my irl streaming setup

written

streaming irl is challenging, even when considered purely from a technical standpoint. connection quality can vary wildly as you walk around and connections can suddenly drop without warning. weather conditions will change suddenly and your setup will be subjected to whatever mother nature throws at it. everything has to be battery powered and any additional weight makes the setup more exhausting to carry around.

and then there's the financial cost. unless you're already a successful streamer, you've likely got a tight budget to work with, and the cost of the necessary equipment adds up fast.

in the interest of helping out other people who are trying to do irl streaming, i've decided i'd cover my (modest, but decent quality) irl streaming setup.

equipment

i made the following assumptions when putting together my streaming setup:

after weeks of iteration and trying different approaches, this is what i now bring to my streaming locations in my weather-resistant backpack:

category item explanation usage notes
recording equipment iPhone 15 Pro the center of the setup; it's simultaneously the camera, video encoder, and one of the cellular uplinks (any iPhone with USB-C will work in this role, but newer is better).
if you plan on filming in hot locations, it may be worth upgrading to the iPhone 17 Pro or newer, as these newer pro models utilize vapor chamber based heat dissipation. 		make sure to remove your phone case before filming to prevent overheating and wipe off the lens before filming to prevent dirt and oil from reducing image quality.
DJI Mic 3 (comes with Windscreen) a decent-quality wireless mic with good battery life. however, the windscreens are easy to lose due to being loosely attached and neither the receiver nor the unit itself is waterproof.
note: if you decide to get a different microphone, make sure to get a windscreen for it, as windscreens are required for reliably usable outdoor audio. 		i'd recommend mounting it over the sternum using the included magnets while being mindful of any clothing that could cause unwanted noises or reduce speech intelligibility.
i personally configure the mic to use +3 dB gain (use higher gain if you talk quietly), "bright" tone, lossless audio RX, and "automatic" adaptive gain control.
camera mounting Stuntman Shoulder Strap Mount for Action Cameras + TELESIN 3-Claw Mount Smartphone Magnetic Plate the least-bad hands-free livestreaming rig i could come up with. it's comfortable enough to wear for extended periods of time, stable enough to be watchable, and you can still view the phone's display. you will need to spend a while trying out different mounting positions & angles in order to get a good balance between comfort, stability, and display viewability.
Spigen MagSafe Selfie Stick Tripod a relatively lightweight and space-efficient tripod selfie stick, which i've found incredibly useful in a variety of situations. you will need to position the camera a surprising distance away from your face to get good framing.
batteries and cabling Nestout USB-C Cable + VANGREE 4-Port USB-C Hub this allows you to place the microphone's receiver inside the backpack to protect it from weather conditions. in addition, this will allow you to fast-charge the phone while the microphone receiver is connected.
(i'd recommend buying extra cables, as it's worth the additional cost to make sure you have a backup in case one is broken or lost.) 		this USB-C hub requires a USB PD input of at least 30W before it will start charging the connected device.
UGREEN Nexode 20000mAh 100W you will need a power bank, as streaming rapidly drains your phone's battery. this one is affordable, high capacity, and can charge both a phone and a travel router at the same time. refer to the power bank's manual to check how much power will be delivered to each port in your planned charging configuration.
Anker USB-C PD Cables (3ft 2-pack) basic reliable USB PD cables which can be ran inside the backpack.
networking equipment (optional) NETGEAR Nighthawk M6 Pro very capable 5G travel router for the price (used ones can be found for < $200), but some people in irl streaming communities have had issues with them overheating in hot climates.
the GL.iNet Mudi 7 may be a better option if you're willing to pay more, but i haven't personally tried it. 		taking the battery out and powering it via USB-C may help prevent overheating.
weatherproofing Gossamer Travel Umbrella + Gossamer Hands-free Umbrella Clamp an absolute necessity for preventing water damage. this setup allows you to use an umbrella entirely hands-free.
(i'd strongly recommend buying extra umbrella clamps, as they're cheap and easy to lose.) 		attaching this hands-free umbrella mount to your backpack takes a lot of practice to get right, as the correct position to attach it in will depend heavily on your backpack's design.
lighting (optional) Acebeam E75 519A an incredibly bright high-CRI flashlight with a rechargable battery large enough to last an entire stream. i'd recommend using it on the "medium 2" brightness level, as going brighter significantly reduces battery life.
amazon links within this post are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission on every purchase.
however, i'm not being paid by any product manufacturers to recommend specific products. these items are what i actually use.

that's it. (apart from stuff that isn't streaming related)

now we can get into the software side of things.

software

transcoding server

if you're not streaming from somewhere with a stable, high-bandwidth internet connection, you will need a transcoding server.

the role of a transcoding server is to act as an intermediary between your phone and your target streaming platforms. this does increase latency, but it allows you to do the following:

for those new to streaming, i'd recommend Streamrun as your transcoding server due to its ease of use and affordability. however, if you already have a spare computer w/ a stable internet connection and are willing to spend some time tinkering, you can host a transcoding server yourself using OBS (highly recommended that you compile OBS from source with ENABLE_LIBFDK=ON if not using macOS) and datagutt/bbox-receiver. MorrowShore/Prism is useful if you want to multi-stream.

OBS Media Source settings

🚧 i haven't yet tested the listed OBS settings in real-world conditions due to time constraints (i'm currently working on moving away from Streamrun so that i have more control over the technical aspects of my streams). if you encounter any issues from using them, please let me know.

after setting the OBS canvas resolution to the source resolution, add a Media Source with the following properties:

after configuring the Media Source, add a Scaling/Aspect Ratio effect filter on it with the following settings:

finally, place a "Please wait..." message of your choice underneath the Media Source. this message will become visible during periods when the connection drops.

server encoder settings

to reduce resource usage on your transcoding server and avoid falling afoul of platform TOS (when multi-streaming, offering better quality to some streaming platforms over others can sometimes get you banned from the platforms you're streaming in lower quality to), you'll want to only encode once and send the same stream to multiple platforms.

the recommendations of your target streaming platforms is a good starting point for your encoder settings. some streaming platforms are willing to accept a higher bitrate than recommended by their documentation, and if you're willing to take the risk, you can find out these undocumented bitrate caps on sites like reddit.

as of march 2026, these are the encoder settings i use on my transcoding server when multistreaming to Twitch, Kick, and YouTube:

moblin

i use Moblin as my streaming app, as it's open source and has pretty much all of the features that most streamers would want.

these are the settings i'd recommend using in Moblin:

don't forget to: