diff --git a/MyMistakes.md b/MyMistakes.md
index 5c11844..dffcb40 100644
--- a/MyMistakes.md
+++ b/MyMistakes.md
@@ -124,3 +124,25 @@ with `#Name`) + panel properties (`IsHitTestVisible/Opacity/children/actual size
    test process shares `%APPDATA%\ytLlive\startup.log` with the real app: lines like
    `camera 'test-camera' failed` are test noise, not DB state — to check pollution, query
    the DB directly (`python3 sqlite3`, `SELECT DeviceId FROM Webcam`), not the log.
+
+## A "known failure" label without a recorded cause = a bug on life support
+
+(2026-09-01, the audio triple-take) One line — `_delayedMix` (nullable, added by TASK 22,
+never initialized) dereferenced as `delayed.Length` — produced THREE symptoms that lived in
+the map as two separate "pre-existing, do-not-chase" entries: (a)
+`Mix_HonorsProviderGains…` "known failure", (b) `AudioPipelineTests` hangs when run at all
+(a test reading a named pipe with no writer blocks — hung test ≠ flaky test, it's a starved
+producer), (c) startup.log flooded "Audio live loop error" every 10ms (the mixer loop caught
+and logged only `ex.Message` — stack thrown away).
+
+Rules derived:
+1. NEVER label a test "known/pre-existing" without writing WHY (exception type + first app
+   frame). An unexplained known-failure is deferred archaeology that hardens into fog.
+2. A test that waits on IPC + a producer whose output vanished are usually ONE bug — look
+   for the producer before blaming the test.
+3. Catch-and-log-swallow of `ex.Message` hides root causes; log with stack (`AppLog.Write(ex,
+   ...)`) and throttle (5s) instead of dropping or flooding.
+Bonus: the "failing" test encoded the MAP's contract (`loopbackGain = GameAudioVolume`); the
+code had drifted to unity on a disproven premise (loopback capture does NOT follow endpoint
+volume — creator's 20%-volume/pegged-meter observation killed it). The test was right all
+along — failing tests may be the last honest witnesses; interrogate, don't pardon.
diff --git a/Services/Audio/AudioGainProvider.cs b/Services/Audio/AudioGainProvider.cs
index c230c56..e4d5480 100644
--- a/Services/Audio/AudioGainProvider.cs
+++ b/Services/Audio/AudioGainProvider.cs
@@ -28,8 +28,12 @@ public sealed class AudioGainProvider
     /// <summary>Mic gain for the live mix (0 = muted).</summary>
     public double MicGain() => _micMuted() ? 0 : _micVolume();
 
-    /// <summary>Loopback (desktop/game) gain for the live mix (0 = muted, 1 = unity).
-    /// Unity because the slider now drives system volume via PushSystemVolume,
-    /// so the WASAPI loopback signal is already scaled by the user's volume choice.</summary>
-    public double LoopbackGain() => _gameMuted() ? 0 : 1.0;
+    /// <summary>Loopback (desktop/game) gain for the live mix (0 = muted).
+    /// Honesty rule (2026-09-01): WASAPI loopback capture does NOT shrink with the
+    /// endpoint volume — the creator dropped system volume to 20% and the captured
+    /// level stayed pegged — so the mixer must multiply by GameAudioVolume itself
+    /// for the stream to follow the knob (the old unity assumption left the stream
+    /// at full desktop volume while the headphones went quiet; ai.md always
+    /// specified loopbackGain = GameAudioVolume — the code had drifted).</summary>
+    public double LoopbackGain() => _gameMuted() ? 0 : _gameVolume();
 }
diff --git a/Services/Audio/AudioMixer.cs b/Services/Audio/AudioMixer.cs
index e63f8c0..d99a062 100644
--- a/Services/Audio/AudioMixer.cs
+++ b/Services/Audio/AudioMixer.cs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using ytLive.Helpers;
 using ytLive.Services;
 
 namespace ytLive.Services.Audio;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ public sealed class AudioMixer : IDisposable
     private float[]? _loopbackChunk;
     private float[]? _mixBuffer;
     private float[]? _delayedMix;
+    private DateTime _lastLoopErrorLogged = DateTime.MinValue;
 
     public AudioMixer(
         IAudioSource mic,
@@ -78,6 +80,7 @@ public sealed class AudioMixer : IDisposable
         _micChunk = new float[framesPerTick];
         _loopbackChunk = new float[framesPerTick * 2];
         _mixBuffer = new float[framesPerTick * 2];
+        _delayedMix = new float[framesPerTick * 2];
 
         _mic.Started += OnMicStarted;
         _mic.SampleReady += OnMicSample;
@@ -280,7 +283,18 @@ public sealed class AudioMixer : IDisposable
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
             {
-                _log?.Invoke($"Audio live loop error: {ex.Message}");
+                // Throttled + never on a dead session: the 2026-09-01 first-launch flood
+                // was one logged NRE every 10ms tick (see _delayedMix fix). Log at most
+                // once per 5s, and stop looping if the pipe writer is gone for good.
+                if (cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
+                    break;
+                var now = DateTime.UtcNow;
+                if (now - _lastLoopErrorLogged >= TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5))
+                {
+                    _lastLoopErrorLogged = now;
+                    AppLog.Write(ex, "Audio live loop error");
+                    _log?.Invoke($"Audio live loop error: {ex.Message}");
+                }
             }
 
             var delay = nextTick - DateTime.UtcNow;
@@ -343,8 +357,8 @@ public sealed class AudioMixer : IDisposable
         _masterLimiter.Process(mix);
 
         _syncDelay.Configure(_syncOffsetMs?.Invoke() ?? 0);
-        var delayed = _delayedMix!;
-        if (delayed.Length < mix.Length)
+        var delayed = _delayedMix;
+        if (delayed is null || delayed.Length < mix.Length)
             delayed = _delayedMix = new float[mix.Length];
         _syncDelay.Process(mix, delayed);
         Array.Copy(delayed, mix, mix.Length);
diff --git a/TASKS.md b/TASKS.md
index d84286c..7576b18 100644
--- a/TASKS.md
+++ b/TASKS.md
@@ -1127,11 +1127,12 @@ change. First GUI smoke test: add a short real mp4 on native Windows, confirm it
 3. ☑ UI: compact "SYNC" slider (0..500) on the mic bar with a status dot (green = no-op, amber = offset set) via `IntToSyncBrushConverter`.
 4. ☑ Persisted in `LayoutStore.Settings` (`Audio.SyncOffsetMs`) via `LoadAudioSyncOffsetMs`/`SaveAudioSyncOffsetMs`; saved from `SaveLayoutNow`.
 5. ☑ Tests: `AudioSyncDelayTests` — zero-delay identity, negative→0 clamp, >500 ms clamp to 500 ms, and 10 ms → 960 interleaved-sample shift.
+6. ⚠ **Post-ship regression (found 2026-09-01, first real launch):** this task's sync-delay line `_delayedMix` was declared nullable and never initialized — the first `delayed.Length` deref NRE'd EVERY live-mix tick, silently killing all live/record audio, hanging `AudioPipelineTests`, and being mislabeled a "known failure". Fixed in the recording-verification pass (init + null-check + throttled loop errors logged with stack); `AudioPipelineTests` 25/25 green afterward. Lesson recorded in MyMistakes.
 
 ### Design decisions
 
 - **Global offset first** — one setting for all audio sources. Per-source is v1.1+.
-- **Positive-only (delay audio)** — the physically-correct direction (audio runs ahead of the video). True "advance" needs a video-side delay and is tracked as per-source/advance in v1.1 (line 1388).
+- **Positive-only (delay audio)** — the physically-correct direction (audio runs ahead of the video). True "advance" needs a video-side delay and is PERMANENTLY OUT with per-source sync (TASKS.md → "Out of product" — v1.x phrasing retired 2026-09-01).
 - **Simple slider** — 0 to +500 ms, default 0. No numeric input needed.
 - **Visual feedback** — "sync OK" status dot shows when an offset is dialled in.
 
diff --git a/ai.md b/ai.md
index 5e7ee4b..c7bbeb2 100644
--- a/ai.md
+++ b/ai.md
@@ -126,18 +126,18 @@ the Socials fediverse-heal roundtrip, AboutHubTests, NotificationAreaIntegration
 GlobalHotkeyTests + HotkeyConfigTests (TASK 20), WebcamMenuGateTests (TASK 26), ChatLayerGateTests
 (TASK 27), BroadcastPullOutTests (TASK 29), DefaultRecordFolder fallback (TASK 30), WebView2ManagerTests
 (TASK 17), RecordingFileTests + OnAirSignTests (TASK 18), SessionTeardownTests (2026-09-01
-rollback) — **~250 total (exact whole-suite count not claimable — the full run hangs and
-`AudioPipelineTests` hangs even STANDALONE (confirmed 2026-09-01 — treat the class as
-un-runnable until the audio channel-init fix lands). Every other class passes individually
-through the Windows dotnet.exe host, including the real-`MainWindow`/RealApp tests — 247 pass
-was the last full-suite number (2026-08-31); since then: the ONE remaining known failure is
-`AudioPipelineTests.Mix_HonorsProviderGains…` (the creator-declared known, suspected WASAPI
-channel declaration/init), `RoundClipInteractionTests.Round_Clip_Corner_Is_Grabbable…` was
-root-caused and FIXED 2026-09-01 (two stale-test layers — namescoped `FindName` +
-`VisualTreeHelper.HitTest` used where `UIElement.InputHitTest` models input; see MyMistakes
-recipe; no product bug), and three tests were ADDED (locator dead-pin 404, EndBroadcast
-close-out, SessionTeardown rollback). "GUI suites can't run from here" was an overstatement —
-per-class Windows-host vstest runs them fine.)**
+rollback) — **ZERO known failures as of 2026-09-01. `AudioPipelineTests` 25/25 green in 26ms —
+the "known failing" `Mix_HonorsProviderGains…` and the class's notorious STANDALONE HANG shared
+one root cause: TASK 22's `_delayedMix` (nullable, never initialized) was dereferenced
+(`delayed.Length` on null) every live-mix tick — a swallowed NRE starved the pipe the tests
+read and flooded startup.log. Test was right, code drifted from the map's own contract
+(loopbackGain = GameAudioVolume — now honored; the "unity because loopback scales with the
+endpoint" assumption was disproven by the creator's 20%-volume meter observation). The former
+RoundClip "known failure" (stale-test layers: namescoped `FindName` + `VisualTreeHelper.HitTest`
+where `UIElement.InputHitTest` models input — see MyMistakes) was fixed the same day.
+Per-class runs through the Windows dotnet.exe host execute the RealApp/MainWindow suites fine;
+only the FULL-suite run still hangs (WASAPI teardown, pre-existing) — and the whole-suite
+"247 total" era count is stale; trust per-class results.**
 
 Reward-event capture (monetization awareness, see the Monetization section) will add its integration
 tests here when it ships: one real chat-poll payload containing all seven reward event types →