Receive SRT in OBS

Bring a live Meshcast stream into your OBS scene by adding its SRT receive URL as a Media Source. The source connects directly to the media server and receives video and audio.

Before you start

• Use a stream belonging to a registered Meshcast account, including a free account. Accountless streams support WHIP/WHEP only.
• Start the publisher first. For an SRT encoder, follow SRT Streaming. H.264 video with AAC audio is a straightforward starting point for SRT publishing and OBS playback.
• Find the public Stream ID (st_...) and the media server carrying that stream in the dashboard or Studio. Use that server's IP or hostname, rather than app.meshcast.io.

Build the receive URL

Replace SERVER with the stream's media server and st_YOUR_STREAM_ID with its complete public Stream ID:

srt://SERVER:8890?mode=caller&streamid=read:st_YOUR_STREAM_ID&latency=400000

read: requests playback. Use the public st_... ID here; the private pk_... Publish Key belongs only in the encoder's publishing settings. Do not paste the dashboard's SRT publish URL into the receiving OBS source.

Keep mode=caller: OBS initiates the connection to Meshcast. Allow UDP traffic to the media server on port 8890; this caller setup normally does not need router port forwarding on the OBS computer. If you move the publisher to another server, update the receive URL too.

Add it to OBS

1. In the receiving OBS scene, choose Sources > + > Media Source, create a source, and give it a recognizable name.
2. Clear Local File to show the network input fields.
3. Paste the complete receive URL into Input, without quotes.
4. Set Input Format to mpegts, then click OK.
5. Check for moving video and an active audio meter. Make a short local recording and play it back to confirm both picture and sound.

These are source settings. Settings > Stream controls where OBS sends its own broadcast and is not needed to receive this feed. The Media Source method is described in the official OBS SRT guide; Meshcast uses the MediaMTX SRT read URL format.

Adjust buffering

Start with latency=400000 (400 ms). OBS uses microseconds for this URL option: 200000 is 200 ms and 800000 is 800 ms. Increase it if packet loss causes breakup; reduce it only after checking that playback stays stable. This is the SRT recovery buffer, not a promise of total end-to-end delay.

For an SRT publisher relayed through Meshcast, the publishing and receiving connections have separate buffers. Changing the OBS receive URL does not change the encoder's upload settings.

Troubleshooting

• No connection: confirm the publisher is live on the exact server in the URL, the full Stream ID is correct, and the URL contains streamid=read:. Check that the network or VPN permits UDP port 8890.
• Black picture: check that Local File is cleared and Input Format is mpegts. Start with H.264 at the publisher if the incoming codec cannot be decoded. The zero-B-frame requirement in the browser playback guides applies to WebRTC/WHEP, not this SRT Media Source.
• No sound: check the publisher's audio track, the source's OBS mixer meter, mute state, and recording/output track selection. An active meter with no sound in your headphones may simply mean audio monitoring is off.
• Breakup or growing delay: check upload and download capacity, try 800 ms SRT latency for packet loss, and reduce the publisher's bitrate if the connection cannot sustain it.
• Stopped after an interruption: confirm publishing has resumed on the same server, then reopen the Media Source properties and apply them to reconnect. If it only disconnects between scenes, review Close file when inactive; keeping the source open uses bandwidth while it is hidden.

For Browser Source or HLS playback instead, see OBS to OBS.