OK, there is a new beta to test at:
https://www.politepix.com/wp-content/uploads/OpenEarsDistributionBeta.tar.bz2
This will recalibrate any time that it experiences a fast background noise level jump that could previously result in the VAD getting confused and hanging. It will use all the available samples in the ringbuffer up to that point in time to calibrate in place in a fraction of a second.
In order to add this calibration change and the other fixes while keeping things maintainable it was necessary to refactor the listening loop, so please let me know about any other unexpected behavior you see.