diff --git a/Sources/TinyHand/TapSound.swift b/Sources/TinyHand/TapSound.swift
index ef83451..42886d0 100644
--- a/Sources/TinyHand/TapSound.swift
+++ b/Sources/TinyHand/TapSound.swift
@@ -16,58 +16,162 @@ enum TapSoundChoice: String, CaseIterable {
     }
 }
 
+/// Plays the tap sound. Every AVAudioEngine call runs on `queue`, never on the main thread:
+/// when another app reshapes the output device (Google Meet sharing a tab or screen with audio),
+/// the engine can fail every render cycle, and calls that wait on the render thread then stall
+/// for seconds. Off the main thread such a stall costs a missing tap sound, not a frozen pointer.
 final class TapSound {
-    private let engine = AVAudioEngine()
-    private let player = AVAudioPlayerNode()
-    private var buffers: [TapSoundChoice: AVAudioPCMBuffer] = [:]
+    private static let players = 4
+    private static let maxFramesToRender: AUAudioFrameCount = 4096
+
+    private let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "TinyHand tap sound", qos: .userInteractive)
+    private let buffers: [TapSoundChoice: AVAudioPCMBuffer]
+    private let format: AVAudioFormat
+
+    // Touched only on `queue`.
     private var choice: TapSoundChoice
+    private var engine: AVAudioEngine?
+    private var nodes: [AVAudioPlayerNode] = []
+    private var next = 0
+    private var generation = 0
+    private var configObserver: NSObjectProtocol?
     private var idleStop: DispatchWorkItem?
 
+    /// Read and written on the main thread.
     var enabled = true
 
     init(_ choice: TapSoundChoice = Preferences.tapSound) {
         self.choice = choice
+        var buffers: [TapSoundChoice: AVAudioPCMBuffer] = [:]
         for c in TapSoundChoice.allCases {
             if let buffer = TapSound.read(c) {
                 buffers[c] = buffer
             }
         }
-        engine.attach(player)
-        let format = buffers.values.first?.format ?? AVAudioFormat(standardFormatWithSampleRate: 44100, channels: 1)
-        engine.connect(player, to: engine.mainMixerNode, format: format)
-        engine.prepare()
+        self.buffers = buffers
+        format = buffers.values.first?.format ?? AVAudioFormat(standardFormatWithSampleRate: 44100, channels: 1)!
     }
 
     func load(_ choice: TapSoundChoice) {
-        self.choice = choice
+        queue.async { [weak self] in
+            self?.choice = choice
+        }
     }
 
     func warm() {
-        start()
+        queue.async { [weak self] in
+            self?.start()
+        }
     }
 
     func play() {
-        guard enabled, let buffer = buffers[choice] else {
+        guard enabled else {
             return
         }
-        start()
-        player.scheduleBuffer(buffer, at: nil, options: .interrupts)
-        if !player.isPlaying {
-            player.play()
+        queue.async { [weak self] in
+            self?.playNow()
         }
     }
 
-    private func start() {
-        if !engine.isRunning {
-            try? engine.start()
+    private func playNow() {
+        guard let buffer = buffers[choice], start(), !nodes.isEmpty else {
+            return
+        }
+        let node = nodes[next % nodes.count]
+        next += 1
+        let gen = generation
+        var rendered = false
+        let lock = NSLock()
+        node.scheduleBuffer(buffer, at: nil, options: [], completionCallbackType: .dataRendered) { _ in
+            lock.withLock { rendered = true }
         }
+        if !node.isPlaying {
+            node.play()
+        }
+        // A broken render loop never reaches the player, so the buffer is never rendered:
+        // throw the engine away and build a fresh one on the next tap.
+        let duration = Double(buffer.frameLength) / buffer.format.sampleRate
+        queue.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + duration + 1) { [weak self] in
+            guard let self = self, gen == self.generation, !lock.withLock({ rendered }) else {
+                return
+            }
+            Log.write("tap sound was not rendered; rebuilding the audio engine")
+            self.teardown()
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Makes sure a running engine exists. Builds a fresh one rather than resuming an old one,
+    /// so it picks up the output device's current buffer size. Returns false if it can't start.
+    @discardableResult
+    private func start() -> Bool {
+        scheduleIdleStop()
+        if let engine = engine, engine.isRunning {
+            return true
+        }
+        teardown()
+
+        let engine = AVAudioEngine()
+        var nodes: [AVAudioPlayerNode] = []
+        for _ in 0..<TapSound.players {
+            let node = AVAudioPlayerNode()
+            engine.attach(node)
+            engine.connect(node, to: engine.mainMixerNode, format: format)
+            nodes.append(node)
+        }
+        // Leave headroom for output devices that ask for more frames per cycle than the engine
+        // sized itself for (the cause of kAudioUnitErr_TooManyFramesToProcess).
+        for unit in nodes.map(\.auAudioUnit) + [engine.mainMixerNode.auAudioUnit]
+        where !unit.renderResourcesAllocated && unit.maximumFramesToRender < TapSound.maxFramesToRender {
+            unit.maximumFramesToRender = TapSound.maxFramesToRender
+        }
+        configObserver = NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
+            forName: .AVAudioEngineConfigurationChange, object: engine, queue: nil
+        ) { [weak self] _ in
+            self?.queue.async {
+                guard let self = self, self.engine === engine else {
+                    return
+                }
+                Log.write("audio configuration changed; rebuilding the audio engine")
+                self.teardown()
+            }
+        }
+        engine.prepare()
+        do {
+            try engine.start()
+        } catch {
+            Log.write("audio engine failed to start: \(error.localizedDescription)")
+            if let observer = configObserver {
+                NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(observer)
+                configObserver = nil
+            }
+            return false
+        }
+        self.engine = engine
+        self.nodes = nodes
+        return true
+    }
+
+    private func teardown() {
+        generation += 1
+        if let observer = configObserver {
+            NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(observer)
+            configObserver = nil
+        }
+        guard let engine = engine else {
+            return
+        }
+        self.engine = nil
+        nodes = []
+        engine.stop()
+    }
+
+    private func scheduleIdleStop() {
         idleStop?.cancel()
         let stop = DispatchWorkItem { [weak self] in
-            self?.player.stop()
-            self?.engine.pause()
+            self?.teardown()
         }
         idleStop = stop
-        DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 30, execute: stop)
+        queue.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 30, execute: stop)
     }
 
     private static func read(_ choice: TapSoundChoice) -> AVAudioPCMBuffer? {