Are optical cables the best for sound or is there a better cable?

Question

Are optical cables the best for sound or is there a better cable?

Answer 1

Fiber Optical are the best. Pay the extra money and you'll be happy if you have a nice sound system. Remember the center speaker is the most important.

Answer 2

Actually optical (TOSLINK) is, at best, only as good as digital coax (the electrical version of SPDIF). It's sensitive to bending, prone to jitter (timing errors) and also rapid signal drop-off unless good cable is used. On the other hand coaxial SPDIF is more prone to EM and RF interference. However, for most purposes they can be considered interchangeable.  

That said, since HDMI will handle Dolby TruHD and DTS HD-Master audio and SPDIF will not, technically, HDMI is the superior connector.

Overall, for most audio purposes any one of the three can be used pretty much interchangeably.

Answer 3

Yes based on cost and performance.  It is much cheaper than the HDMI cables that are coming out now and most older receivers still have optical and not HDMI.

Answer 4

Everyone should agree that to get the best audio, (and video for that matter) uncompressed signal,(lossless), is best, right?

Ok consider this:

-The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), the interface for transmitting uncompressed digital streams. HDMI (1.3), provides 340 MHz bandwidth, and provides support and for 8-channel uncompressed digital audio.

If you specify uncompressed 5.1 PCM for audio playback and you are using an optical cable, you're actually only getting 2 channel, (stereo), uncompressed audio, since it cannot carry all the bandwidth of a full 5.1 track.

2.0 uncompressed is the best you can get over optical, which then is utilized by the Dolby 5.1 matrix, DTS, (or whatever other sound field you select), in your receiver. HDCP, (the spec for copyright protection), prevents an optical cable from delivering uncompressed multichannel high definition audio.... That is why, with an optical cable, you can get only normal 5.1 Dolby digital, the core mix, but it is not "true" high definition audio, its only delivering what's referred to as "core audio".

The newer HD formats DTS-HD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio provide 8 full range channels, have the ability of delivering all of the original audio information, without compression that optical requires.  In other words HDMI gives the capability for realistic sound as it was recorded, with more accurate response in addition to upgrade-ability for future formats.

Answer 5

Both optical and coaxial digital provide the exact same data so there is no difference in sound.

From a scientific standpoint - there is a huge difference in quality of optical cables. For home theater - it does not matter.  The on/off/on/on/off nature of the data - even cheap plastic cables work fine.

I tend to prefer coaxial-digital cables because these are just a video cable and the very thin Toslink optical cables ... look wimpy.

I recently re-cabled my system and the budget Optical cables from Monoprice have a thick, metal-mesh outer sheath so it has similar diameter to other RCA cables.

The only problem with the Monoprice cables is they have a very large plug that might not fit in a tight row of optical jacks.

Answer 6

optical cables is the best

Answer 7

We're talking about digital audio not analog, so signal degradation/noise is not a problem.

For PCM 44.1 (CD) data rate is 1.44Mbps. Dolby Digital 5.1 uses between 96 and 512kbps. DTS uses more but less than 1.5Mbps. The hardest one is DTS HD up to 25Mbps (for blu ray).

Finally, the distance from your DVD to your Receiver is just a few centimeters.

Under these conditions there's no difference between RF Coaxial or Optical.

You're not sending multiplexed data from Alaska to Tierra del fuego (this is where Optical cable is used)....

Any of them would work just as good.

Answer 8

In my installation experience yes.  If a component has optical out I will use that over the coax hookup to the receiver.  

I also prefer them over the coax style hookup because they aren't as thick as a coax and will provide a true digital signal v.s. a digital signal embedded in an analog cable (the coax).

Answer 9

yes

Answer 10

yah fiber optic cabes are the best, the quality of the cabeis important also. Dont buy a cheap generic cable

Answer 11

Optical and Coax will provide the exact same sound.

I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.

Get whatever your system can support and what you can afford.

I prefer coax because they are more durable. And have a tighter connection. This is a good idea if you have small children.

And as far as information being truely digital over fiber optic and not digital over wire is not true.

I install and service machines that use both optical and wire based digital data transfer.

DO you think someone would trust a digital connection that was not accurate or truely digital on a mchine that costs 3 million bucks?

A digital bit is either on or off. A bit is either sent or it is not.

it does not matter what medium is used as long as the info gets to where it needs to go. Coax AND fiber optic will both provide exactly what the electronic components need to do their jobs.

----EDIT----

Pi55 on the studios.

Fiber Optic and coax have the capability to be as good as HDMI if THEY would allow it. It would surely make our lives a lot easier with just 1 connection type all around.

You know darn well in about 5 years there will be An SDHDMI1.500abc (super duper hdmi version 1.500abc)