diff --git a/services/capture/src/capture-manager.js b/services/capture/src/capture-manager.js
index 1f022a7..528d2d1 100644
--- a/services/capture/src/capture-manager.js
+++ b/services/capture/src/capture-manager.js
@@ -732,11 +732,17 @@ class CaptureManager {
           '-video_size', fcSize,
           '-framerate',  fcFps,
           '-i', 'pipe:0',
-          // Audio FIFO → ffmpeg input 1. Wallclock timestamps + master
-          // aresample=async=1 is the proven-clean A/V config; both inputs must
-          // start from the live edge (see the fc_pipe + audio flush at record
-          // start) so aresample has minimal correction to do.
-          '-use_wallclock_as_timestamps', '1',
+          // Audio FIFO → ffmpeg input 1.
+          //
+          // Do NOT use -use_wallclock_as_timestamps here. The bridge feeds raw
+          // s16le at a steady 48000 samples/s off the SAME SDI clock as video,
+          // so letting ffmpeg derive audio PTS from the sample count keeps audio
+          // and video in one clock domain (no drift). Wallclock stamps audio by
+          // arrival wall-time instead — when the HEVC encoder dips under realtime
+          // the audio ends up 3–18% LONGER than the frame-count video, and the
+          // master aresample=async=1 then pads seconds of LEADING SILENCE to
+          // "align" them → the silent-head + start-stutter + apparent "no audio"
+          // regression (reverts commit d6b0b3a; restores 8e5405c/55a72af).
           '-thread_queue_size', '512',
           '-f', 's16le',
           '-ar', '48000',
diff --git a/services/mam-api/src/routes/recorders.js b/services/mam-api/src/routes/recorders.js
index 65073e4..8caa1ea 100644
--- a/services/mam-api/src/routes/recorders.js
+++ b/services/mam-api/src/routes/recorders.js
@@ -1270,13 +1270,27 @@ router.get('/:id/status', async (req, res, next) => {
       } catch (_) { /* not ready yet */ }
     }
 
-    if (isRunning) signal = 'receiving';
-    if (!isRunning) signal = 'stopped';
-    if (live && live.signal) { signal = live.signal; signalKnown = true; }
+    // Recording state and signal come from the capture sidecar's session, NOT
+    // from whether its standby CONTAINER happens to be running. A running
+    // standby container is NOT "recording" and its signal is NOT "stopped" —
+    // it's idle. Only when live.recording is true do we surface the real
+    // session signal/duration; otherwise the row is idle with no elapsed.
+    const isRecording = !!(live && live.recording);
+    if (isRecording) {
+      signal = live.signal || 'connecting';
+      signalKnown = true;
+    } else {
+      signal = 'idle';
+      signalKnown = false;
+    }
+    const sessionDuration = isRecording && live.duration != null ? live.duration : 0;
 
     res.json({
-      status: isRunning ? 'recording' : 'stopped',
-      duration,
+      // recording = sidecar is actively capturing a session; standby container
+      // up but idle reports its own status (not 'recording').
+      status: isRecording ? 'recording' : (isRunning ? recorder.status : 'stopped'),
+      recording: isRecording,
+      duration: sessionDuration,
       containerId: recorder.container_id,
       signal,
       signalKnown,
diff --git a/services/web-ui/public/screens-ingest.jsx b/services/web-ui/public/screens-ingest.jsx
index 4d3ddc0..fd210a5 100644
--- a/services/web-ui/public/screens-ingest.jsx
+++ b/services/web-ui/public/screens-ingest.jsx
@@ -987,19 +987,19 @@ function RecorderRow({ recorder: initialRecorder, onRefresh, onConfigure, nodeOn
     return () => clearInterval(id);
   }, [isRec, recorder.id]);
 
-  // Tick elapsed every second while recording. Seed from liveStatus.duration
-  // (authoritative from the capture container) when available; fall back to
-  // wall-clock diff from recorder.started_at so the counter never freezes.
+  // Tick elapsed every second while recording. Seed ONLY from the capture
+  // sidecar's session duration (liveStatus.duration) — never from
+  // recorder.started_at, which is the standby CONTAINER's boot time (hours old)
+  // and made standby/just-started rows show bogus 1hr+ elapsed. Until the first
+  // /status poll lands we show 0 rather than guessing from a stale field.
   const [elapsedSecs, setElapsedSecs] = React.useState(0);
   React.useEffect(() => {
     if (!isRec) { setElapsedSecs(0); return; }
-    const base = () => {
-      if (liveStatus && liveStatus.duration != null) return liveStatus.duration;
-      if (recorder.started_at) return Math.floor((Date.now() - new Date(recorder.started_at).getTime()) / 1000);
-      return 0;
-    };
+    const base = (liveStatus && liveStatus.recording && liveStatus.duration != null)
+      ? liveStatus.duration
+      : 0;
     // Snap to latest authoritative value immediately, then tick from there.
-    const anchor = { at: Date.now(), secs: base() };
+    const anchor = { at: Date.now(), secs: base };
     setElapsedSecs(anchor.secs);
     const id = setInterval(() => {
       setElapsedSecs(anchor.secs + Math.floor((Date.now() - anchor.at) / 1000));
@@ -1007,7 +1007,7 @@ function RecorderRow({ recorder: initialRecorder, onRefresh, onConfigure, nodeOn
     return () => clearInterval(id);
   // Re-anchor whenever liveStatus.duration arrives from the poll.
   // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
-  }, [isRec, liveStatus && liveStatus.duration, recorder.started_at]);
+  }, [isRec, liveStatus && liveStatus.recording, liveStatus && liveStatus.duration]);
 
   const displayElapsed = React.useMemo(() => {
     if (!isRec) return '·';
@@ -1017,12 +1017,16 @@ function RecorderRow({ recorder: initialRecorder, onRefresh, onConfigure, nodeOn
            String(d % 60).padStart(2, '0');
   }, [isRec, elapsedSecs]);
 
-  const displaySignal = liveStatus
-    ? (liveStatus.signal || '·')
-    : (isRec ? 'connecting…' : '·');
+  // Signal is only meaningful while recording. A standby recorder isn't
+  // "stopped" (that red state falsely implied lost signal on idle ports) — it's
+  // simply idle, so show a neutral dot. Only trust liveStatus.signal when the
+  // sidecar reports it's actually recording.
+  const displaySignal = (isRec && liveStatus && liveStatus.recording)
+    ? (liveStatus.signal || 'connecting…')
+    : (isRec ? 'connecting…' : 'idle');
 
   const signalColor = displaySignal === 'receiving' ? 'var(--success)'
-    : displaySignal === 'stopped' ? 'var(--danger)'
+    : (displaySignal === 'lost' || displaySignal === 'error') ? 'var(--danger)'
     : 'var(--text-3)';
 
   const toggle = () => {