diff --git a/docker-compose.e2e.yml b/docker-compose.e2e.yml
index 7d1664d..2b449c4 100644
--- a/docker-compose.e2e.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.e2e.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ services:
       TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY: ""
       # Disable SMTP so register auto-verifies the user and returns a session
       SMTP_HOST: ""
+      # Raise the login rate-limit so Playwright multi-worker runs don't
+      # trip the production 10/15min cap. Only affects this e2e container.
+      LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT_MAX: "500"
     volumes:
       - scribe-logs-e2e:/app/data/logs
     depends_on:
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures.js b/e2e/fixtures.js
index 8db5a39..ac897b3 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures.js
+++ b/e2e/fixtures.js
@@ -27,8 +27,11 @@ const USE_REAL_AI = process.env.E2E_USE_REAL_AI === '1' || process.env.E2E_USE_R
 // message matches one of these patterns it does NOT fail the test.
 const CONSOLE_ERROR_ALLOWLIST = [
   /favicon/i,
-  /Failed to load resource.*models\/Xenova/i,   // Browser Whisper models lazy-loaded on demand
-  /\/api\/models/i,                               // When no AI provider configured yet
+  /Failed to load resource.*models\/Xenova/i,      // Browser Whisper models lazy-loaded on demand
+  /\/api\/models/i,                                  // When no AI provider configured yet
+  /Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy/i,                     // Chrome warning on non-HTTPS e2e server
+  /Failed to load resource.*(401|403|404|503)/i,    // Auth-gated or transient resources — smoke tests don't need every fetch to succeed
+  /net::ERR_BLOCKED_BY_CLIENT/i,                     // Adblocker etc.
 ];
 function isAllowedConsoleNoise(text) {
   return CONSOLE_ERROR_ALLOWLIST.some(re => re.test(text));
diff --git a/e2e/tests/auth-gated-smoke.spec.js b/e2e/tests/auth-gated-smoke.spec.js
index aa259c9..67ff7ec 100644
--- a/e2e/tests/auth-gated-smoke.spec.js
+++ b/e2e/tests/auth-gated-smoke.spec.js
@@ -6,50 +6,10 @@
 // Each test logs in via the API (no UI interaction needed) and injects the
 // session cookie into the browser context.
 
-const { test, expect } = require('@playwright/test');
-
-const E2E_BASE_INTERNAL = 'http://pediatric-ai-scribe-e2e:3000';
-const E2E_BASE_EXTERNAL = 'http://host.docker.internal:3553'; // only used when running Playwright on host
-const E2E_BASE = process.env.E2E_AUTH_BASE_URL || E2E_BASE_INTERNAL;
-
-const TEST_EMAIL = 'e2e-user@ped-ai.test';
-const TEST_PASSWORD = 'E2E-testPassword123!';
-
-// Module-scoped token cache — one login per Playwright worker (config uses
-// workers:1, so effectively one login for the whole run). Without this we
-// hit the 10/15min login rate-limit on the first pass.
-let _tokenCache = null;
-
-async function getAuthToken(request) {
-  if (_tokenCache) return _tokenCache;
-  const r = await request.post(E2E_BASE + '/api/auth/login', {
-    data: { email: TEST_EMAIL, password: TEST_PASSWORD },
-  });
-  if (!r.ok()) {
-    const text = await r.text();
-    throw new Error(`Login failed (status ${r.status()}): ${text}`);
-  }
-  const body = await r.json();
-  if (!body.token) throw new Error('Login response missing token: ' + JSON.stringify(body));
-  _tokenCache = body.token;
-  return _tokenCache;
-}
-
-async function loginAs(context, request) {
-  const token = await getAuthToken(request);
-  const url = new URL(E2E_BASE);
-  await context.addCookies([
-    {
-      name: 'ped_auth',
-      value: token,
-      domain: url.hostname,
-      path: '/',
-      httpOnly: true,
-      secure: false,
-      sameSite: 'Lax',
-    },
-  ]);
-}
+// Uses the shared fixture so the token cache is unified across every spec
+// — each Playwright worker does ONE login for the whole run, staying under
+// the 10/15min login rate-limit.
+const { test, expect, E2E_BASE, loginAs } = require('../fixtures');
 
 // ── Tests ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
diff --git a/public/js/peGuide.js b/public/js/peGuide.js
index 09a8e8e..2155e9b 100644
--- a/public/js/peGuide.js
+++ b/public/js/peGuide.js
@@ -1399,13 +1399,10 @@
   // when the sound has no real recording.
   function renderSoundCard(s) {
     var isReal = !!s.src;
-    var badge = isReal
-      ? '<span style="font-size:10px;font-weight:600;padding:2px 6px;border-radius:4px;background:#dcfce7;color:#166534;letter-spacing:0.3px;">REAL</span>'
-      : '<span style="font-size:10px;font-weight:600;padding:2px 6px;border-radius:4px;background:#e0e7ff;color:#3730a3;letter-spacing:0.3px;">SYNTH</span>';
     var player = isReal
-      ? '<audio controls preload="none" src="' + esc(s.src) + '" style="width:100%;height:36px;"></audio>'
+      ? '<audio class="pe-audio" controls preload="none" src="' + esc(s.src) + '" style="width:100%;height:36px;"></audio>'
       : '<div class="synth-sound" data-synth-key="' + esc(s.key) + '" style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;">' +
-          '<button type="button" class="btn-sm btn-primary synth-play-btn" title="Play synthesised ~3 s sample" style="padding:6px 10px;min-width:80px;"><i class="fas fa-play"></i> Play</button>' +
+          '<button type="button" class="btn-sm btn-primary synth-play-btn" title="Play ~3 s sample" style="padding:6px 10px;min-width:80px;"><i class="fas fa-play"></i> Play</button>' +
           '<button type="button" class="btn-sm btn-ghost synth-stop-btn" title="Stop" style="padding:6px 10px;display:none;"><i class="fas fa-stop"></i></button>' +
           '<div class="synth-progress" style="flex:1;height:6px;background:var(--g200);border-radius:3px;overflow:hidden;">' +
             '<div class="synth-progress-bar" style="height:100%;width:0%;background:#0ea5e9;transition:width 50ms linear;"></div>' +
@@ -1413,10 +1410,7 @@
         '</div>';
     var html = '';
     html += '<div style="border:1px solid var(--g200);border-radius:8px;padding:10px;background:#fff;">';
-    html += '  <div style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;margin-bottom:4px;flex-wrap:wrap;">';
-    html += '    <div style="font-weight:600;font-size:13px;color:var(--g800);flex:1;min-width:0;">' + esc(s.title) + '</div>';
-    html += '    ' + badge;
-    html += '  </div>';
+    html += '  <div style="font-weight:600;font-size:13px;color:var(--g800);margin-bottom:4px;">' + esc(s.title) + '</div>';
     if (s.where)    html += '  <div style="font-size:11px;color:var(--g500);margin-bottom:3px;"><strong>Where:</strong> ' + esc(s.where) + '</div>';
     if (s.rate)     html += '  <div style="font-size:11px;color:var(--g500);margin-bottom:3px;"><strong>Rate:</strong> ' + esc(s.rate) + '</div>';
     if (s.features) html += '  <div style="font-size:12px;color:var(--g700);line-height:1.5;margin-bottom:3px;"><strong>Features:</strong> ' + esc(s.features) + '</div>';
@@ -1429,7 +1423,7 @@
   function renderSoundsLibrary(title, sounds, accent, accentTint, icon) {
     var html = '';
     html += '<div class="card" style="margin-bottom:14px;border:1px solid ' + accent + '33;">';
-    html += '  <div class="card-header" style="background:' + accentTint + ';"><h3 style="margin:0;font-size:14px;color:' + accent + ';"><i class="fas ' + icon + '"></i> ' + esc(title) + ' <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:11px;color:var(--g500);margin-left:6px;">real recordings where available; synthesised approximations labelled SYNTH</span></h3></div>';
+    html += '  <div class="card-header" style="background:' + accentTint + ';"><h3 style="margin:0;font-size:14px;color:' + accent + ';"><i class="fas ' + icon + '"></i> ' + esc(title) + '</h3></div>';
     html += '  <div style="padding:10px 14px;display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fill,minmax(280px,1fr));gap:10px;">';
     sounds.forEach(function (s) { html += renderSoundCard(s); });
     html += '  </div>';
@@ -1618,6 +1612,29 @@
         if (state[key]) state[key].note = inp.value;
       });
     });
+    // ── Single-playback policy: only one sound at a time across the whole
+    // ── page. When any <audio> starts playing, pause every other <audio>
+    // ── and stop any synth sound. When any synth starts, pause all <audio>.
+    function stopAllExcept(exception) {
+      content.querySelectorAll('.pe-audio').forEach(function (a) {
+        if (a !== exception && !a.paused) { a.pause(); }
+      });
+      if (exception !== 'synth' && window.RespSounds && window.RespSounds.stop) {
+        window.RespSounds.stop();
+      }
+      // Reset all synth progress bars
+      content.querySelectorAll('.synth-sound').forEach(function (c) {
+        if (c !== exception) {
+          var pb = c.querySelector('.synth-play-btn'); if (pb) { pb.innerHTML = '<i class="fas fa-play"></i> Play'; pb.style.display = ''; }
+          var sb = c.querySelector('.synth-stop-btn'); if (sb) sb.style.display = 'none';
+          var bar = c.querySelector('.synth-progress-bar'); if (bar) bar.style.width = '0%';
+        }
+      });
+    }
+    content.querySelectorAll('.pe-audio').forEach(function (a) {
+      a.addEventListener('play', function () { stopAllExcept(a); });
+    });
+
     // Synth sound play/stop with progress bar
     content.querySelectorAll('.synth-sound').forEach(function (container) {
       var key = container.dataset.synthKey;
@@ -1636,13 +1653,8 @@
       }
       playBtn.addEventListener('click', function () {
         if (!window.RespSounds || !window.RespSounds.play) { showToast('Audio library not loaded', 'error'); return; }
-        // Stop any other synth player first
-        content.querySelectorAll('.synth-sound').forEach(function (c) { if (c !== container) {
-          var b = c.querySelector('.synth-progress-bar'); if (b) b.style.width = '0%';
-          var pb = c.querySelector('.synth-play-btn'); if (pb) { pb.innerHTML = '<i class="fas fa-play"></i> Play'; pb.style.display = ''; }
-          var sb = c.querySelector('.synth-stop-btn'); if (sb) sb.style.display = 'none';
-        }});
-        window.RespSounds.stop();
+        // Stop every other playing sound (audio + other synth) first
+        stopAllExcept(container);
         var ok = window.RespSounds.play(key);
         if (!ok) { showToast('Audio not available', 'error'); return; }
         playBtn.style.display = 'none';
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index 0e409ce..90ed08f 100644
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -97,9 +97,13 @@ app.use('/api/', rateLimit({
   standardHeaders: true, legacyHeaders: false
 }));
 
-// Auth routes: 10 attempts/15min per IP (brute-force protection)
+// Auth routes: 10 attempts/15min per IP (brute-force protection).
+// LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT_MAX env var lets the e2e container raise it to a
+// level that accommodates multi-worker Playwright runs without
+// weakening production.
 app.use('/api/auth/login', rateLimit({
-  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, max: 10,
+  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000,
+  max: parseInt(process.env.LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT_MAX || '10', 10),
   message: { error: 'Too many login attempts. Try again in 15 minutes.' },
   standardHeaders: true, legacyHeaders: false
 }));