How to Export Audio Only in DaVinci Resolve (Defaults)

There are two documented routes to an audio-only render in DaVinci Resolve: the Audio Only preset, or turning the Export Video checkbox off yourself. They land in the same place, but the preset arrives with defaults most people do not expect. Everything below is quoted from the DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual and Blackmagic's Supported Formats and Codecs document.

Before you start

You need a project with audio on the timeline and the Deliver page open. Two things to know first.

Resolve can only write four audio encodings. The Supported Formats and Codecs document (July 2025) lists encode values for Linear PCM in wav at 16/24/32-bit, mp3 at "Constant bit rate", aac/m4a at "CBR, VBR, average", and flac at "Yes". AIFF, OPUS, AC-3 and u-law show a dash in the Encode column on all three platforms — Resolve reads them, it does not write them.

Your platform changes the AAC answer. The manual states: "Codec: Lets you choose between Linear PCM (the default), AAC audio, IEEE Float, or MP3. AAC audio encoding is only available on macOS." The codec document disagrees for Windows, where aac/m4a has the encode value "CBR, VBR, average". What all of Blackmagic's documents agree on is Linux, where the AAC encode column is a dash. On Windows, check the official documentation before committing to a delivery format.

Step 1: Select the Audio Only preset

Render Settings starts with a preset menu, and the manual is explicit about what picking one does: "Each preset automatically sets up what you need and locks you out of settings that are not necessary for rendering that type of media." Here is the Audio Only entry, verbatim:

"This preset is specifically for rendering an audio-only media file from the Timeline. Video rendering is disabled, and this preset defaults to rendering the Main 1 bus as a single clip, rendering one track per channel using the MXF OP-Atom format set to the Linear PCM codec, at 16-bits. However, the QuickTime, MP4, and WAV formats are also available, and you can also render 24- or 32-bit output."

Unpacked, that is six defaults in one sentence:

The default output is not a WAV. It is an MXF OP-Atom file — a broadcast interchange container. If you wanted a plain audio file, change the Format yourself, which is Step 3.

Step 2: Or skip the preset and flip one checkbox

If you would rather keep your own render settings, the manual documents the exact switch:

"Export Video: Turn this checkbox on to render the source video. Turn this checkbox off if you want to render the source audio all by itself; this disables all video controls, and shows an Audio Format dropdown menu in the audio section of settings."

Read the second half carefully: the Audio Format dropdown does not exist until Export Video is off. People hunt for it with video still enabled and give up one checkbox short.

Its neighbour matters too — "Export audio: Turn this checkbox on to render the source audio, or audio that you've synchronized in DaVinci Resolve, along with the media being output by DaVinci Resolve." Video off, audio on is the combination you want.

Step 3: Pick the format

The manual's Format list in the audio section names seven options. The ones that matter for a normal audio deliverable:

• "WAVE: Generates media in the WAVE file format."
• "MP3: Generates media in the MPEG-3 file format."
• "FLAC: Generates media in the FLAC file format."
• "MP4: Generates media in the MPEG-4 file format."
• "QuickTime: Exposes all available formats of audio compatible with QuickTime."
• "MXF OP-Atom: Generates media files that conform to the SMPTE 390M format of MXF media for file exchange."

Two footnotes. Blackmagic's description of MP3 says "MPEG-3", quoted as written. And the Audio Only preset description above offers only "the QuickTime, MP4, and WAV formats" as alternatives, while the Format dropdown documented elsewhere in the same chapter also includes MP3 and FLAC. If your menu is shorter than you expect, that mismatch is the documented reason to check what your own build shows.

Step 4: Set the codec, bit depth and rate controls

Bit depth is its own control — "Bit Depth: Lets you specify the bit depth at which to output the source audio" — and the preset description confirms 24- or 32-bit output is available on top of the 16-bit default.

Three controls appear only for AAC:

• "Bit Rate Strategy: (Available for AAC encoding) You can choose among Constant Bit Rate, Average Bit Rate, Variable Bit Rate Constrained, and Variable Bit Rate."
• "Quality: (Available for AAC encoding when Bit Rate Strategy is set to Variable Bit Rate) Five settings you trade between speed and quality when encoding AAC audio."
• "Data Rate: (Available for AAC encoding when Bit Rate Strategy is set to Constant, Variable, or Variable Constrained) Lets you choose the maximum data rate for AAC encoding."

Blackmagic never names those five quality settings, never lists the values in the Sample Rate menu ("Sample Rate: Lets you set the sample rate, in Hz, of the output of the audio"), and publishes no bitrate figure for MP3 beyond "Constant bit rate". For those numbers, check the official documentation.

Step 5: Decide how the channels are laid out

Two near-identical checkboxes do different things here:

"Render one track per channel checkbox: This checkbox lets you specify whether you want to export each channel as an individual track in the structure of the exported file. Multi-channel formats can be specified (2.0, 5.1, etc.), or can be output as flat multi-mono files."

"Render as discrete audio tracks checkbox: This checkbox is similar to the above, in that it still outputs one channel per track. However, discrete tracks have no positioning info, nor do they group as multi-channel clips (2.0, 5.1, etc.)."

Discrete tracks carry no positioning information. On a 5.1 mix, that decides whether the recipient gets a surround clip or a pile of unlabelled mono tracks.

To send something other than Main 1: "Output Track #: This dropdown menu lets you choose which Main or Submix bus you want to output. A Plus button to the right lets you add additional tracks you want to export in this job". And for whole-timeline stems, the manual notes that "In Single Clip Mode, when you choose "All Timeline Tracks, each audio track in the current timeline will be rendered as an individual track in the rendered media file you're outputting."

If you already exported the video

If the render is done and you only need the soundtrack, pull the audio out of the finished file instead of reopening the project. This runs inside your browser tab, so a large master never gets uploaded anywhere:

Try it right here

Runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded anywhere.

Loading tool…

The lossless preset writes WAV, matching the Linear PCM route Resolve defaults to. For a smaller file, WAV to MP3 handles the second step, and extract audio from video covers the other outputs.

Common mistakes

1. Assuming the default is a WAV. It is MXF OP-Atom, Linear PCM, 16-bits.
2. Hunting for the Audio Format dropdown with video still enabled. It appears only once Export Video is off.
3. Picking discrete tracks for a surround deliverable. They "have no positioning info".
4. Rendering twice into the same folder. Resolve "automatically overwrites any other media files that have the same name", so enable Use unique filenames when making several versions.
5. Fighting Single Clip mode with a filter active. The manual is blunt: "Whenever clip filtering is enabled (via the dropdown menu to the right of the Clips button), Single Clip rendering cannot be selected."

FAQ

What format does DaVinci Resolve's Audio Only preset export by default? MXF OP-Atom, set to the Linear PCM codec, at 16-bits, rendering the Main 1 bus as a single clip with one track per channel. QuickTime, MP4 and WAV are also available, along with 24- or 32-bit output.

How do I export audio only without using the preset? Turn off the Export Video checkbox in the Deliver page. The manual says this "disables all video controls, and shows an Audio Format dropdown menu in the audio section of settings."

Can DaVinci Resolve export AAC on Windows? The manual says "AAC audio encoding is only available on macOS", but the Supported Formats and Codecs document lists "CBR, VBR, average" under Windows encode for aac/m4a. The documents only agree on Linux, where AAC encoding is marked with a dash. Check the official documentation for your platform.

What bitrate does Resolve's MP3 export use? Blackmagic only documents that MP3 encoding is "Constant bit rate". No specific bitrate value appears in the official documentation.

Will my Fairlight effects be included? For one route the manual is explicit: "When you export to Pro Tools in the Deliver page, audio effects are neither exported nor baked in, which means that FairlightFX, EQ, Compression, Pitch, and Elastic Wave effects will be ignored." That warning is written about the Pro Tools export path specifically.

---

Quotes are from the DaVinci Resolve 21 Reference Manual and Blackmagic's Supported Formats and Codecs document (cover date July 2025), checked 21 September 2026, with official spellings reproduced as printed. More walkthroughs in how-to guides, and the browser toolkit at all Clapr tools.