audition from recording sound. Here is how to set them up correctly:

  1. From your Adobe Audition menu, select Edit
  2. Scroll down to Preferences
  3. Select General
  4. On the left pane, menu, select Audio Hardware
  5. Your Default Input and Output will be displayed which can be toggled to the device of your choosing. The Master Clock should read the same as your Input and Output.

Make Sure Your Audio Channel Mapping Is Correctly Set

Even with input and output devices correctly set, your devices may not send signals to the correct device if improperly mapped. Here’s how to change your Audio mapping:

  1. From your Adobe Audition menu, select Edit
  2. Scroll down to Preferences
  3. Select General
  4. On the left pane menu, select Audio Channel Mapping
  5. Here you’ll find a File Channel for your left and right input microphone, and your left and right output speaker. Make sure these are set to the correct device or you won’t get sound.

Restore Audition Default Settings

If your sound issue did not previously occur, resetting Adobe Audition to its default settings may solve your sound issues. Keep in mind, restoring Audition to defaults will remove all presets, hotkeys, preferences and settings.

To do so, press and hold the Shift key when you open Adobe Audition.

Other Adobe Settings to Consider

What other Adobe settings do you need to consider?

Your Sample Rate Is Set to Low

Your audio files will require a minimum sample rate to play correctly. For example, a 48,000Hz track may play awkwardly, or not at all, If the hardware sample rate is set to 44,100Hz. The sample rate must be equal to or higher to the track you are playing. Here is how to adjust it:

  1. From your Adobe Audition menu, select Edit
  2. Scroll down to Preferences
  3. Select General
  4. On the left pane menu, select Audio Hardware
  5. Make sure Take exclusive control of devices is check marked (or the next step might be greyed out)
  6. On the Audio Hardware, menu your Sample Rate can be adjusted.

Note: limitations in your soundcard may prevent higher sample rates from being selected.

Adjust Your Latency and Buffer Settings

Audio latency is measured in milliseconds (ms) and reflects the time it takes for a signal to travel from the sound card’s input to output, the time it takes to be converted from an analog to digital signal, and the time it takes to be routed through Adobe Audition. Issues in sound quality might persist if your latency settings are not properly adjusted. Generally speaking:

  • Less than 10ms: best for real-time audio
  • 10ms-20ms: audio monitoring might drop off
  • 20ms-30ms: sound can be significantly delayed

The latency can be adjusted but might be affected by limitations in your soundcard. Here’s how:

  1. From your Adobe Audition menu, select Edit
  2. Scroll down to Preferences
  3. Select General
  4. On the left pane menu, select Audio Hardware
  5. Adjust your Latency settings. Lower settings will improve recording performance while higher settings will improve playback setti0ngs.

Adjust Your Windows Settings

If Adobe Audition fails to resolve your audio issues, try to troubleshoot Windows itself by first doing a reboot. If your audio continues to act-up continue onward.

Unmute Your System Sound

Windows’ system sound may have been unintentionally muted. Make sure that your speakers are not muted as well. Here is how you can verify your sound settings:

  1. From the Start menu search for Adjust system volume
  2. The Volume Mixer will open, now make sure your Speakers and Adobe Audition are both unmuted

If your programs are unmuted and you still experience audio issue, there might be an issue with your Windows inputs and outputs.

Make Sure Windows Audio Inputs and Outputs are Correctly Set

If your computer still fails to produce sounds after unmuting your software components, the wrong device may be set to your system’s inputs and outputs. Here’s how to fix it:

  1. From Start, search and click Settings
  2. From the Settings menu select System
  3. From the left menu pane select Sound
  4. From the dropdowns select your Input and Output devices (their volume can also be adjusted as well)

Reinstall your Drivers

Last but not least, a defective driver could impact the quality and ability to hear any sound. While we do recommend automatic driver updates, you can reinstall your computer sound drivers manually as well:

  1. From the Start menu search for Device Manager -> Click Device Manager
  2. From the menu items select Sound, video and game controllers then select your audio device
  3. Navigate to the Driver tab and select Uninstall Device

Restart your computer and Windows should automatically reinstall the drivers.

Let’s Keep Your Adobe Audition Audio Working

When Audition is not recording sound or able to play tracks, it can be problematic and often arise from the software or hardware issues. After troubleshooting your Adobe and Windows settings, you may find that your audio not only works clearly, but your program runs a little faster too.

Just remember, if Audition will not play tracks, be sure to check your settings first. Settings can often be inadvertently changed, and you definitely don’t want to be sending audio to the wrong device. Software constantly improves so be sure to keep your audio drivers up to date as well.

To save headaches and to keep your audio devices in top performing condition, we recommend Driver Support for all your audio device driver needs. Driver Support automatic updates keeps your drivers up to date so that you can keep mixing music.