diff --git a/components/ItemEditor.tsx b/components/ItemEditor.tsx
index f5ff230..a08aeea 100644
--- a/components/ItemEditor.tsx
+++ b/components/ItemEditor.tsx
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { Select, SelectContent, SelectItem, SelectTrigger, SelectValue } from ".
 import { SOUND_CATEGORIES, EMOJIS } from "@/lib/bingo-data";
 import { Badge } from "./ui/badge";
 import { ResourceBrowser, DragData } from "./ResourceBrowser";
+import { playSoundOnce } from "@/lib/sounds";
 
 type Item = {
   id: string;
@@ -200,10 +201,6 @@ export function ItemEditor({ campaign }: { campaign: Campaign }) {
     setUploading(false);
   };
 
-  const playSoundOnce = (url: string) => {
-    try { const a = new Audio(url); a.preload = "auto"; a.volume = 0.4; a.play().catch(() => {}); } catch {}
-  };
-
   // ─── Drag & Drop handlers ───────────────────────────────────────
 
   const handleDragOver = useCallback((e: React.DragEvent, idx: number) => {
diff --git a/components/ResourceBrowser.tsx b/components/ResourceBrowser.tsx
index 97363ec..1993742 100644
--- a/components/ResourceBrowser.tsx
+++ b/components/ResourceBrowser.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import { useState, useEffect, useCallback, useRef } from "react";
 import { useDropzone } from "react-dropzone";
-import { Howl } from "howler";
+import { playSoundOnce } from "@/lib/sounds";
 
 // ─── Types ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -33,19 +33,6 @@ export type DragData =
   | { type: "image"; url: string; originalName: string }
   | { type: "emoji"; emoji: string };
 
-// ─── Howl helper ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-const howlCache = new Map<string, Howl>();
-
-function playPreview(url: string) {
-  let h = howlCache.get(url);
-  if (!h) {
-    h = new Howl({ src: [url], format: ["mp3", "ogg"], volume: 0.4, preload: true });
-    howlCache.set(url, h);
-  }
-  h.play();
-}
-
 // ─── Emoji Picker (inline, searchable) ──────────────────────────────
 
 const EMOJI_LIST = [
@@ -211,7 +198,7 @@ function SoundsTab() {
                 label={s.originalName}
                 duration={s.duration}
                 url={s.url}
-                onPlay={() => playPreview(s.url)}
+                onPlay={() => playSoundOnce(s.url)}
                 onDelete={() => deleteSound(filename)}
               />
             );
@@ -244,7 +231,7 @@ function SoundsTab() {
                 key={r.id}
                 name={r.name}
                 duration={r.duration}
-                onPreview={() => r.previewUrl && playPreview(r.previewUrl)}
+                onPreview={() => r.previewUrl && playSoundOnce(r.previewUrl)}
                 onImport={() => importSound(r)}
               />
             ))}
diff --git a/lib/sounds.ts b/lib/sounds.ts
index 602ff49..9083662 100644
--- a/lib/sounds.ts
+++ b/lib/sounds.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { Howl } from "howler";
+
 let audioCtx: AudioContext | null = null;
 
 function getCtx(): AudioContext {
@@ -107,13 +109,50 @@ export function playChaosRiser() {
   });
 }
 
+// ─── Howl-based URL playback ──────────────────────────────────────
+
+const howlCache = new Map<string, Howl>();
+
+/**
+ * Play a sound file URL (MP3/OGG) using howler.js.
+ * Howler handles autoplay policy, cross-browser codec support,
+ * and AudioContext resume better than raw new Audio().
+ */
 export function playSoundUrl(url: string) {
-  try {
-    const audio = new Audio(url);
-    audio.preload = "auto";
-    audio.volume = 0.4;
-    audio.play().catch(() => {});
-  } catch {}
+  let h = howlCache.get(url);
+  if (!h) {
+    h = new Howl({
+      src: [url],
+      format: url.endsWith(".mp3") ? ["mp3"] : url.endsWith(".ogg") ? ["ogg"] : ["mp3", "ogg"],
+      volume: 0.4,
+      onloaderror: (_id: number, err: unknown) => {
+        console.error("[BaraBingo] Howl load error:", url, err);
+      },
+      onplayerror: (_id: number, err: unknown) => {
+        console.error("[BaraBingo] Howl play error:", url, err);
+      },
+    });
+    howlCache.set(url, h);
+  }
+  h.play();
+}
+
+/**
+ * One-shot play of a sound URL. Same as playSoundUrl but always creates a fresh instance.
+ * Useful for preview/editor buttons where you want it to play every click.
+ */
+export function playSoundOnce(url: string) {
+  new Howl({
+    src: [url],
+    format: url.endsWith(".mp3") ? ["mp3"] : url.endsWith(".ogg") ? ["ogg"] : ["mp3", "ogg"],
+    volume: 0.4,
+    onloaderror: (_id: number, err: unknown) => {
+      console.error("[BaraBingo] Howl load error:", url, err);
+    },
+    onplayerror: (_id: number, err: unknown) => {
+      console.error("[BaraBingo] Howl play error:", url, err);
+    },
+  }).play();
 }
 
 export function playSound(category: string, soundUrl?: string | null) {