diff --git a/context/wintesla-port.md b/context/wintesla-port.md
index 0260f8d..269263a 100644
--- a/context/wintesla-port.md
+++ b/context/wintesla-port.md
@@ -16,6 +16,21 @@ on top of it. Full detail: `docs/PROGRESS_LOG.md §5b, §8`.
 ## What WinTesla already did (do NOT rebuild)
 - **Renderer bypass: DONE** — `MUNGA_L4/L4D3D.cpp` + `DXUtils` replace libDPL / the IG board with
   Direct3D9. No `libdpl.lib` in the tree. (The early from-scratch D3D9 viewer was retired and removed.) [T1]
+- **Audio SOURCE BUDGET — dropouts in heavy combat, FIXED 2026-07-28** [T2]. Field report "audio
+  cutting in and out toward the end of the match"; night-5 logs carried **2017 `ACQUIRE FAILED` lines in
+  a single match, every one at `live=256`**. It is **NOT a leak** — the census sits at a healthy 45-60
+  live, spikes during firefights, and drains straight back, so the engine's priority steal loop
+  (`AudioSourceStop`/`SuspendMaintenance` → `ReleaseChannels` → `ReleaseSourceSet` →
+  `alDeleteSources`) works. The cause: `L4AudioRenderer` called `alcCreateContext(device, NULL)` with
+  **no attribute list**, so OpenAL Soft applied its DEFAULT budget of 256 mono sources — an OpenAL
+  default, unrelated to the 1995 audio hardware. A busy match logs ~7200 explosions × 3
+  `DPLIndependantEffect` voices each; while the pool is pinned every acquire fails and that sound is
+  dropped outright. FIX: pass `ALC_MONO_SOURCES` (default **1024**, `BT_AUDIO_SOURCES` overrides) and
+  **read back what was granted** — a request is not a promise. Measured: 1024→1024, 2048→2048, and
+  64→**240** (OpenAL Soft's own floor, which is why the NULL default landed at 256). Observed bursts
+  peaked at 226 against the old 256 cap, i.e. they were clipping the ceiling. Note the earlier
+  2026-07-23 fix (`a999e5c`, per-source delete instead of the spec-atomic bulk `alDeleteSources`) was
+  real and is still needed — it is what makes the pool drain; it just was not the ceiling problem.
 - **Audio: BACKEND now REAL + soundbank loaded; only game-triggering remains** [T2, updated
   2026-07-15]. OpenAL replaces the HMI "SOS" engine and the renderer→device→buffer→source→play chain
   IS all implemented (`L4AUDRND`/`L4AUDRES`/`L4AUDLVL`; `PatchLevelOfDetail::PlayNote` really calls
diff --git a/engine/MUNGA_L4/L4AUDRND.cpp b/engine/MUNGA_L4/L4AUDRND.cpp
index 09abb06..386aee4 100644
--- a/engine/MUNGA_L4/L4AUDRND.cpp
+++ b/engine/MUNGA_L4/L4AUDRND.cpp
@@ -380,8 +380,47 @@ void
 	ALCdevice *device = alcOpenDevice(NULL);
 	if (device)
 	{
-		ALCcontext *context = alcCreateContext(device,NULL);
+		// AUDIO DROPOUTS IN HEAVY COMBAT (field: "audio cutting in and out toward
+		// the end of the match"; night-5 logs show 2017 ACQUIRE FAILED lines in a
+		// single match, every one of them at live=256).
+		//
+		// We were passing NULL for the attribute list, so OpenAL Soft applied its
+		// DEFAULT budget of 256 mono sources -- an OpenAL default, nothing to do
+		// with the 1995 audio hardware.  The pool is not leaking: the night-5
+		// census sits at a healthy 45-60 live, spikes to the 256 ceiling during
+		// firefights, and drains straight back afterwards, so the engine's
+		// priority steal loop (AudioSourceStop/SuspendMaintenance -> ReleaseChannels
+		// -> ReleaseSourceSet) is doing its job.  It simply cannot keep up with the
+		// burst: a busy match logs ~7200 explosions, each spawning three
+		// DPLIndependantEffect voices, and while the pool is pinned every new
+		// acquire fails outright and that sound is silently dropped.
+		//
+		// Ask for a budget that fits the content.  OpenAL Soft mixes in software,
+		// so this costs mixing headroom, not hardware voices, and it clamps to what
+		// it can honour -- hence the read-back below rather than an assumption.
+		// BT_AUDIO_SOURCES overrides for A/B testing.
+		ALCint monoWanted = 1024;
+		if (const char *sv = getenv("BT_AUDIO_SOURCES"))
+		{
+			int n = atoi(sv);
+			if (n >= 64 && n <= 4096)
+				monoWanted = n;
+		}
+		ALCint attrs[5];
+		attrs[0] = ALC_MONO_SOURCES;   attrs[1] = monoWanted;
+		attrs[2] = ALC_STEREO_SOURCES; attrs[3] = 16;
+		attrs[4] = 0;
+		ALCcontext *context = alcCreateContext(device, attrs);
 		alcMakeContextCurrent(context);
+		// Report what the driver actually GRANTED -- a request is not a promise.
+		{
+			ALCint monoGot = 0, stereoGot = 0;
+			alcGetIntegerv(device, ALC_MONO_SOURCES,   1, &monoGot);
+			alcGetIntegerv(device, ALC_STEREO_SOURCES, 1, &stereoGot);
+			DEBUG_STREAM << "[audio] source budget: requested mono=" << monoWanted
+				<< " granted mono=" << monoGot << " stereo=" << stereoGot
+				<< std::endl << std::flush;
+		}
 		// Master volume: AL_GAIN on the listener scales EVERY source.  Default 0.6
 		// (the raw samples are hot).  Priority: BT_AUDIO_VOLUME env >
 		// content\volume.cfg (written by the runtime -/+ keys, issue #26) > 0.6.