System Sound vs ProTools Sound
Updated 4/23/2026
System Sound
By default, system sound (aka sound on google chrome, safari, iTunes, etc) plays on the Audio Interface that is assigned in your Macintosh's system preferences. You can quickly access these sound settings by configuring the menu bar according to this article: Show Audio in Menu Bar
ProTools Sound
ProTools plays its sound through whatever you configure in the "Playback Engine" section. Check the Troubleshooting Playback - The ProTools Playback Engine article to understand more of how to configure audio in ProTools for playback.