diff --git a/packages/core/src/audio/audioFxWorklets.test.ts b/packages/core/src/audio/audioFxWorklets.test.ts
index c6353f9cae..c246adf4c0 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/audio/audioFxWorklets.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/audio/audioFxWorklets.test.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,22 @@ describe("the worklet processors themselves", () => {
     }
   });
 
+  describe("HfBitcrush", () => {
+    it("does not open with silence when its hold counter starts part-way through a hold", async () => {
+      const HfBitcrush = (await loadProcessors()).get("hf-bitcrush");
+      if (!HfBitcrush) throw new Error("hf-bitcrush not registered");
+      // 251 frames in with a hold of 250: one frame into a hold, with 249 left before the next sample.
+      const p = new HfBitcrush({
+        processorOptions: { bits: 8, samples: 250, mix: 1, __hfElapsed: 251 / 48000 },
+      });
+      const input = new Float32Array(128).fill(0.5);
+      const output = new Float32Array(128);
+      p.process([[input]], [[output]]);
+      expect(Math.abs(output[0] ?? 0)).toBeGreaterThan(0.4);
+      expect(output.every((x) => Math.abs(x) > 0.4)).toBe(true);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe("HfPitchshift", () => {
     const SR = 48000;
     const BLOCK = 128;
diff --git a/packages/core/src/audio/audioFxWorklets.ts b/packages/core/src/audio/audioFxWorklets.ts
index fba4d3de12..d3056567c6 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/audio/audioFxWorklets.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/audio/audioFxWorklets.ts
@@ -208,7 +208,8 @@ class HfBitcrush extends AudioWorkletProcessor {
     const mix = p.mix ?? 1;
     for (let ch = 0; ch < i.length; ch++) {
       const inp = i[ch], out = o[ch];
-      if (this.held[ch] === undefined) this.held[ch] = 0;
+      // Primed from the input: a counter seeded mid-hold would otherwise play 0 until it wraps.
+      if (this.held[ch] === undefined) this.held[ch] = Math.round(inp[0] * levels) / levels;
       // The hold counter runs from the file's first sample, so a node built part-way in starts where it would be.
       if (this.holds[ch] === undefined) this.holds[ch] = this.start % step;
       for (let n = 0; n < inp.length; n++) {
diff --git a/packages/core/stubs/audio-fx-runtime-entry.ts b/packages/core/stubs/audio-fx-runtime-entry.ts
index 4bd56f9d5a..0df9511eec 100644
--- a/packages/core/stubs/audio-fx-runtime-entry.ts
+++ b/packages/core/stubs/audio-fx-runtime-entry.ts
@@ -98,14 +98,15 @@ async function render(
   // A lookahead limiter delays its output; render that much longer and drop the
   // lead-in so the clip stays sample-aligned with its source.
   const latency = chainLatencySamples(chain, sampleRate);
-  const ctx = new OfflineAudioContext(channels, frames + tail + latency, sampleRate);
+  const total = frames + tail + latency;
+  const ctx = new OfflineAudioContext(channels, total, sampleRate);
 
   if (chainNeedsWorklets(chain)) await ensureAudioFxWorklets(ctx);
 
   const source = ctx.createBufferSource();
-  // Padded with silence by the limiter's lookahead: once a source ends its worklets stop being
-  // fed, so without it the last `latency` samples of the clip never leave the lookahead line.
-  source.buffer = toBuffer(ctx, planes, channels, frames + latency, sampleRate);
+  // Padded with silence for the whole render: once a source ends its worklets stop being fed, so
+  // anything still held in a lookahead line or a grain ring would never leave it.
+  source.buffer = toBuffer(ctx, planes, channels, total, sampleRate);
 
   const fx = buildFxChain(ctx, chain, elapsed);
 
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/services/audioFxRender.test.ts b/packages/engine/src/services/audioFxRender.test.ts
index eec49fb363..488c5e0a98 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/services/audioFxRender.test.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/services/audioFxRender.test.ts
@@ -1139,6 +1139,35 @@ describe("windowed rendering of a long input", () => {
     120_000,
   );
 
+  it.skipIf(!HAS_BROWSER)(
+    "a pitch shifter keeps the last 90 ms of its input",
+    async () => {
+      const input = join(dir, "ps.wav");
+      const frames = Math.round(0.4 * SR);
+      writeWav(input, new Float32Array(frames).fill(0.3), SR, 1, true);
+      const out = join(dir, "ps-out.wav");
+      const chain: HfAudioFxChain = {
+        version: 1,
+        nodes: [
+          {
+            type: "pitchshift",
+            id: "p",
+            enabled: true,
+            params: { ...defaultAudioFxParams("pitchshift"), semitones: 7, mix: 1 },
+          },
+        ],
+      };
+      await applyAudioFxChain(input, chain, out, { trackId: "ps" });
+      const samples = readWav(out).samples;
+      // The shifter reads up to a grain behind its write head, so the last 90 ms of the clip comes
+      // out after the input ends. A steady level stays steady, so quiet there is dropped audio.
+      expect(samples.length).toBeGreaterThan(frames);
+      expect(sliceRms(samples, 0.31, 0.4)).toBeGreaterThan(0.2);
+      expect(sliceRms(samples, 0.4, 0.45)).toBeGreaterThan(0.1);
+    },
+    120_000,
+  );
+
   it.skipIf(!HAS_BROWSER)(
     "bakes a volume envelope on the file's own clock across window boundaries",
     async () => {