Events Preview Work but No Sound at Runtime

Unity
1

Hi,

I’ve been trying to set up FMOD with Unity on my own, then spent quite a while debugging it with ChatGPT, but we’re going in circles and can’t find the issue. I’m probably missing something basic.

Here is my setup and the problem:

Setup:

  • Unity + FMOD Unity Integration (version 2.03.12)

  • FMOD Studio project (same version)

  • Integration wizard completed, project correctly linked

  • Banks built successfully (Master.bank + Master.strings.bank in Build/Desktop)

  • Load Banks = All

  • FMOD Listener on main camera

  • Unity Audio disabled

  • Very simple FMOD project (a few events, no parameters, no complex routing)

  • Events have audio on timeline and are routed directly to Master Bus (0 dB)

Problem:

  • No sound at all in Play Mode

  • Events preview correctly in the FMOD Event Browser inside Unity

Observed behavior:

  • FMOD overlay shows:
    RMS = -80 dB
    Channels total = 1
    Channels real = 0

  • FMOD logs show:

    • system initializes correctly

    • audio device is fine (CoreAudio)

    • banks are loaded

    • samples are loaded (createSound)

    • samples are immediately released (SoundI::release)

    • no errors or warnings

    • no indication that any EventInstance is actually started

What I tested:

  • EventEmitter with different triggers

  • RuntimeManager.PlayOneShot(“event:/Pickup”)

  • RuntimeManager.CreateInstance + start() + release()

  • Copied exact event path from Event Browser

  • Verified event is in Master Bank

  • Created new simple test event (same result)

  • Checked routing, volume, no mute, no automation

  • Tried loading sample data manually

  • Verified banks and paths

  • FMOD Listener is active

  • No console errors at all

Conclusion:

FMOD seems to initialize and load everything correctly, but no event is actually played at runtime (channels real stays at 0). It feels like events are not being triggered or resolved properly, but without any error.

If anyone has seen this behavior before or has an idea of what basic setup issue could cause this, I’d really appreciate the help !

2

Hi,

Thank you for sharing the detailed information.

Unfortunately, I was not able to reproduce the issue on my end. Could you please share the Unity version you are using?

You may already checked this, but just to double check, does anything in the following troubleshooting section help?
27.2 Some events aren’t audible at runtime.

If not, could you please try deleting the entire FMOD folder from your project’s Plugins folder, then reinstalling the FMOD for Unity integration to see whether that helps?