diff --git a/hosts/by-name/moby/default.nix b/hosts/by-name/moby/default.nix
index 04fe1123..48ef421f 100644
--- a/hosts/by-name/moby/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/by-name/moby/default.nix
@@ -63,6 +63,33 @@
   sane.programs.epiphany.env.BROWSER = "epiphany";
   sane.programs.firefox.enableFor.user.colin = false;  # use epiphany instead
 
+  # note the .conf.d approach: using ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf directly breaks all audio,
+  # presumably because that deletes the defaults entirely whereas the .conf.d approach selectively overrides defaults
+  sane.user.fs.".config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/10-fix-dino-mic-cutout.conf".symlink.text = ''
+    # config docs: <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/pipewire/-/wikis/Config-PipeWire#properties>
+    # useful to run `pw-top` to see that these settings are actually having effect,
+    # and `pw-metadata` to see if any settings conflict (e.g. max-quantum < min-quantum)
+    #
+    # restart pipewire after editing these files:
+    # - `systemctl --user restart pipewire`
+    # - pipewire users will likely stop outputting audio until they are also restarted
+    #
+    # there's seemingly two buffers for the mic:
+    # 1. Pipewire buffering out of the driver and into its own member.
+    # 2. Pipewire buffering into Dino.
+    # the latter is fixed at 10ms by Dino, difficult to override via runtime config.
+    # the former defaults low (e.g. 512 samples)
+    # this default configuration causes the mic to regularly drop out entirely for a couple seconds at a time during a call,
+    # presumably because the system can't keep up (pw-top shows incrementing counter in ERR column).
+    # `pw-metadata -n settings 0 clock.force-quantum 1024` reduces to about 1 error per second.
+    # `pw-metadata -n settings 0 clock.force-quantum 2048` reduces to 1 error every < 10s.
+    # pipewire default config includes `clock.power-of-two-quantum = true`
+    context.properties = {
+      default.clock.min-quantum = 2048
+      default.clock.max-quantum = 8192
+    }
+  '';
+
   # sane.programs.mpv.enableFor.user.colin = true;
 
   boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = false;
diff --git a/hosts/common/programs/dino.nix b/hosts/common/programs/dino.nix
index 638e1e56..7568c044 100644
--- a/hosts/common/programs/dino.nix
+++ b/hosts/common/programs/dino.nix
@@ -12,6 +12,14 @@
 #
 # dino can be autostarted on login -- useful to ensure that i always receive calls and notifications --
 # but at present it has no "start in tray" type of option: it must render a window.
+#
+# outstanding bugs:
+# - mic is sometimes disabled at call start despite presenting as enabled
+#   - fix is to toggle it off -> on in the Dino UI
+# - once per 1-2 minutes dino will temporarily drop mic input:
+#   - `rtp-WRNING: plugin.vala:148: Warning in pipeline: Can't record audio fast enough
+#   - this was *partially* fixed by bumping the pipewire mic buffer to 2048 samples (from ~512)
+#   - that fix can't extend to Dino itself except by patching its code (perhaps)
 { config, lib, ... }:
 let
   cfg = config.sane.programs.dino;
@@ -39,7 +47,8 @@ in
         Restart = "always";
         RestartSec = "20s";
       };
-      environment.G_MESSAGES_DEBUG = "all";
+      # note that debug logging during calls produces so much journal spam that it pegs the CPU and causes dropped audio
+      # environment.G_MESSAGES_DEBUG = "all";
     };
   };
 }