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In OBS, enable Loop Playlist on a VLC Video source for a playlist, or enable Loop on a Media Source for a single repeating file. Then test the actual handoff between files: OBS’s loop controls restart playback, but they do not guarantee a gapless transition. If silence remains, trace the audio from the source through OBS to YouTube stream health instead of assuming the platform is at fault.
Choose the right OBS loop control
For a playlist of files
- In OBS, add or select a VLC Video source. In its properties, add the files in the order you want them played.
- Enable Loop Playlist. OBS describes this setting as specifying whether the source should restart after it has run out of media files.
- Leave Shuffle off if the sequence must stay in a fixed order. Shuffle is separate from looping.
- Confirm the source is not paused, stopped, or hidden in a way that prevents playback. Test the end of the current list and the beginning of the next cycle.
VLC Video requires VLC to be installed. OBS documentation specifies that 64-bit OBS requires 64-bit VLC. See the OBS Project’s Media Sources documentation for source properties and behavior.
For one file that should repeat
- Add or select a Media Source in OBS.
- In the source properties, enable Loop.
- Check that the source points to the intended file and that the source is active in the scene used for the live output.
Media Source is for repeating a single file; VLC Video is the relevant source when you need a playlist. Neither loop control should be treated as a promise of zero-silence playback across the boundary.
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Listen to the end of one file followed immediately by the start of the next, using the same files and order as the live playlist. Check for leading or trailing silence, missing audio, and whether the next item starts at all. Different encodings or edits can make a transition audible even when the playlist advances correctly.
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- If the next file does not start, recheck the playlist entries, loop setting, and whether the source is active or paused.
- If it starts but its audio is absent, verify that the file itself contains the intended audio and that it is not silent at that point.
- If the local transition is clean but viewers hear silence, continue tracing the signal through OBS and the delivered stream.
Trace where the audio stops
- Watch OBS audio meters. Observe them as the first file ends and the next begins. If the meters stop, investigate the source, file, or audio routing in OBS.
- Listen to the OBS program output. Check whether the transition is audible in the output you intend to stream, not only in a media player outside OBS.
- Run a private or unlisted test stream. Listen to the result as a viewer. If OBS meters and program audio continue but the test stream is silent, inspect the encoding and YouTube delivery path.
- Check YouTube stream health. Use the live control room’s stream-health information while testing. YouTube recommends testing before going live and monitoring stream health; these checks diagnose delivery and ingestion, not the playlist configuration itself. See YouTube’s encoder settings, bitrates, and resolutions guidance.
Use representative audio and video during the preflight: a brief test with different media may not expose the boundary that fails in the real playlist.
When encoding or restart automation is relevant
Do not start by changing ingestion protocols to fix a local playlist handoff. First establish whether the source advances and whether OBS still has audio. YouTube’s guidance covers encoder settings and monitoring; its separate HLS setup instructions apply if you deliberately use HLS ingestion, which has its own segment and rolling-playlist requirements and higher latency. Protocol settings cannot correct a misconfigured OBS loop control or silence already present in a media file.
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A process restart policy addresses a different failure: an encoder process that exits or hangs. One operator implementation describes systemd restart behavior, a frame-progress watchdog, and scheduled restarts, but that is an example rather than a universal recipe or guarantee. Restarting an encoder does not repair silence at a file boundary; use this kind of automation only after diagnosing process failures and planning how to monitor recovery.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
