Tried a 4K 60fps livestream for a local band gig last weekend, everything looked great on my end but viewers complained about constant buffering

I ran a test stream at 1080p before the show and it was fine, but when I switched to 4K for the actual event the bitrate demands killed the stream for half the audience. Turns out the venue's upload speed was only 15 Mbps when I needed at least 30 for a stable 4K feed. Anyone else run into this issue where the venue's internet just can't handle what you're throwing at it?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_webb9d ago

Stopped trusting 4K streaming for live gigs after the same thing happened to me. Now I always bring my own LTE backup rig with a bonded cellular modem from Speedify or similar. Costs about $200 a month but saves your ass when venue wifi chokes. Learned the hard way at a bar show where the router was from 2007, capped at 10Mbps up. Now I test the venue internet a week before and plan for half the advertised speed. You're better off streaming 1080p60 at a solid bitrate than pushing 4K that buffers every 30 seconds.

kimr919d ago

@kimr91 here. Something nobody talks about is the audio side of the equation. You can have perfect video but if your audio sounds like a tin can (which happens with a lot of cheap streaming setups), nobody sticks around. Invest in a simple XLR to USB interface or even a decent lav mic before worrying about 4K. @parker_webb mentioned testing the venue internet which is smart, but test the sound bleed from the crowd and monitors too, that's what actually kills the vibe for viewers.

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sam_cooper8d ago

Kimr nailed it. I've bailed on streams that looked great but sounded like someone was talking through a coffee can, it's the main thing that makes people click away.