diff --git a/examples/audio/main.go b/examples/audio/main.go
index a9c3a11cc..d6cd4129d 100644
--- a/examples/audio/main.go
+++ b/examples/audio/main.go
@@ -253,7 +253,10 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	const sampleRate = 22050
 	const bytesPerSample = 4 // TODO: This should be defined in audio package
-	audioContext = audio.NewContext(sampleRate)
+	audioContext, err = audio.NewContext(sampleRate)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
 	go func() {
 		s, err := wav.Decode(audioContext, wavF)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/examples/pcm/main.go b/examples/pcm/main.go
index 59d3713b9..044beef0e 100644
--- a/examples/pcm/main.go
+++ b/examples/pcm/main.go
@@ -34,7 +34,11 @@ const (
 var audioContext *audio.Context
 
 func init() {
-	audioContext = audio.NewContext(sampleRate)
+	var err error
+	audioContext, err = audio.NewContext(sampleRate)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
 }
 
 var frames = 0
diff --git a/examples/piano/main.go b/examples/piano/main.go
index a50660159..7b3664622 100644
--- a/examples/piano/main.go
+++ b/examples/piano/main.go
@@ -36,7 +36,11 @@ const (
 var audioContext *audio.Context
 
 func init() {
-	audioContext = audio.NewContext(sampleRate)
+	var err error
+	audioContext, err = audio.NewContext(sampleRate)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
 }
 
 var pcm = make([]float64, 4*sampleRate)
diff --git a/examples/sinewave/main.go b/examples/sinewave/main.go
index d7d6217b0..53766beb5 100644
--- a/examples/sinewave/main.go
+++ b/examples/sinewave/main.go
@@ -35,7 +35,11 @@ const (
 var audioContext *audio.Context
 
 func init() {
-	audioContext = audio.NewContext(sampleRate)
+	var err error
+	audioContext, err = audio.NewContext(sampleRate)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
 }
 
 type stream struct {
diff --git a/exp/audio/audio.go b/exp/audio/audio.go
index 7b95d5afc..2800cccd8 100644
--- a/exp/audio/audio.go
+++ b/exp/audio/audio.go
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ type Context struct {
 	sync.Mutex
 }
 
-func NewContext(sampleRate int) *Context {
+func NewContext(sampleRate int) (*Context, error) {
 	// TODO: Panic if one context exists.
 	c := &Context{
 		sampleRate: sampleRate,
@@ -122,9 +122,9 @@ func NewContext(sampleRate int) *Context {
 		context: c,
 	}
 	if err := startPlaying(c.stream, c.sampleRate); err != nil {
-		panic(fmt.Sprintf("audio: NewContext error: %v", err))
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("audio: NewContext error: %v", err)
 	}
-	return c
+	return c, nil
 }
 
 // Update proceeds the inner (logical) time of the context by 1/60 second.