> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nomn.jp/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Direct and Relay

> The two paths a stream takes to a listener, what each costs, and when a listener moves to the relay

# Direct and Relay

The **RELAY** button, beside LOW BANDWIDTH under the header, chooses how the stream reaches listeners. It is on by default, it is saved with your DAW session, and it is fixed while streaming.

| | Direct (RELAY off) | Relay (RELAY on) |
| - | - | - |
| Path | peer to peer, from the plugin to the listener's browser | the plugin sends the stream once to our server, which copies it to every listener on the link |
| Listeners per link | 1 at a time | up to 50 (4 on a trial) |
| Your upload | one copy of the stream | one copy of the stream, however many listeners |
| Latency | the lowest NOMN REMOTE offers | one extra hop through our server |
| Cost | free, never metered | metered per channel, per listener, per minute; see [Pricing](/remote/reference/pricing) |
| Status line | **STREAMING · DIRECT** | **STREAMING · RELAY** |

## Direct

With RELAY off, the plugin connects to one listener at a time. A second listener who opens the link waits, and is connected when the first one leaves. Direct suits a stream between two rooms (a control room and a live room, or a studio and a client's home) where a Dante network or a patchbay is not available.

Direct streams never touch our server for audio, so they are free on a subscription and during a trial.

## Relay

With RELAY on, the plugin uploads the stream once and our server sends a copy to each listener on the link, so fifty listeners take the same upload as one and hear the stream at about the same time. The plugin streams only while at least one listener is on the link, and an empty link sends and meters nothing.

START hosts the session on the NOMN REMOTE server with the shortest round trip from your computer, and every listener on the link joins it there, wherever they are.

A plugin in [RECEIVE](/remote/receiving/receive) and an input on the [mixing page](/remote/receiving/mixing-page) join a session as listeners do, so they take the same paths and count toward the same limits.

## When a listener moves to the relay

A direct connection needs a network path between your computer and the listener's browser, and some networks (strict firewalls, some corporate and mobile networks) do not allow one. When a listener's direct connection has not formed within 8 seconds, or fails, the plugin switches that START to the relay, at any channel count, and the status line reads **STREAMING · RELAY · RELAY: A LISTENER HAD NO DIRECT PATH**.

The stream stays on the relay until STOP. Relayed time is metered from the moment the switch happens, as with any relayed stream.[^1]

## Relay availability

The relay is unavailable in two cases, and the plugin falls back to serving one listener directly in both:

* **A trial's free hour is used.** The status line reads **FREE HOUR USED: SUBSCRIBE AT NOMN.JP TO RELAY**. See [Licence and free trial](/remote/licensing).
* **A subscription payment is outstanding.** The status line shows **UNPAID** or **RELAY OFF UNTIL PAID**, with a pointer to nomn.jp/account. Paying the open invoice from your nomn.jp account page turns the relay back on without restarting the plugin.

In either case a listener with no direct path cannot be moved to the relay, and the listener page says so.

[^1]: The fallback applies with RELAY off. With RELAY on, every listener is already on the relay.


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