Audio cuts out after 1st frame in preview

I know there's another thread with this issue but it never got resolved.

This problem has been raised in Reddit and other places too.

I've had this issue in v.2022 and now in v.2023.

Audio is playing fine then suddenly it stops playing after 1st frame. Audio is a standard WAV.

Audio plays fine in preview window (Double click solo preview).

Plays fine generally. The suddenly stops playing after first frame. Just cuts out for no reason.

It MIGHT be something to do with a 3d camera. I have a few 3d layers and added a 3d camera.

The only way around the issue is to create an identical comp and copy / paste the contents of the broken scene into the new one. Then BANG, audio works again. But for how long. And why is this happening???

AE:  v23.0.0 (Build 59)

Windows 10.