diff --git a/packages/core/src/audioGroups.test.ts b/packages/core/src/audioGroups.test.ts
index bf64af486..59361ce34 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/audioGroups.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/audioGroups.test.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import {
   audioGroupOf,
   HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR,
+  isMemberGroupHidden,
   resolveAudioGroups,
   resolveCarveSourceIds,
+  resolveGroupElement,
 } from "./audioGroups.js";
 
 beforeEach(() => {
@@ -158,3 +160,68 @@ describe(HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR, () => {
     expect(HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR).toBe("data-audio-group");
   });
 });
+
+describe("resolveGroupElement", () => {
+  const doc = (html: string): Document => {
+    const d = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("t");
+    d.body.innerHTML = html;
+    return d;
+  };
+
+  it("returns the bus for a real <hf-audio-group>", () => {
+    const d = doc(`<hf-audio-group id="vo" data-volume="0.5"></hf-audio-group>`);
+    expect(resolveGroupElement(d, "vo")?.tagName.toLowerCase()).toBe("hf-audio-group");
+  });
+
+  // The trap: a bare getElementById read a member's OWN fader and chain as the
+  // bus's, applying both a second time on the sub-mix.
+  it("refuses an <audio> sharing the group id", () => {
+    const d = doc(`<audio id="vo" data-audio-group="vo" data-volume="0.5"></audio>`);
+    expect(resolveGroupElement(d, "vo")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("refuses an unrelated element sharing the group id", () => {
+    const d = doc(`<div id="bg" data-hidden></div>`);
+    expect(resolveGroupElement(d, "bg")).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
+
+describe("isMemberGroupHidden", () => {
+  const doc = (html: string): Document => {
+    const d = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("t");
+    d.body.innerHTML = html;
+    return d;
+  };
+
+  // Membership is on the MEMBER, so the bus is never an ancestor and
+  // `closest("[data-hidden]")` cannot see it.
+  it("sees a muted bus that does not nest its member", () => {
+    const d = doc(
+      `<hf-audio-group id="vo" data-hidden></hf-audio-group>
+       <div><audio id="vo-1" data-audio-group="vo"></audio></div>`,
+    );
+    const member = d.getElementById("vo-1");
+    expect(member?.closest("[data-hidden]")).toBeNull();
+    expect(isMemberGroupHidden(d, member)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("is false for an unmuted bus and for a member with no group", () => {
+    const d = doc(
+      `<hf-audio-group id="vo"></hf-audio-group>
+       <audio id="vo-1" data-audio-group="vo"></audio>
+       <audio id="lone"></audio>`,
+    );
+    expect(isMemberGroupHidden(d, d.getElementById("vo-1"))).toBe(false);
+    expect(isMemberGroupHidden(d, d.getElementById("lone"))).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("resolveCarveSourceIds — empty group", () => {
+  it("drops an empty group's own bus id instead of returning it as a clip", () => {
+    const d = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("t");
+    d.body.innerHTML = `<hf-audio-group id="voiceover"></hf-audio-group>`;
+    // No members, so the group resolves to nothing; its element must not pass
+    // the existence check as if it were a clip the analysis could read.
+    expect(resolveCarveSourceIds(d, ["voiceover"])).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/core/src/audioGroups.ts b/packages/core/src/audioGroups.ts
index b3c8e7a3f..a83bd3972 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/audioGroups.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/audioGroups.ts
@@ -68,6 +68,47 @@ function buildGroup(id: string, memberIds: string[], el: Element | undefined): H
  * (label = id) so a hand-authored composition degrades gracefully. Audio
  * only in v1 — a `data-audio-group` on a `<video>` is ignored.
  */
+/**
+ * The `<hf-audio-group>` element for a group id, or null.
+ *
+ * Tag-checked, which a bare `getElementById` is not. Every group attribute —
+ * the fader, the mute, the FX chain, the automation lane — is read off whatever
+ * this returns, so an unrelated element sharing the id used to be read as a bus:
+ * an `<audio id="vo" data-audio-group="vo" data-volume="0.5" data-fx-chain=…>`
+ * had its own fader and chain applied a SECOND time on the bus, and a
+ * `<div id="bg" data-hidden>` silenced group "bg" in preview only. The render
+ * never had this problem — `resolveAudioGroups` only ever accepted the tag —
+ * so the two disagreed on exactly the attributes the bus exists to carry.
+ *
+ * Returning null is the documented "group with no element" case, which
+ * degrades to a flat sum rather than borrowing a stranger's settings.
+ */
+export function resolveGroupElement(
+  doc: Pick<Document, "getElementById"> | null | undefined,
+  groupId: string,
+): Element | null {
+  const el = doc?.getElementById(groupId) ?? null;
+  if (!el) return null;
+  return el.tagName?.toLowerCase() === HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG ? el : null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether the bus a member belongs to is muted.
+ *
+ * Membership is held by the MEMBER's `data-audio-group`; a group never nests
+ * its members. So `el.closest("[data-hidden]")` cannot see a muted bus, which
+ * is how the render came to drop a hidden group's members while the preview
+ * fallback played them at full level.
+ */
+export function isMemberGroupHidden(
+  doc: Pick<Document, "getElementById"> | null | undefined,
+  el: Element | null | undefined,
+): boolean {
+  const groupId = el?.getAttribute?.(HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR);
+  if (!groupId) return false;
+  return resolveGroupElement(doc, groupId)?.hasAttribute("data-hidden") ?? false;
+}
+
 export function resolveAudioGroups(root: ParentNode): HfAudioGroup[] {
   const membersByGroup = new Map<string, string[]>();
   for (const member of root.querySelectorAll(`audio[${HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR}]`)) {
@@ -114,7 +155,11 @@ export function resolveCarveSourceIds(doc: Document, ids: readonly string[]): st
     const group = groupsById.get(id);
     if (group) {
       group.memberIds.forEach(add);
-    } else if (doc.getElementById(id)) {
+    } else if (doc.getElementById(id) && !resolveGroupElement(doc, id)) {
+      // A group with no members resolves to no entry above, and its own bus
+      // element would then pass this existence check and be returned as if it
+      // were a clip — a source the analysis can only fail to find, which the
+      // docblock above promises is dropped.
       add(id);
     }
   }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/media.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/media.ts
index 26d760f57..690273024 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/media.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/media.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { interpolateVolumeGain, type VolumeKeyframe } from "./mediaVolumeEnvelop
 import { elementVolumeLaneGain } from "./audioAutomationVolume.js";
 import { readElementPlaybackRate, readMediaStart } from "./playbackRate.js";
 import { clampAudioGain } from "../audioGain.js";
+import { isMemberGroupHidden } from "../audioGroups.js";
 import { findInjectedRenderFrame } from "./renderFrameSibling.js";
 export { readElementPlaybackRate, resolveNaturalMediaTimelineDuration } from "./playbackRate.js";
 
@@ -325,8 +326,13 @@ export function syncRuntimeMedia(params: {
       // `audio-track-mute` canary — see init.ts). Folded into the per-tick
       // volume, not el.muted (RULES trap: el.muted is the transport's ownership
       // flag).
+      // Two independent ways to be silent, and the second is not an ancestor
+      // question: membership lives on the MEMBER's `data-audio-group`, so a
+      // muted BUS is invisible to `closest()`. The render drops such members
+      // (`memberGroupHidden`), so without this the export was silent where the
+      // fallback played at full level.
       const silencedByHidden = params.silenceHiddenAudio
-        ? el.closest("[data-hidden]") !== null
+        ? el.closest("[data-hidden]") !== null || isMemberGroupHidden(el.ownerDocument, el)
         : false;
       const effectiveVolume = silencedByHidden ? 0 : clampVolume(authorVolume * userVol);
       el.volume = effectiveVolume;
diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/webAudioTransport.test.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/webAudioTransport.test.ts
index 411e36314..dbf2b5998 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/webAudioTransport.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/webAudioTransport.test.ts
@@ -751,6 +751,38 @@ describe("WebAudioTransport", () => {
     // The media-element transport is the PRIMARY path for audio — the runtime
     // tries it first and only falls back to a decoded buffer. It has to reach
     // the same bus, or grouping silently applies to nothing that actually plays.
+    // The render clamps a track volume with `clampAudioGain` (ceiling ~3.98),
+    // so an over-unity bus previewed at 1.0 exported up to 12 dB louder than
+    // it auditioned.
+    it("previews an over-unity bus fader at the render's ceiling, not unity", async () => {
+      const { transport, mock, gen } = setupGroupTransport();
+      document.body.innerHTML = `<hf-audio-group id="vo" data-volume="2"></hf-audio-group>`;
+      await scheduleGrouped(transport, gen, "a", "vo");
+
+      // Creation order: a-gain(0), groupInput(1), groupOutput(2), muteGain(3), fader(4).
+      expect(mock.gainNodes[4]!.gain.value).toBeCloseTo(2, 6);
+    });
+
+    it("still floors a negative bus fader at zero", async () => {
+      const { transport, mock, gen } = setupGroupTransport();
+      document.body.innerHTML = `<hf-audio-group id="vo" data-volume="-1"></hf-audio-group>`;
+      await scheduleGrouped(transport, gen, "a", "vo");
+
+      expect(mock.gainNodes[4]!.gain.value).toBe(0);
+    });
+
+    // A bare getElementById read a member's own fader and chain as the bus's.
+    it("ignores a non-<hf-audio-group> element sharing the group id", async () => {
+      const { transport, mock, gen } = setupGroupTransport();
+      document.body.innerHTML = `<div id="vo" data-volume="0.25" data-hidden></div>`;
+      await scheduleGrouped(transport, gen, "a", "vo");
+
+      // Flat bus: unity fader, unmuted — the documented "group with no element"
+      // degradation, not the stranger's settings.
+      expect(mock.gainNodes[4]!.gain.value).toBe(1);
+      expect(mock.gainNodes[3]!.gain.value).toBe(1);
+    });
+
     it("routes a grouped clip's MEDIA-ELEMENT playback to the group bus, not master", async () => {
       const { transport, mock, gen } = setupGroupTransport();
       const el = groupedAudioEl("vo-1", "vo");
diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/webAudioTransport.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/webAudioTransport.ts
index 024160590..6874288ce 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/webAudioTransport.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/webAudioTransport.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import {
   type AutomationTiming,
 } from "../audio/audioFxAutomation.js";
 import { VOLUME_RANGE } from "../audioAutomation.js";
-import { audioGroupOf, readAudioGroupVolume } from "../audioGroups.js";
+import { audioGroupOf, readAudioGroupVolume, resolveGroupElement } from "../audioGroups.js";
 import { swallow } from "./diagnostics";
 import { clampAudioGain } from "../audioGain.js";
 import { getDebugSurface } from "./globals.js";
@@ -18,15 +18,20 @@ function normalizeRate(rate: number): number {
 }
 
 /**
- * The render puts every track volume through its own `clampVolume` before
- * building the filter, so an authored `<hf-audio-group data-volume="2">`
- * renders at unity. Preview has to agree or the two diverge on exactly the
- * attribute this bus exists to honour — and a negative value would invert
- * polarity in preview while rendering silent. Compositions are hand-authorable,
- * so out-of-range values do not need the studio slider to be reachable.
+ * The render puts every track volume through `clampVolume`, which is
+ * `clampAudioGain` — ceiling MAX_AUDIO_GAIN (+12 dB, ~3.98), not unity. Preview
+ * has to agree or the two diverge on exactly the attribute this bus exists to
+ * honour: an authored `<hf-audio-group data-volume="2">` previewed at 1.0 and
+ * exported at 2.0, up to 6 dB quieter in the audition than in the file, and
+ * 12 dB at the ceiling. Preview was also self-inconsistent — the same
+ * parameter's automation lane is bounded by `VOLUME_RANGE.max`, which IS
+ * MAX_AUDIO_GAIN, so an envelope could reach 3.98 where the static fader could
+ * not pass 1.0. `clampAudioGain` still floors at 0, so a negative value cannot
+ * invert polarity in preview while rendering silent. Compositions are
+ * hand-authorable, so out-of-range values do not need a slider to be reachable.
  */
 function clampGroupVolume(volume: number): number {
-  return Math.max(0, Math.min(1, volume));
+  return clampAudioGain(volume);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -357,7 +362,13 @@ export class WebAudioTransport {
     const output = this._ctx.createGain();
     output.connect(this._masterGain);
 
-    const groupEl = doc.getElementById(groupId);
+    // Tag-checked, and re-resolved on every reanchor below rather than frozen:
+    // a bus whose element does not exist yet (studio group creation, or a
+    // sub-composition that loads later) kept the `getAttribute: () => null`
+    // stub for the whole session, so its fader, chain and mute never reached
+    // preview while the export honoured all three.
+    const resolveEl = (): Element | null => resolveGroupElement(doc, groupId);
+    const groupEl = resolveEl();
     const muteGain = this._ctx.createGain();
     muteGain.gain.value = groupEl?.hasAttribute("data-hidden") ? 0 : 1;
     muteGain.connect(output);
@@ -393,9 +404,12 @@ export class WebAudioTransport {
         // the previous pass's ramps still owning the param (for a fade-out,
         // silence) for the rest of the session.
         clearParamLane([{ param: fader.gain }]);
-        fader.gain.value = clampGroupVolume(readAudioGroupVolume(groupEl));
+        // Re-resolved, not the element captured at build time — see `resolveEl`.
+        const live = resolveEl();
+        fader.gain.value = clampGroupVolume(readAudioGroupVolume(live));
+        muteGain.gain.value = live?.hasAttribute("data-hidden") ? 0 : 1;
         fx?.reanchor(at);
-        if (groupEl) scheduleVolumeLane(groupEl, fader, at);
+        if (live) scheduleVolumeLane(live, fader, at);
       },
       dispose: () => {
         try {