@Bencherished The problem seems to be with multiple-step volume adjustments, it works fine with system default stepping. Playback actually stops just before you get to the zero point - seems to be around 2 on a 76 scale. So when you increase again from the real zero up to 1, PA starts playback as expected - but as soon as you click once more to go up to 2, PA thinks it's arrived at the mute level and stops again. If you click up one step so it starts playing, and the tap the slider to a mid