diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/audioClockSource.test.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/audioClockSource.test.ts
index c3e4997b63..2a240e39d7 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/audioClockSource.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/audioClockSource.test.ts
@@ -323,17 +323,19 @@ describe("the audio the playhead follows", () => {
     expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(1.4);
   });
 
-  it("holds the playhead for a playing clip that has no data until it has some", async () => {
+  it("holds the playhead for a playing clip that has no data for the start wait, then plays on", async () => {
     await playStarved();
     stepFrames(1);
     const held = window.__player!.getTime();
-    stepFrames(5 * 60);
+    stepFrames(15);
     expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBe(held);
+    stepFrames(90);
+    expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(held + 0.5);
   });
 
   it("plays on from where it held once a clip's late data arrives", async () => {
     const late = await playStarved();
-    stepFrames(5 * 60);
+    stepFrames(10);
     const before = window.__player!.getTime();
     expect(before).toBeLessThan(0.1);
     late.readyState = 4;
diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/init.buffering.test.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/init.buffering.test.ts
index 68775d4c39..e4d6c08295 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/init.buffering.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/init.buffering.test.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,12 @@ function audio(id: string, duration: number, readyState: { value: number; buffer
   return el;
 }
 
-function playPodcast(voiceStart = 0, voiceTag = "audio", extraHtml = "") {
+function playPodcast(
+  voiceStart = 0,
+  voiceTag = "audio",
+  musicReadyState = 4,
+  extraHtml = "",
+) {
   resetRuntimeFixtureDom();
   document.body.innerHTML =
     '<div data-composition-id="main" data-root="true" data-duration="10">' +
@@ -37,7 +42,7 @@ function playPodcast(voiceStart = 0, voiceTag = "audio", extraHtml = "") {
     extraHtml +
     "</div>";
   const voiceReady: { value: number; bufferedTo?: number } = { value: 1 };
-  const music = audio("music", 10, { value: 4 });
+  const music = audio("music", 10, { value: musicReadyState });
   const voice = audio("voice", 4, voiceReady);
   window.__timelines = { main: createMockTimeline(10) };
 
@@ -67,19 +72,47 @@ function playPodcast(voiceStart = 0, voiceTag = "audio", extraHtml = "") {
   return { music, voice, voiceReady, states, playFor, step };
 }
 
-it("a track not ready pauses everything with Buffering, and resumes when it can play", () => {
+it("a track not ready at the start holds the playhead for 0.3 s at most, then plays on", () => {
   const { music, voice, voiceReady, states, playFor } = playPodcast();
 
-  playFor(1);
-  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeLessThan(0.1);
+  playFor(0.25);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeLessThan(0.05);
+  expect(music.paused).toBe(true);
+  expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: true });
+
+  playFor(1.25);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(0.9);
+  expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: false });
+
+  voiceReady.value = 4;
+  playFor(0.5);
+  expect(voice.paused).toBe(false);
+  expect(music.paused).toBe(false);
+});
+
+it("the track the playhead follows, cold at the start, holds it for 0.3 s at most too", () => {
+  const { states, playFor } = playPodcast(0, "audio", 1);
+
+  playFor(0.25);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeLessThan(0.05);
+  expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: true });
+
+  playFor(1.25);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(0.9);
+});
+
+it("a track not ready mid-film still pauses everything with Buffering, and resumes when it can play", () => {
+  const { music, voiceReady, states, playFor } = playPodcast(2);
+
+  playFor(2.5);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(1.9);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeLessThan(2.1);
   expect(music.paused).toBe(true);
   expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: true });
 
   voiceReady.value = 4;
   playFor(1);
-  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(0.9);
-  expect(music.paused).toBe(false);
-  expect(voice.paused).toBe(false);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(2.9);
   expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: false });
 });
 
@@ -93,16 +126,28 @@ it("the music plays on while a video shows a still across a copy swap", () => {
   expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: false });
 });
 
-it("a copy that never lands stops standing in, and the film waits for it", () => {
+it("a copy that never lands stops standing in, and the film waits for it through the start wait", () => {
   const { music, voice, states, playFor } = playPodcast(0, "video");
   heldPosters.set(voice, { poster: null, since: performance.now() - 60_000 });
 
-  playFor(1);
-  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeLessThan(0.1);
+  playFor(0.25);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeLessThan(0.05);
   expect(music.paused).toBe(true);
   expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: true });
 });
 
+it("after a start that ran on without data, the next clip without data holds again once the first one has it", () => {
+  const { voiceReady, states, playFor } = playPodcast();
+
+  playFor(1);
+  voiceReady.value = 4;
+  playFor(0.2);
+  expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: false });
+  voiceReady.value = 1;
+  playFor(0.2);
+  expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: true });
+});
+
 it("holds on the frame a slow tick skips into a clip with no data, after asking it to play", () => {
   const { voice, states, playFor, step } = playPodcast(0.5);
 
@@ -117,16 +162,16 @@ it("resumes for a held clip with data buffered ahead that reports only its curre
   vi.spyOn(navigator, "userAgent", "get").mockReturnValue(
     "AppleWebKit/605.1.15 Version/17.4 Safari/605.1.15",
   );
-  const { voiceReady, states, playFor } = playPodcast();
+  const { voiceReady, states, playFor } = playPodcast(0.5);
 
-  playFor(0.5);
+  playFor(0.6);
   voiceReady.value = 2;
   playFor(0.5);
   expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: true });
 
   voiceReady.bufferedTo = 2;
   playFor(1);
-  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(0.9);
+  expect(window.__player!.getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(1.1);
   expect(states.at(-1)).toEqual({ isPlaying: true, buffering: false });
 });
 
@@ -191,6 +236,7 @@ it("a hold for data does not reload a later clip", () => {
   const { voiceReady, playFor } = playPodcast(
     0,
     "video",
+    4,
     '<video id="later" data-track-index="0" data-start="9" data-duration="1" src="/later.mp4"></video>',
   );
   const later = document.getElementById("later") as HTMLVideoElement;
@@ -255,7 +301,7 @@ it("a video far behind the film lands on it when it starves", () => {
 it("a pause while buffering stays paused once the track is ready", () => {
   const { music, voiceReady, states, playFor } = playPodcast();
 
-  playFor(0.5);
+  playFor(0.2);
   window.__player!.pause();
   voiceReady.value = 4;
   playFor(1);
diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/init.test.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/init.test.ts
index e9ae584719..d40de2423a 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/init.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/init.test.ts
@@ -6406,7 +6406,7 @@ describe("initSandboxRuntimeModular", () => {
   describe("a voiceover routed through Web Audio", () => {
     const ctx = useMockAudioContext();
 
-    it("holds the timeline while the voiceover buffers instead of seeking it forward", async () => {
+    it("holds the timeline for the start wait while the voiceover buffers instead of seeking it forward", async () => {
       const raf = createManualRaf();
       vi.spyOn(performance, "now").mockImplementation(() => raf.now());
       window.requestAnimationFrame =
@@ -6426,7 +6426,7 @@ describe("initSandboxRuntimeModular", () => {
       await startPlayback();
       expect(ctx.mediaElementSources).toBe(1);
 
-      for (let frame = 0; frame < 120; frame++) {
+      for (let frame = 0; frame < 15; frame++) {
         ctx.time += 1 / 60;
         raf.step(1000 / 60);
       }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/init.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/init.ts
index 919ae49dcf..7264883405 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/init.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/init.ts
@@ -3444,6 +3444,11 @@ export function initSandboxRuntimeModular(): void {
   let lastSyncedMediaTimeSeconds: number | null = null;
   let mediaClipsInWindow: RuntimeMediaClip[] = [];
   // Clips due now that could not play: every track holds until they can, so none runs on alone.
+  // Play waits this long for a clip with no data, then runs on and lets the clip catch up; mid-film it holds.
+  const START_WAIT_MS = 300;
+  let startWaitUntilMs: number | null = null;
+  let catchingUp = false;
+  let resumingFromBuffering = false;
 
   // The one definition of "media the transport drives": timed itself, or hosted
   // by a composition whose timing it inherits. Both the media cache and the
@@ -4778,6 +4783,10 @@ export function initSandboxRuntimeModular(): void {
       flushHeldSeek();
       const resumingStarved = bufferingFor.length > 0;
       bufferingFor = [];
+      if (!resumingFromBuffering) {
+        startWaitUntilMs = performance.now() + START_WAIT_MS;
+        catchingUp = false;
+      }
       const tl = state.capturedTimeline;
       if (clock.isPlaying()) return;
       const dur = getSafeTimelineDurationSeconds(tl, 0);
@@ -4812,6 +4821,8 @@ export function initSandboxRuntimeModular(): void {
     pause: () => {
       const wasBuffering = bufferingFor.length > 0;
       bufferingFor = [];
+      startWaitUntilMs = null;
+      catchingUp = false;
       if (clock.isPlaying()) haltPlayback();
       else if (wasBuffering) postState(true);
     },
@@ -5661,6 +5672,13 @@ export function initSandboxRuntimeModular(): void {
         const source = followedOrLongestRunningAudio(clock.audioElement());
         if (source && !audioMayDrivePlayhead(source.el)) {
           if (clock.hasAudioSource()) clock.detachAudioSource();
+        } else if (
+          source &&
+          catchingUp &&
+          source.el.readyState < HTMLMediaElement.HAVE_FUTURE_DATA
+        ) {
+          // Past the start wait the playhead runs on its own clock while this track catches up.
+          if (clock.hasAudioSource()) clock.detachAudioSource();
         } else if (source && !source.el.paused) {
           clock.attachAudioSource({
             el: source.el,
@@ -5888,14 +5906,25 @@ export function initSandboxRuntimeModular(): void {
       }
       // After media sync, so a clip that just fell due was asked to play, and fetch, before it holds.
       const notReady = mediaNotReadyAt(state.currentTime);
-      if (clock.isPlaying() && notReady.length > 0) {
+      if (startWaitUntilMs !== null && performance.now() >= startWaitUntilMs) {
+        startWaitUntilMs = null;
+        catchingUp = notReady.length > 0;
+      }
+      if (notReady.length === 0) catchingUp = false;
+      if (clock.isPlaying() && notReady.length > 0 && !catchingUp) {
         bufferingFor = notReady;
         haltPlayback(true);
       } else if (
         bufferingFor.length > 0 &&
-        !mediaNotReadyAt(state.currentTime, canResumeFrom).some((el) => bufferingFor.includes(el))
+        (catchingUp ||
+          !mediaNotReadyAt(state.currentTime, canResumeFrom).some((el) => bufferingFor.includes(el)))
       ) {
-        transport.play();
+        resumingFromBuffering = true;
+        try {
+          transport.play();
+        } finally {
+          resumingFromBuffering = false;
+        }
       }
       postState(false);
     } finally {