Logic Pro No Sound: Output, Monitoring and Interface Fixes

The meters are moving. The faders are up. You press play and hear absolutely nothing. I had this happen mid-session on a 37-track project last year and spent about 11 minutes working through causes before finding it. The fix was embarrassingly simple. It almost always is.

Logic Pro no sound problems fall into a few distinct buckets: wrong output device, a stuck mute or solo, input monitoring misconfigured, a sample rate mismatch, or a macOS Mic Mode setting that silently sabotages your input. This guide works through each one in order, fastest checks first.

Quick fix if Logic Pro shows meters but no audio: go to Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > Devices and set Output Device to the device your headphones or speakers are physically connected to. Then open the Mixer (X), clear all Mute and Solo buttons, check that the Output channel strip is not muted, and switch to Built-In Output temporarily to confirm Logic itself is producing sound. If you are recording audio, set macOS Mic Mode to Standard with Logic as the active window.

Logic Pro Meters Moving but No Sound

When signal is visible in Logic's meters but nothing comes out of your speakers or headphones, the audio is making it into the mixer but not reaching your physical output. This is a routing problem, not a Logic malfunction.

The meters in Logic reflect signal at the channel strip level. But that signal still has to travel through the Output channel strip, exit Logic, pass through CoreAudio, and arrive at the correct output of your audio interface before it reaches anything you can hear. Any break in that chain produces exactly this: meters bouncing, complete silence.

If Logic Pro has no audio output, start by switching the output device to Built-In Output in Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > Devices and play something through your Mac speakers. If you hear it, Logic is producing sound and the problem is your interface or its routing. If you hear nothing even through Built-In Output, the issue is inside Logic: a muted Output channel strip, a mis-routed bus, or the master fader pulled to silence.

Check Logic's Output Device First

The most common cause when Logic shows signal but produces no audio: the wrong output device is selected. Logic is sending audio somewhere your monitors or headphones aren't connected to.

Go to Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > Devices. Look at the Output Device dropdown. If you use an audio interface (Scarlett, Apollo, MOTU, anything external) it needs to be selected here. If it shows Built-In Output but your monitors are plugged into a Focusrite, you'll get signal in the meters and silence in the room.

If your interface got disconnected or powered off, Logic falls back to Built-In Output without prompting you. Plug the interface back in, reselect it from the dropdown, and hit Apply.

Mute, Solo, and Channel Strip Routing

Most tutorials lead with the output device and then stop. This is the second thing to check and gets skipped constantly.

Open the Mixer (X) and look for any lit Mute buttons or flashing yellow Solo indicators. A solo left on from the previous session can silence everything except one track you've since deleted. The Mute button in Logic turns blue when active. Click it again to deactivate. Shift-click any solo to clear all solos at once.

Also check the Output channel strip at the far right of the Mixer. It can be muted independently. If it is, the master fader won't help. The whole mix is being choked before it reaches your interface.

Less obvious: if your tracks are routed to a bus and that bus sends to an aux, check the aux output assignment. I've had sessions where the aux was accidentally assigned to Output 3-4 instead of Output 1-2, which sent the entire mix to a phantom output with nothing connected. Meters happily bounce while you hear nothing.

The master fader itself deserves a look too. It doesn't have a mute button but it can be dragged to negative infinity. If someone (or plugin automation) pulled it to silence, that's your problem.

Input Monitoring Not Working: The Logic Pro 11.1 Behavior Change

If you can record and play back fine but can't hear yourself during recording, this section is for you.

The confusing part with Logic Pro 11.1 and later is not just the I button by itself. It's the combination of Record Enable, Input Monitoring, and Auto Input Monitoring. If an audio track is still record-enabled and input monitoring is on, existing regions on that same track may not play back the way older Logic users expect. The 11.1.1 release notes documented this behavior, and 11.1.2 noted that Auto Input Monitoring "now works as expected." If you updated mid-project and suddenly couldn't hear recorded takes during playback, that's what happened.

The fix: turn off the I button or Record Enable after the take, then test playback again. If you want the older monitoring workflow, check Record > Auto Input Monitoring and adjust it for your session. Disabling Auto Input Monitoring tends to restore the pre-11.1 behavior for most setups.

If you hear nothing at all while the I button is active and the track is armed, the issue is upstream. Check that the correct input is assigned to the track header (click the track input field and confirm it matches the physical input your source is plugged into on your interface). Getting a signal on the interface's meters but not in Logic means Logic is looking at the wrong input channel. Also check that the Input field isn't set to No Input, which hides the I button entirely.

Two other settings worth checking here. First, Software Monitoring: this is enabled in Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > General. When Software Monitoring is on, you hear the incoming signal through Logic's channel strip, including any plugins on that track. When it is off, Logic does not monitor that input through its mixer; you need to use your interface's direct monitoring or hardware monitoring instead. If you expected to hear the signal through Logic and hear nothing, turn Software Monitoring on and test again. Second, Low Latency Mode (the clock icon in the toolbar): Low Latency Mode can change what you hear while recording because Logic may bypass latency-causing plugins or sends on record-enabled tracks. If the monitored signal suddenly sounds dry, quieter, or different, toggle Low Latency Mode off and test again. If latency itself is the issue rather than silence, the Logic Pro latency guide covers buffer size, I/O settings, and hardware monitoring in detail.

Also confirm the track's output is set to Stereo Out, not a bus or secondary output. An input-monitored track routed to a bus that has no output will produce nothing audible.

Audio Interface Selected but Still Silent

If your interface is selected and your output device is correct but you still have no sound, work through these in order.

First, reseat the USB or Thunderbolt cable. Not restart the session, not reboot the Mac. Just unplug the cable from the back of the interface and plug it back in. A partially-seated cable can maintain a connection that macOS recognizes while being electrically unstable enough to drop audio. If the interface vanishes from Logic's device list when you unplug and reappears when you reconnect, you found it.

Second, check whether your interface has companion software (Focusrite Control, Universal Audio Console, MOTU CueConnect). These apps control the internal routing of the interface itself, separate from Logic. If the main mix output is muted or routed incorrectly inside Focusrite Control, Logic can send a perfect signal to the interface and still produce silence. Open the companion app and verify the monitor output is active and the fader is up.

Third, check the sample rate. A mismatch between your project's sample rate and your interface's sample rate can cause playback problems, wrong speed or pitch, distortion, or device-specific silence. Go to File > Project Settings > Audio and note the Sample Rate. Then open Audio MIDI Setup (Applications > Utilities) and confirm the interface matches. Change one to match the other.

The CoreAudio toggle is worth knowing. If Logic loses audio after a macOS update or interface reconnection, go to Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > Devices, uncheck the Enable Core Audio checkbox, click Apply, then re-enable it and click Apply again. This forces Logic to re-initialize its audio connection without a full restart. It works more often than it has any right to.

Microphone No Sound: Check macOS Mic Mode

This one catches people off guard because it lives entirely outside Logic.

Since macOS Monterey, Apple added Mic Mode to the menu bar. When Logic is the active application, you'll sometimes see a small microphone icon in the top-right menu bar area. Clicking it reveals three options: Standard, Voice Isolation, and Wide Spectrum. Voice Isolation is designed for video calls. It aggressively filters anything that doesn't sound like a human voice speaking. Acoustic guitars disappear. Room audio gets killed. Instruments on non-mic inputs can be silenced entirely.

The Mic Mode setting is per-application. Logic can have Voice Isolation active while GarageBand uses Standard, which is why the same microphone and interface work fine in GarageBand and produce silence or garbled audio in Logic.

Fix: with Logic as the active window, click the microphone icon in the menu bar (on Sonoma and later, it appears as a standalone icon, not inside Control Center). Set it to Standard. If you don't see the icon, check System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and confirm Logic has microphone access enabled. Without that permission, audio inputs from your interface may also be blocked, even if the interface isn't a microphone in any conventional sense. Universal Audio's support page covers this behavior in detail across multiple interfaces and DAWs.

Apple's own troubleshooting documentation states that if audio sounds unexpected when recording, you should check that Mic Mode is set to Standard. That guidance has been in the official support article since 2024. Most third-party troubleshooting guides still don't mention it. If Mic Mode is correct but you still can't capture anything, the problem may be further upstream. See the guide on Logic Pro not recording audio for input assignment and track configuration fixes.

No Sound from Software Instruments or MIDI Tracks

Everything above applies to audio tracks. Software instrument and MIDI tracks have a few additional failure points, and the distinction between track types matters here.

First, confirm the track is actually a Software Instrument track, not an External MIDI track. An External MIDI track sends MIDI data to an external device or module. If that device isn't connected or powered on, you'll get a MIDI region playing silently. Right-click the track header and check the track type. To hear software instruments inside Logic (Alchemy, ES2, Drum Machine Designer, Sampler, and so on), you need a Software Instrument track, not External MIDI.

Second, check that an instrument patch is actually loaded on the channel strip. A Software Instrument track with no plugin in the instrument slot, or one where the plugin failed to load after an update, produces no audio. Click the instrument slot in the channel strip to confirm something is there.

Third, confirm the MIDI region contains notes at audible velocity. A MIDI region can look populated in the Tracks area but contain notes at zero velocity. Open the Piano Roll on the region and verify the notes are there and above 0 velocity. Also check the Region Inspector for any transpose or velocity scaling that might be choking output.

Fourth, check the channel strip output. An instrument track routed to No Output or to a disconnected bus produces no audible sound. Set the output to Stereo Out.

One more thing that trips people up: a previous automation pass may have written a mute or a volume drop to silence. Check the automation lane (A key to toggle) for unintended volume or mute automation. And confirm the track is either selected or record-enabled; on software instrument tracks, Logic only passes audio to output from the selected (focused) track unless the track is record-enabled or the option to hear all tracks is set in Logic's recording preferences.

No Sound in Headphones or Through Speakers

If you're troubleshooting headphone silence specifically, the output device path splits depending on your setup.

Headphones plugged into your Mac's headphone jack: set Logic's output device to Built-In Output. If it's set to your audio interface and your headphones are not connected to the interface, Logic will route audio to an output nothing is listening to.

Headphones plugged into your audio interface: set Logic's output device to the interface. Also check the interface's headphone volume knob. On most Focusrite and Apollo interfaces, the headphone output has a separate physical knob independent of the monitor volume. Turning that knob down to zero produces silence regardless of what Logic is doing.

AirPods or Bluetooth headphones: these add latency and macOS sometimes switches Logic's output to the Bluetooth device when you connect them. Go to Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > Devices and confirm the output is still what you want. Bluetooth audio also introduces latency that makes real-time monitoring impractical, though playback works fine. If AirPods are selected and you're hearing nothing, check that the AirPods are fully connected in System Settings > Sound and that their volume isn't controlled separately by the macOS volume slider.

No Sound in One Logic Project Only

If audio works in a new project but not in a specific existing one, the issue is project-level, not Logic or your system.

Open the problem project and check the Output channel strip in the Mixer. It may be routed to something other than Output 1-2. Check every bus and aux channel strip for misrouted outputs or volume automation that reaches silence. Also look for a Space Designer, Alchemy, or other plugin on the stereo out that might have been reconfigured incorrectly (a plugin set to 100% wet on a reverb with a very long tail can make a mix sound silent at the start of playback).

If you can't find the routing problem, Apple's guidance is to test in a new user account. Create a second admin account on your Mac, open the project there, and see if the problem persists. If it doesn't, something in your main user account's preferences or audio plugin state is causing it. If it does, the issue is in the project file itself.

You can also open Logic while holding Shift-Command-N to create a new empty project immediately, add a few Apple Loops, and confirm audio is working before re-opening the problem project. This rules out a Logic startup issue versus a project-specific one.

After a macOS or Logic Update: Plugins, Drivers and Preferences

If everything worked yesterday and nothing changed except an update, the culprit is usually a third-party Audio Units plugin or a corrupted preference file.

Test plugins first: quit Logic, reopen it, and immediately hold the Control key before a project loads. A dialog appears asking whether to launch without Audio Units. Click it. If sound returns, a plugin is the problem. You can then isolate which one through Logic's Plugin Manager (Logic Pro > Plugin Manager), marking suspected plugins as disabled and testing until the issue disappears.

If bypassing Audio Units doesn't fix it, reset Logic's preferences. Go to Logic Pro > Settings > Reset All Settings Except Key Commands. This clears misconfigured audio settings without deleting your key commands, projects, or patches.

One thing the Apple documentation is careful about: if you use both the one-time purchase version of Logic and the Creator Studio subscription version, they store separate preference files. Make sure you're troubleshooting the correct one. The one-time purchase version uses com.apple.logic10.plist; the subscription version uses a different file. Resetting the wrong one won't accomplish anything. If you're unsure whether your Mac meets the requirements for the version you're running, check the Logic Pro system requirements page before reinstalling.

Metronome or Click Track Has No Sound

If everything else plays but the click is silent, the fix is almost always in the Mixer.

Logic's metronome uses a dedicated Click channel strip powered by the Klopfgeist plugin. That strip doesn't appear in the Mixer by default unless you change the view. Open the Mixer (X), click the View selector at the top-left and switch to All instead of Tracks or Instruments. The Click channel strip will appear. Check that it's not muted and that its output is routed to the same Stereo Out or hardware output you're monitoring.

Also check the main toolbar. The metronome button (the small click icon) must be enabled for the click to sound. It can be turned off per-project. If the button is lit and you still hear nothing after checking the Click channel strip, go to Logic Pro > Settings > Metronome (or File > Project Settings > Metronome) and confirm Audio Click is enabled rather than just MIDI Click.

One scenario that surprises people: the click can be routed to a specific hardware output that's different from your main monitor output. If someone set Logic to send the click to Output 3-4 (for a headphone cue mix) and your monitors are on Output 1-2, you won't hear it without headphones on.

Logic Pro No Sound: Quick Diagnostic Checklist

Tested with Logic Pro 12.2 and Logic Pro 11.1.x behavior notes on macOS Sequoia and Sonoma, using both Built-In Output and a USB audio interface. Menu names may differ slightly on older Logic versions.

1. Output device set correctly in Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > Devices (matches where your speakers or headphones are physically connected)
2. No muted channel strips or active solos in the Mixer, including the Output strip
3. Master fader above -inf and not muted
4. Track output assigned to Stereo Out, not a bus or secondary output
5. Software instrument tracks: plugin loaded, MIDI notes at audible velocity, output not set to No Output
6. Input monitoring: if no sound during recording, turn off Record Enable or I button after each take, then check Record > Auto Input Monitoring
7. Sample rate matches between Logic project (File > Project Settings > Audio) and interface (Audio MIDI Setup)
8. Interface companion software (Focusrite Control etc.) has monitor outputs unmuted and faders up
9. Headphone volume knob on the interface is not turned down
10. Mic Mode set to Standard in macOS menu bar when Logic is active
11. Microphone permission granted to Logic in System Settings > Privacy & Security
12. CoreAudio toggle: disable and re-enable Core Audio in Logic's audio settings
13. Metronome silent: open Mixer > All, check the Click channel strip is not muted and its output matches your monitor output, confirm Audio Click is enabled in Project Settings > Metronome
14. Launch without Audio Units (hold Control at startup) to rule out plugin conflicts
15. Test in new project: if the issue is project-specific, check routing and automation in the Mixer for that project

For persistent issues, Apple's official Logic Pro troubleshooting guide covers preference file resets, new user account tests, and interface-specific isolation steps. Apple's input monitoring documentation is worth reading if the post-11.1 monitoring behavior is still causing confusion.

FAQ

Why does Logic Pro show signal in the meters but produce no audio?

The signal is reaching Logic's mixer but not making it to your physical output. The most likely causes: wrong output device selected in Logic's audio settings, a muted Output channel strip in the Mixer, or a bus routing issue where your tracks are sending to a secondary output not connected to your monitors. Switch to Built-In Output temporarily to confirm Logic is producing audio, then investigate the interface routing.

Why can I hear audio in GarageBand but not in Logic Pro?

Check macOS Mic Mode. The setting is per-application, so Voice Isolation can be active in Logic while GarageBand uses Standard. With Voice Isolation enabled, Logic can receive no signal or heavily filtered audio from your interface while GarageBand works fine on the exact same hardware. With Logic as the active window, open the microphone icon in the macOS menu bar and set Mic Mode to Standard.

Why can't I hear myself while recording in Logic Pro?

The most common cause in Logic Pro 11.1 and later: the combination of Record Enable, Input Monitoring (I button), and Auto Input Monitoring. With a track still record-enabled and input monitoring on, existing regions on that track may not play back as expected. Turn off Record Enable or the I button after each take, then test playback. If you want the older monitoring workflow, adjust the Auto Input Monitoring setting under the Record menu.

Why did Logic Pro stop producing sound after an update?

Updates to Logic or macOS can break compatibility with third-party Audio Units plugins or change audio settings. Start by launching Logic while holding the Control key to bypass Audio Units. If sound returns, a plugin is the cause. If not, reset Logic's settings via Logic Pro > Settings > Reset All Settings Except Key Commands. Also check that the output device is still correctly set, as updates can reset this to Built-In Output.

How do I reset Logic Pro's audio if it stops working mid-session?

The fastest fix without closing your session: go to Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > Devices, uncheck Enable Core Audio, click Apply, then re-enable it and click Apply again. This re-initializes CoreAudio without requiring a Logic restart. If that doesn't work, reseat the cable to your audio interface and verify the sample rate in your project matches the rate set on the interface itself.

Why is there no sound from a software instrument or MIDI track in Logic Pro?

First confirm the track is a Software Instrument track, not an External MIDI track. An External MIDI track sends MIDI data to an outside device; if nothing is connected, the region plays silently. For software instruments inside Logic (Alchemy, ES2, Drum Machine Designer, Sampler), you need a Software Instrument track. Then check: that a plugin is loaded in the instrument slot, that the MIDI region contains notes at audible velocity in the Piano Roll, that the channel strip output is set to Stereo Out, and that no volume or mute automation has written silence onto the track. A track with zero-velocity notes or routed to No Output will show signal in the Mixer strip and produce nothing audible. If you're new to Logic's track types, the Logic Pro beginner tutorial covers the difference between audio, software instrument, and MIDI tracks.

Why is Logic Pro silent through headphones?

The output device in Logic needs to match where your headphones are physically connected. If your headphones are plugged into your audio interface, Logic's output device must be set to that interface. If they're plugged into your Mac's headphone jack, set the output device to Built-In Output. For interface headphones, also check the physical headphone volume knob on the interface itself, which is independent of Logic's faders. For Bluetooth or AirPods, confirm they're fully connected in macOS and that Logic's output device hasn't silently switched.

How do I fix Logic Pro no sound in one project only?

Open the Mixer for that project and check the Output channel strip output assignment, all bus and aux routings, and any automation on the master or instrument tracks that may have written a mute or volume drop. Test by opening a new empty project and confirming audio works there first. If audio works in a new project, the issue is isolated to that project's routing or automation. If not, the problem is at the Logic or system level.

Why do headphones and AirPods work in macOS but not in Logic Pro?

Logic can use a different output device than macOS. When you connect AirPods or switch headphones, macOS may change the system output but Logic stays on the output device selected in Logic Pro > Settings > Audio > Devices. Open that menu and either match it to your headphones or set it to System Setting, which tells Logic to follow whatever macOS is using. For Bluetooth headphones, expect latency; they're fine for playback but impractical for live input monitoring.

Why is the Logic Pro metronome silent?

Open the Mixer and switch the view to All. Logic's Click channel strip (powered by the Klopfgeist plugin) is hidden in the default Tracks view. Check that the Click channel strip is not muted and that its output matches your active monitor output. Also confirm that Audio Click is enabled in Logic Pro > Settings > Metronome (or File > Project Settings > Metronome), and that the metronome button in the toolbar is turned on for the current project.

Related guides: Logic Pro not recording audio, Why your mic is quiet in Logic Pro, Fix audio latency in Logic Pro

Sources: Logic Pro User Guide — Apple Support · Logic Pro — Apple