If some bits are missing, the decoder will not deliver any sound because it prevents the risk of damaging the speakers. It is, therefore, no cause to worry if your Dolby Digital signal shuts off because your optical cable is working just fine. DVD or CD Players - An optical cable can be utilized to exchange sound from one segment to another, for example a DVD player to a receiver. Since optical cables are perfect at recreating a signal and barely any transfer is lost in the exchange, they make exceptional solutions for generating great sound with CD players.

Variations like in labeling are just that, "Digital Audio,""Optical Audio," and "Digital Audio (Optical)" all refer to the same standard. Are There Different Types of Optical Audio Connections and Cables?The Performance Graphite is a well-made cable, with a flexible but tough body, and beautiful, high-quality plugs. The sound it conveys is versatile and balanced, equally adept at expressing bass and treble. " (Read more)

HDMI ARC, or audio return channel technology, is the name given to the specific use of an HDMI cable for transmitting and receiving commands from an external A/V system. Where HDMI cables are traditionally used to connect a video and audio source, like a desktop computer, Blu-ray player, or games console, to a TV or monitor with just one cable, it can also be used as part of a more expansive A/V system, too. In addition to our overview above, people often have specific questions about optical audio cables and connections. Here are some of the common ones. Are TOSLINK, Optical Audio, and Digital Audio All The Same? One area that optical cables can hold a slight advantage over their HDMI counterparts, is in cable length. Optical cables can maintain a strong signal quality along much greater lengths than standard, passive HDMI cables. Where a standard, high-quality optical cable can stretch to 50ft, most HDMI cables, especially new-generation HDMI 2.1 cables, are restricted to just 15ft. If you need a longer HDMI 2.1 cable, you’ll need to opt for an active HDMI 2.1 cable. Those can measure as long as 50ft, easily rivaling the length of the longest Toslink cables. They are notably more expensive, but they can be used for ARC or eARC connections in exactly the same way as passive HDMI cables. Digital optical audio connections send digital audio signals between devices. While these cables support 5.1 multi-channel audio and Dolby Digital, they do not support high-definition audio (DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD). Best Use

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Toslink cables are best used with digital audio inputs/outputs found on modern audio equipment as well as in cable boxes, satellite dish receivers, and outboard DA/ AD converters. ADAT Lightpipe or simply ADAT Optical uses an optical transmission system similar to TOSLINK, and is used in the professional music/audio industry. While the ADAT Lightpipe format uses the same JIS F05 connectors as TOSLINK, the ADAT Lightpipe data format is not compatible with S/PDIF. [ citation needed] Properties and issues [ edit ] Digital Optical cables have an effective range of up to 16 feet, depending on the cables being used. Good quality cables can be effectively used for greater distances, while inexpensive ones can easily lose signals. Interference QED offer a range of connectivity products spanning from both consumer and installation cables, wireless products and switching devices to satisfy every audio visual need. This reduces the angle of incidence at which total internal reflection occurs so that more rays can propagate along the cable, which in turn makes for decreased jitter and improved audio data transmission.

In addition to the long run as a tech writer and editor, Jason spent over a decade as a college instructor doing his best to teach a generation of English students that there's more to success than putting your pants on one leg at a time and writing five-paragraph essays. While his days of steering students toward greatness are behind him, his lifelong desire to delight, entertain, and inform lives on in his work at How-To Geek. If your equipment does not have an HDMI port, digital optical cables are one of the best ways to transmit audio between two devices. There are devices with HDMI connections that do not support audio transfers, so a digital optical cable is your best option. They can also be used to connect your HDTV to a speaker system. Optical cables are not susceptible to electrical problems such as ground loops and RF interference. [8] Design [ edit ] A TOSLINK fiber optic audio cable being illuminated by a laser on the left end The TOSLINK system is still capable of carrying up to 7.1 channels of very high-resolution audio. For the majority of consumer setups, there will be absolutely no discernible difference between audio quality when using an HDMI cable or a TOSLINK cable. Now I think the biggest advantage of coaxial over consumer optical is that coaxial is will work better over distances greater than ten feet, though I could be wrong about that.

Types of Optical Audio Cable

While 20 years ago these sorts of misconceptions about digital signals were understandable, today it should be common knowledge that digital interference is not the same as analog interference and behaves completely differently. Optical cables can transmit audio only, so they are more specialized than HDMI. They support uncompressed stereo audio, or compressed surround sound audio, and have a typically recommended maximum cable length of around 10m, though higher quality cables can extend that to up to 30m in some cases. The cables aren’t particularly durable, with the potential for the glass fiber to break if the cable is bent or stretched too aggressively, so some care should be taken in installing them. What’s the difference between HDMI ARC and Optical?

Electrical interference is not an issue with digital optical cables. They can hold up better signals at longer distances. Signal

To transport digital audio from speakers or AV receivers, we employ optical audio cables. These resemble the common HDMI cables that consumers use almost exactly. As much as possible, try to use HDMI cables in place of optical audio connections. If you’re curious why, you can read the justification here: QED's multi-award winning Toslink optical digital audio cable relies on PMMA acrylic glass fibre to carry high frequency signals with ease, designed to minimise light absorption and allow more rays to travel along the cable by reducing the angle of incidence for internal reflection. This cable delivers a nicely balanced sound with full bass and punchy, precise high ends. What QED say Although both HDMI and optical cables can support 5.1 surround sound, HDMI is a newer standard (especially its 2.0 and 2.1 revisions) and supports much higher bandwidths. That gives it the ability to transmit uncompressed surround sound. You’ll need an HDMI 2.1 connection with eARC support to handle uncompressed 7.1 surround sound, but older HDMI 2.0 cables can manage uncompressed 5.1 surround sound just fine. Especially in the case of home theaters, this cable shows its true magic. Utilizing the audio channels of multiple speakers, it provides a professional level of surround sound experience. Both compressed 5.1 to 7.1 sound and uncompressed PCM audio work with this cable. Some popular sound systems compatible with the KabelDirekt Toslink wire include Dolby Digital Plus, LPCM and DTS-HD High Resolution. Because of implementing so many technologies simultaneously, these cables come at a little higher price than others. At the same time, they also guarantee long-term use with their highly durable design and construction quality.