Radio buffering

A buffer is a small area of memory which must be filled before the player begins playback of music. It represents a few seconds' worth of sound. It is intended to provide a more comfortable listening experience by avoiding small audible breaks in the stream, which would lead to unpleasant, jerky sound. Our content delivery and streaming servers are therefore configured with buffers.

Our diagnostic test for radio streams (available from your control panel) displays the amount of memory used by the buffer every second. If the stream is working properly, the values should be stable. However, if the stream is unstable and experiences connection issues, we will see a gradual decline in the size of the buffer. The critical region is at around 20%. If the buffer is empty, the player will experience a tiny break, audible to the listener as a tiny click and visible on the graph as a spike to 100%. Sometimes the buffer empties very quickly, whereas sometimes the critical region is gradually reached after a while. This is why we offer several test durations.

An unstable buffer is an indication that the line offers a poor quality link, or that the line is being overloaded. To remedy this situation, see this FAQ (click here).

The test is also useful for helping to detect temporary overload on an Internet link. If the buffer is stable at times but at other times unstable, this may mean that some users sharing the Internet link are sometimes overloading it, leading to disturbances in your stream. To check if this is the case, run a longer buffering test at times of high use on your infrastructure and take a look at any disturbance if it occurs.