diff --git a/dm/host/hle_audio.c b/dm/host/hle_audio.c
index 0483c146ad..5d378265f4 100644
--- a/dm/host/hle_audio.c
+++ b/dm/host/hle_audio.c
@@ -74,7 +74,10 @@ static void *event_notify(void *p) {
         dispatch_semaphore_wait(a->notify_sem, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER);
         if (atomic_exchange_explicit(&a->notify_pending, 0, memory_order_acq_rel) && a->event)
             hle_signal_system_event(a->event);
-        atomic_store_explicit(&a->notify_armed, 0, memory_order_release);
+        // Acquire a producer that saw the old armed=1, so the pending recheck
+        // cannot miss its release. Otherwise the producer or our re-arm posts.
+        // A release-only store permits pending=1/armed=0 with both sides asleep.
+        atomic_exchange_explicit(&a->notify_armed, 0, memory_order_acq_rel);
         if (!atomic_load_explicit(&a->notify_run, memory_order_acquire)) break;
         if (atomic_load_explicit(&a->notify_pending, memory_order_acquire) &&
             atomic_exchange_explicit(&a->notify_armed, 1, memory_order_acq_rel) == 0)
diff --git a/dm/host/tests/t_audio_stats.c b/dm/host/tests/t_audio_stats.c
index 435f5e06a4..3c7824bfbb 100644
--- a/dm/host/tests/t_audio_stats.c
+++ b/dm/host/tests/t_audio_stats.c
@@ -59,7 +59,16 @@ static int render(void *out, int count, int with_pcm) {
         if (with_pcm && !h_au_Append(out, &b)) return 0;
         AudioBufferList bl = {.mNumberBuffers = 1, .mBuffers = {{2, frames * 4, played}}};
         in_callback = 1; au_render(a, NULL, NULL, 0, frames, &bl); in_callback = 0;
-        if (with_pcm && ((a->event && !wait_for(released_event)) || memcmp(input, played, (size_t)frames * 4) || h_au_Released(out) != &b)) return 0;
+        if (with_pcm) {
+            int woke = !a->event || wait_for(released_event);
+            int same = !memcmp(input, played, (size_t)frames * 4);
+            gbuf *returned = woke && same ? h_au_Released(out) : NULL;
+            if (!woke || !same || returned != &b) {
+                printf("release handoff %d/%d: event=%d PCM=%d buffer=%d pending=%d armed=%d\n",
+                       i + 1, count, woke, same, returned == &b, atomic_load(&a->notify_pending), atomic_load(&a->notify_armed));
+                return 0;
+            }
+        }
     }
     return 1;
 }
@@ -103,6 +112,16 @@ int main(void) {
     CHECK(atomic_load(&reports) == 5, "the watchdog logs its copied report after the output was freed");
     CHECK(!atomic_load(&signals), "statistics wakes never signal a guest buffer-release event");
     CHECK(!atomic_load(&callback_io), "all callback paths remain free of diagnostic stdio");
+
+    // One buffer per event repeatedly crosses the notifier's disarm/recheck
+    // boundary. Bulk PCM stress can coalesce releases and miss a stranded wake.
+    atomic_store(&signals, 0);
+    CHECK(!h_au_OpenDef(out, ev, prm), "open output for release-handoff stress");
+    atomic_store(&ao(out)->state, STATE_STARTED);
+    CHECK(render(out, 100000, 1), "every individual release handoff makes progress");
+    CHECK(atomic_load(&signals) == 100000, "all 100000 event-driven buffers are released");
+    CHECK(!atomic_load(&callback_io), "release-handoff stress keeps diagnostics off the callback");
+    h_au_Close(out);
     dispatch_release(report_entered); dispatch_release(report_allow); dispatch_release(report_done); dispatch_release(released_event);
     printf("audio callback statistics: %d checks, %d failures\n", checks, failures);
     return failures != 0;
diff --git a/dm/tools/impact_map.tsv b/dm/tools/impact_map.tsv
index 4961987623..96ef450bd0 100644
--- a/dm/tools/impact_map.tsv
+++ b/dm/tools/impact_map.tsv
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ dm/gfx/tools/uepak.py	shader:stage:*	Unreal archive input to shader scanning
 dm/host/romfs_image.h	hle:*fs*	RomFS image index validation shared by mounts and iOS startup
 dm/host/romfs_identity.h	*:*	RomFS identity checks at iOS startup for every game's separate deployment
 dm/host/hle_fs.c	hle:*fs*	filesystem mounts, paths and file operations
+dm/host/hle_audio.c:(notify_release|event_notify)	hle:*AudioOutE*	guest AudioOut buffer-release notifications; the host renderer uses rel_sem
 dm/host/save_sync.*	hle:*fs*	cloud saves: the first save mount and every Commit (hle_fs.c)
 dm/host/Makefile	*:*	the shared host build
 dm/host/hle_thread.c	svc:*	threads and synchronization
diff --git a/docs/agents/symptoms.md b/docs/agents/symptoms.md
index 25c8ec2b3d..c162922134 100644
--- a/docs/agents/symptoms.md
+++ b/docs/agents/symptoms.md
@@ -297,6 +297,7 @@ One line per symptom in the [subsystem references](../reference/): what you see
 - no music and no sound effects, only the movies' sound (the log repeats `audren: first-frame commands …` every frame and never prints `DeviceSink inputs`). → [SDK 8: command IDs numbered differently](../reference/audio.md#sdk-8-command-ids-numbered-differently)
 - no sound; red `audren: command 0 in the command list is malformed (first word 0x181901 size 0)`. → [SDK 21 DSP command header without a magic](../reference/audio.md#sdk-21-dsp-command-header-without-a-magic)
 - RealtimeSanitizer reports stdio locking in `au_render` at its 2,000-callback diagnostic boundary. A busy log writer can block that callback even when its PCM queue is full. → [Periodic diagnostics outside the AudioUnit callback](../reference/audio.md#periodic-diagnostics-outside-the-audiounit-callback)
+- PCM is consumed correctly and its buffer reaches the released queue, but the guest release event never arrives. The notifier is asleep with `notify_pending=1` and `notify_armed=0`. → [AudioOut release notification can sleep with pending work](../reference/audio.md#audioout-release-notification-can-sleep-with-pending-work)
 - FMOD waits for buffer release after stopping an AudioOut, hanging the game during a scene transition. → [Stopping an AudioOut releases its pending buffers](../reference/audio.md#stopping-an-audioout-releases-its-pending-buffers)
 - crackling on iOS only. → [RemoteIO's default I/O buffer duration](../reference/audio.md#remoteios-default-io-buffer-duration)
 - clicks and dropouts on the Mac, heard as clipping; the log's `audio #N device callbacks` lines show hundreds of underruns per 2000 callbacks. Closing an output can also log `[RED] audio device buffer: ... (status 560947818)` (`!obj`). → [The Mac's default I/O buffer](../reference/audio.md#the-macs-default-io-buffer)
diff --git a/docs/reference/audio.md b/docs/reference/audio.md
index 9275ca93f0..45db5553bd 100644
--- a/docs/reference/audio.md
+++ b/docs/reference/audio.md
@@ -181,6 +181,14 @@ For a replaced DSP renderer the size query keeps the service's work-buffer contr
 - **Found on:** the [synthetic real-time audio audit in issue #313](https://github.com/seedds/nxnative/issues/313#issuecomment-6523656102). No particular game's audible failure is attributed to this finding.
 - **Check:** `t_audio_stats` calls the real callback with synthetic PCM and traps callback-thread stdio, including its stream lock. With the watchdog's writer deliberately blocked, each PCM buffer still triggers its guest release event and is refilled correctly; queued and merged reports preserve their fields. Close drains a second pending snapshot while the watchdog holds only a local copy, which it logs after the output was freed. Statistics alone cause no guest event. The fixture needs no sound device or game files.
 
+### AudioOut release notification can sleep with pending work
+
+- **Symptom:** PCM is consumed correctly and its buffer reaches the released queue, but the guest release event never arrives. The notifier is asleep with `notify_pending=1` and `notify_armed=0`.
+- **Cause:** the notifier cleared `notify_armed` with a release-only store before checking `notify_pending`. A producer could publish pending work and see the old armed value, leaving the notifier to wake itself; without acquiring that producer's exchange, the notifier could read stale pending state and sleep. Apple-silicon code generated a store-release followed by acquire-PC loads, which permit this ordering.
+- **Fix:** disarm with an acquire-release exchange. If the producer's armed exchange precedes it, the notifier acquires the pending publication. Otherwise the producer sees zero and posts, or finds the notifier already re-armed with its own semaphore post. No timeout, polling, callback logging or audio pacing changes are needed.
+- **Found on:** shared CI's `t_audio_stats` ASan/UBSan fixture, reproduced locally without a sound device or game. This is a general AudioOut mechanism; no gameplay reproduction is claimed.
+- **Check:** the existing blocked-diagnostics cases remain intact. The fixture also renders and individually reclaims 100,000 event-driven PCM buffers, so releases cannot be hidden by bulk notification coalescing. The old notifier naturally strands a release in this case; diagnostics distinguish event delivery, PCM contents and returned-buffer identity without retrying the failed wait.
+
 ### Stopping an AudioOut releases its pending buffers
 
 - **Symptom:** FMOD waits for buffer release after stopping an AudioOut, hanging the game during a scene transition.