Positive offsets still delay the whole mix via the delay line (lip-sync fix);
negative offsets now ARM once at StartLive and drop |N| ms off the pipe's write
head so audio events land earlier when audio runs BEHIND video. Slider relabeled
AUDIO SYNC, Min −500, locked while live/recording (IsEditMode). LayoutStore and
VM clamp to −500..500.
OBS reference for eat-the-head negative sync: https://obsproject.com/kb/obs-studio/buffering-time (negative sync values pull audio earlier by discarding buffered player audio).
Test: StartLive_NegativeOffset_AdvancesAudio_ByDroppingTheStreamHead (6x0.9 head
must be eaten before 0.2 bed reaches the wire).
Creator report 2026-09-01: with the desktop slider dragged to 20%, the game bar's
meter stayed pegged yellow/red. Root cause: the mic meter's formula (level x volume)
was cloned to the game bar WITHOUT the x-volume factor, and the clone inherited a
false premise — that WASAPI loopback capture tracks the endpoint volume. Tonight's
observation disproves it (the tap is pre-endpoint-volume), so both the meter (display)
and the mix (AudioGainProvider.LoopbackGain, fixed in 5ead064) must scale it themselves.
ai.md's two 'loopback scales with the slider' sentences corrected in the same pass.
Test seam: VolumePushOverride (internal static, mirrors LayoutPathOverride pattern) so
the test never hijacks the machine's real volume. GameMeterHonestyTests (RealApp +
temp DB): unity -> hot/red, 20% -> ~1/5 width/green, push observed.