diff --git a/src/backend/Core.hpp b/src/backend/Core.hpp
index 10851087..d6194952 100644
--- a/src/backend/Core.hpp
+++ b/src/backend/Core.hpp
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ struct Event;
 
 namespace n64 {
 struct Core {
-  Core(ParallelRDP &);
+  explicit Core(ParallelRDP &);
   void Stop();
   void LoadROM(const std::string &);
-  bool LoadTAS(const fs::path &) const;
+  [[nodiscard]] bool LoadTAS(const fs::path &) const;
   void Run(float volumeL, float volumeR);
   void Serialize();
   void Deserialize();
diff --git a/src/backend/core/mmio/Audio.cpp b/src/backend/core/mmio/Audio.cpp
index 2eb12a4f..c26a9ada 100644
--- a/src/backend/core/mmio/Audio.cpp
+++ b/src/backend/core/mmio/Audio.cpp
@@ -9,29 +9,6 @@ namespace n64 {
 #define SYSTEM_SAMPLE_SIZE 4
 #define BYTES_PER_HALF_SECOND (((float)AUDIO_SAMPLE_RATE / 2) * SYSTEM_SAMPLE_SIZE)
 
-void audioCallback(void *userdata, SDL_AudioStream *stream, int additional_amount, int total_amount) {
-  auto audioDevice = (AudioDevice *)userdata;
-  int gotten = 0, available = 0;
-
-  if (audioDevice) {
-    audioDevice->LockMutex();
-    available = SDL_GetAudioStreamAvailable(audioDevice->GetStream());
-    if (available > 0) {
-      gotten = SDL_GetAudioStreamData(audioDevice->GetStream(), stream, total_amount);
-    }
-    audioDevice->UnlockMutex();
-  }
-
-  int gottenSamples = (int)(gotten / sizeof(float));
-  auto *out = (float *)stream;
-  out += gottenSamples;
-
-  for (int i = gottenSamples; i < total_amount / sizeof(float); i++) {
-    float sample = 0;
-    *out++ = sample;
-  }
-}
-
 AudioDevice::~AudioDevice() {
   LockMutex();
   SDL_DestroyAudioStream(GetStream());
@@ -39,52 +16,47 @@ AudioDevice::~AudioDevice() {
   SDL_DestroyMutex(audioStreamMutex);
 }
 
-AudioDevice::AudioDevice() : audioStreamMutex(SDL_CreateMutex()) {
-  request.freq = AUDIO_SAMPLE_RATE;
-  request.format = SYSTEM_SAMPLE_FORMAT;
-  request.channels = 2;
-
-  audioStream = SDL_CreateAudioStream(&request, &request);
-
-  SDL_InitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_AUDIO);
-
+AudioDevice::AudioDevice() {
+  audioStreamMutex = SDL_CreateMutex();
   if (!audioStreamMutex) {
     Util::panic("Unable to initialize audio mutex: {}", SDL_GetError());
   }
 
-  handle = SDL_OpenAudioDevice(SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_PLAYBACK, &request);
-  SDL_BindAudioStream(handle, audioStream);
-  SDL_SetAudioStreamGetCallback(audioStream, audioCallback, this);
+  SDL_InitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_AUDIO);
+  request = {SYSTEM_SAMPLE_FORMAT, 2, AUDIO_SAMPLE_RATE};
 
-  if (!handle) {
-    Util::panic("Failed to initialize SDL Audio: {}", SDL_GetError());
+  audioStream = SDL_OpenAudioDeviceStream(SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_PLAYBACK, &request, nullptr, nullptr);
+  if (!audioStream) {
+    Util::panic("Unable to create audio stream: {}", SDL_GetError());
   }
-
-  SDL_PauseAudioDevice(handle);
 }
 
 void AudioDevice::PushSample(float left, float volumeL, float right, float volumeR) {
   float adjustedL = left * volumeL;
   float adjustedR = right * volumeR;
-  float samples[2]{adjustedL, adjustedR};
+  float samples[]{adjustedL, adjustedR};
 
   auto availableBytes = (float)SDL_GetAudioStreamAvailable(audioStream);
   if (availableBytes <= BYTES_PER_HALF_SECOND) {
     SDL_PutAudioStreamData(audioStream, samples, 2 * sizeof(float));
   }
+
+  if (!running) {
+    SDL_ResumeAudioStreamDevice(audioStream);
+    running = true;
+  }
 }
 
 void AudioDevice::AdjustSampleRate(int sampleRate) {
   LockMutex();
   SDL_DestroyAudioStream(audioStream);
 
-  auto oldReq = request;
+  request = {SYSTEM_SAMPLE_FORMAT, 2, sampleRate};
 
-  request.freq = sampleRate;
-  request.format = SYSTEM_SAMPLE_FORMAT;
-  request.channels = 2;
-
-  audioStream = SDL_CreateAudioStream(&request, &oldReq);
+  audioStream = SDL_OpenAudioDeviceStream(SDL_AUDIO_DEVICE_DEFAULT_PLAYBACK, &request, nullptr, nullptr);
+  if (!audioStream) {
+    Util::panic("Unable to create audio stream: {}", SDL_GetError());
+  }
   UnlockMutex();
 }
 } // namespace n64
diff --git a/src/backend/core/mmio/Audio.hpp b/src/backend/core/mmio/Audio.hpp
index 41bb5a40..6fb5314b 100644
--- a/src/backend/core/mmio/Audio.hpp
+++ b/src/backend/core/mmio/Audio.hpp
@@ -23,9 +23,8 @@ struct AudioDevice {
 private:
   SDL_AudioStream *audioStream;
   SDL_Mutex *audioStreamMutex;
-  SDL_AudioSpec audioSpec{};
   SDL_AudioSpec request{};
-  SDL_AudioDeviceID handle{};
+  bool running = false;
 };
 
 } // namespace n64
diff --git a/src/frontend/EmuThread.cpp b/src/frontend/EmuThread.cpp
index d13e4bdd..7b0ee1fa 100644
--- a/src/frontend/EmuThread.cpp
+++ b/src/frontend/EmuThread.cpp
@@ -46,13 +46,10 @@ EmuThread::EmuThread(const std::shared_ptr<QtInstanceFactory> &instance_,
   while (!isInterruptionRequested()) {
     if (!core.pause) {
       core.Run(settings.getVolumeL(), settings.getVolumeR());
-      if (core.render) {
-        parallel.UpdateScreen(core.cpu->GetMem().mmio.vi);
-      }
-    } else {
-      if (core.render) {
-        parallel.UpdateScreen(core.cpu->GetMem().mmio.vi, true);
-      }
+    }
+
+    if (core.render) {
+      parallel.UpdateScreen(core.cpu->GetMem().mmio.vi);
     }
 
     pollEvents();
diff --git a/src/frontend/EmuThread.hpp b/src/frontend/EmuThread.hpp
index 982f806f..a0a5d0d5 100644
--- a/src/frontend/EmuThread.hpp
+++ b/src/frontend/EmuThread.hpp
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ public:
   SettingsWindow &settings;
 
   void TogglePause() {
-    core.pause = !core.pause;
+    core.TogglePause();
     Util::RPC::GetInstance().Update(core.pause ? Util::RPC::Paused : Util::RPC::GetInstance().GetState(),
                                     core.cpu->GetMem().rom.gameNameDB,
                                     core.cpu->GetMem().mmio.si.pif.movie.GetFilename());