What is the difference between connecting a PS3 with compostie(W/Y/R) cables or Optical cable?

Question

I want to connect my PS3 to surround sound but my surround sound deck only has one optical cable hole which is going to be used by my cable so the only choice I have left is to connect it through composite cables- what is the difference between the two?

Answer 1

optical cables are digital, and give you high-def surround sound - composite cables give you stereo sound only (not surround)

Answer 2

The above answer is correct, but I will elaborate.

When you use the RCA cables (the red and white cables) to connect sound you will only get two different speaker sounds:

1) Sounds coming from the left

2) Sounds coming from the right

Depending on how your system is set up this means that sound will be either only coming from the front three speakers OR that all the left speakers will play the same sound and all the right speakers will play the same sound.

From a game playing perspective what this means is when you are playing a game you won't be able to tell which direction a sound is coming from. This makes a big difference in shooters and other games where the worlds are three dimentional (like Grand Theft Auto) and the sound gives you clues as to which direction things are happening.