Pro Tools cannot communicate with the selected Playback Engine device

Pro Tools cannot communicate with the selected Playback Engine device
11-12-2021, 07:47 AM

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Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Toronto, Canada

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Pro Tools cannot communicate with the selected Playback Engine device
Pro Tools cannot communicate with Playback Engine...


Hey there,

This started happening yesterday. Every hour or so I get a dialogue box popping up saying...

"Pro Tools cannot communicate with the selected Playback Engine device. Please quit Pro Tools, reconnect the unit, and then relaunch Pro Tools"

I�m then forced to save and quit PT. I reopen and all is fine again. I'm running the Dolby Atmos Bridge as my Playback Engine, HD Native, MTRX Studio.

This started after an Evercast session with a director yesterday. At the end of the session we all exited the �room� while the stream was still active. EBS (Evercast Broadcast Software) doesn�t like that and it automatically closes down, in other words, not shut down properly. I think this has something to do with it. The setup to stream involves Loopback Audio doing a software patch from the Dolby Audio Bridge output to the EBS input that then streams the audio to the "room".

I�ve done several Evercast streams previously with no issues after, but this is the first time EBS was closed automatically.

I have tried many restarts, resetting the playback engine in PT, as well as reinstalling the Dolby Renderer software to no avail. Any ideas?

Thx!
J.R.

Pro Tools cannot communicate with the selected Playback Engine device

Is your audio interface plugged in and powered on, but not detected by Pro Tools? When setting up Pro Tools, you need to be sure that the drivers are installed, Playback Engine is assigned and I/O Settings are reset. Read below to synchronize your interface with Pro Tools.

  1. Reinstall Audio Device Drivers
    • View Connected Devices on macOS
    • View Connected Devices on Windows
  2. Pro Tools Playback Settings
  3. Pro Tools I/O Setup Settings

If you’re having trouble getting your audio interface to work with your Pro Tools setup, the first thing to do is make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest drivers for your audio interface. These can be downloaded at the manufacturer’s website for whichever interface you may be using. Once done, restart your computer and see if the device is detected in Device Manager (PC) or System Information (Mac). Follow the directions below for Mac and PC to check that your interface is connected.

  1. Click the Apple icon, hold the Option key, and click System Information…
  2. To locate the interface, under Hardware, select the format in which your interface is connected (e.g. USB, Thunderbolt, FireWire).

Pro Tools cannot communicate with the selected Playback Engine device
Make sure your interface is detected by your Mac by going to System Information…

  1. Right-click the Windows icon, and choose Device Manager.
  2. Your interface’s connections will appear under Audio inputs and outputs.

Pro Tools cannot communicate with the selected Playback Engine device
Make sure your interface is detected on Windows by going to the Device Manager.

An interface may not synchronize correctly if the appropriate driver is not installed. If your device is not detected, first download and install the driver which the manufacturer recommends is best compatible with your computer. If the device is still not detected, visit our Resolving Audio Interface Issues guides for PC (Windows) & Mac (macOS).

Once you’ve installed the correct driver and confirmed the audio interface is detected, next update your Playback Engine settings within Pro Tools. The Playback Engine can be found in the Pro Tools Setup menu. Open up the Playback Engine menu, and select your interface from the drop-down menu. Click here for a video that will show you how to do this.

Select your interface in the Playback Engine drop-down menu.

Once an audio interface is selected as the Playback Engine, your Pro Tools I/O settings need to be updated. The I/O Setup window is found under the Setup menu. If you’re not sure what to do here, pressing Default for the Input, Output, and Bus tabs is a great place to start. That should automatically map the default I/O settings for your audio interface. From here you can make any additional changes or customization. Here’s a video that will show you how to reset the I/O.

Verify your I/O Setup is correct by going to Setup menu and choosing I/O…

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Pro Tools cannot communicate with the selected Playback Engine device

Why is Pro Tools not recognizing my interface?

If you're having trouble getting your audio interface to work with your Pro Tools setup, the first thing to do is make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest drivers for your audio interface. These can be downloaded at the manufacturer's website for whichever interface you may be using.

How do I get Pro Tools to recognize focusrite?

How to set up Pro-tools I/O to correspond with your Focusrite interface.
Select the Input tab then delete any paths that are there, once all paths are deleted. ... .
Select the output tab then delete any paths that are there, once all paths are deleted, ... .
Click ok on the I/O setup window and you're all set to go..

Why can't I hear playback on Pro Tools?

If the wrong Playback Engine is selected, Pro Tools won't send your sound to the right place, which is why you can't hear anything.

How do I get Pro Tools to play through my computer speakers?

Click Setup and choose Playback Engine. Select your interface from the drop down menu at the top.