diff --git a/MainWindow.xaml b/MainWindow.xaml
index 137b8bd..5b7b6ee 100644
--- a/MainWindow.xaml
+++ b/MainWindow.xaml
@@ -148,7 +148,9 @@
         </Grid>
 
 
-        <controls:AudioDock Grid.Row="3"/>
+        <!-- The dock starts where the layers panel ends: it is a preview-column control, not
+             a full-width footer (creator, 2026-10-30). -->
+        <controls:AudioDock Grid.Row="3" Grid.Column="1"/>
         <!-- ═══ OVERLAY: Settings / Bug / Feature / About ═══ -->
         <controls:OverlayHost Grid.RowSpan="3"/>
 
diff --git a/Models/AudioDockLayout.cs b/Models/AudioDockLayout.cs
index 3e71d9a..4c83a9f 100644
--- a/Models/AudioDockLayout.cs
+++ b/Models/AudioDockLayout.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ namespace ytLive.Models;
 
 /// <summary>How tall the audio dock should be for a given window height.
 ///
-/// <para>Creator ruling (2026-10-30): the dock is 168px on a normal window and collapses to a 36px
+/// <para>Creator ruling (2026-10-30): the dock is 148px on a normal window and collapses to a 36px
 /// telemetry strip when the window is short, because at 1366×768 a full dock leaves ~398px for the
 /// preview and the composition starts letterboxing into a postage stamp.</para>
 ///
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ public static class AudioDockLayout
     /// default window is 1040, so a normal launch shows the full dock.</summary>
     public const double CollapseBelowHeight = 900;
 
-    public const double ExpandedHeight = 168;
+    /// <summary>148 = 112 of bays + the 36px master strip. The mockup wanted 168; the creator
+    /// read that as wasted space under a 154px scene strip, so the bays lost 20px of air.</summary>
+    public const double ExpandedHeight = 148;
     public const double CollapsedHeight = 36;
 
     public static bool IsCollapsed(double windowHeight) => windowHeight < CollapseBelowHeight;
diff --git a/ytLive.Tests/AudioDockLayoutTests.cs b/ytLive.Tests/AudioDockLayoutTests.cs
index 144d611..015dc11 100644
--- a/ytLive.Tests/AudioDockLayoutTests.cs
+++ b/ytLive.Tests/AudioDockLayoutTests.cs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ public class AudioDockLayoutTests
         Assert.True(AudioDockLayout.IsCollapsed(AudioDockLayout.CollapseBelowHeight - 1));
 
         // The two heights are the design's numbers, not whatever looked fine.
-        Assert.Equal(168, AudioDockLayout.ExpandedHeight);
+        Assert.Equal(148, AudioDockLayout.ExpandedHeight);   // 112 bays + 36 strip
         Assert.Equal(36, AudioDockLayout.CollapsedHeight);
     }
 }