Video has picture but no sound? Fix it on Windows 11 and 10

Picture but silence usually comes down to one of four things: the volume or mute, the wrong audio track, the wrong output device, or a soundtrack the player cannot decode. AIX Player decodes Dolby Digital (AC-3), E-AC-3, DTS including DTS-HD MA, TrueHD, AAC, FLAC and the other common soundtracks inside the app, so in AIX Player the soundtrack format is not the cause, and the steps below find the one that is.

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Windows 11 & 10 · Guide reviewed 28 October 2026

Fix it step by step

1. Check the volume and mute. Check the player’s volume (M mutes and unmutes, the up and down arrows change the volume), the Windows volume, and, if the sound goes to a TV or monitor over HDMI, that screen’s volume, mute and HDMI input.
2. Switch the audio track. Open the audio menu and pick another track, or press A or B to step through them. Some files start on a commentary or a foreign-language track.
3. Choose the right output. Open Settings → Audio → Audio device and pick the speakers, headphones or HDMI output you expect to hear.
4. On stereo speakers or headphones, check the downmix. A 5.1 or 7.1 soundtrack is downmixed to two channels. The setting is Settings → Audio → Audio channel / downmix.

Why MKV films from discs go silent in other players

Films copied from Blu-ray or DVD often keep the cinema soundtrack: Dolby Digital, DTS or TrueHD, in five, six or eight channels. A player without a decoder for that format shows the picture and plays nothing. In AIX Player these soundtracks decode inside the app, along with FLAC, ALAC, Opus, Vorbis, MP3, WMA and Cook, so an MKV that was silent elsewhere normally has sound here.

Surround speakers and AV receivers

With surround speakers, AIX Player sends every channel; with stereo speakers or headphones it downmixes the soundtrack to two. The soundtrack is always decoded in the app and sent to Windows as decoded audio; AIX Player does not pass the original Dolby or DTS stream through to an AV receiver.

Too quiet rather than silent?

Volume boost goes up to 200% and is free, and so is the 10-band equalizer with presets such as Spoken word and Vocal booster. Dialogue boost (AIX Pro) lifts speech over music and effects; the quiet dialogue guide explains when each helps. If the sound plays but drifts away from the picture, fix the audio delay instead.

No sound only on the TV?

When the PC plays the sound but the television stays silent, the TV usually cannot play that soundtrack. AIX Player converts the soundtrack while it streams when the TV needs it, and a stereo track, if the film has one, is another quick fix. Start from the casting guide for your device.