Which is better for home audio? Fiber Optic or Coaxial or standard RCA?

Question

I recently purchased a Denon 488 receiver and am hooking it up. I'm using all HDMI wiring but after much troubleshooting, realized that this receiver doesn't transfer HDMI audio. I'm looking for the next best thing, and just purchased Fiber Optic Audio Cables... are they worth it? Should I use them or take them back?

Answer 1

Both Fiber (Toslink) and Coax (RCA) produce digital surround audio.  In respect to distance and interference issues, I would recommend fiber.

Distances less than 6 ft, either one.  More than 6 ft, you will start to see quality degrade with the coax.

A 10 ft fiber should cost you around $10-$15.  If it costs more, then you are paying too much.

Don't waste your time and money and purchasing a receiver that supports HDMI audio.  You won't notice a difference in quality, just less cables.

Answer 2

Well, the FIBER cable is the best, but Digital Coax should NOT have any issues with it, unless you're running it farther than 30 feet....

BOTH use digital signals, so there is no loss of frequency or quality, but Coax can lose enough voltage over long runs to completely lose the entire signal.

DON'T get expensive cables for any digital signal....Monster is a prime example of overkill,  and a decent priced cable will run close to $30.00 or even less....

NICE DENON....my favorite amp manufacturer !

Answer 3

488's a good receiver, but yeah, pain about it only being HDMI 1.3, which doesn't support audio. I think Denon could be more clear about this to purchasers, as most would quite rightly suspect it could do both.

I reckon you've made a good call on the FO cabling though. The most important consideration of cabling is to minimise signal loss - degradation caused by the physical signal transfer from output device to input (in this case your receiver). Physics says fibre optic will do this better than metal coax or shielded cables, though it doesn't mean the latter is a rubbish opion. It's a solid connection option and there are some good digital coax cables, which in turn is heaps better than standard RCA.

I'd stick with what you've got, it should by rights give you the best sound possible. The only downside is that you'll need to work through assigning whatever device it is (e.g., DVR) to the right type (check the manual) as CD and VCR are the default supported optical inputs I think. Should be left hand lower corner as you look at the back of the 488.

Pleasant plugging.

Answer 4

I prefer a good pair of RCA audio

cables (for a 2-channel stereo

system) over optic or coaxial unless

you are wiring up a multi-channel

home theater system.  The convenience

outweighs any benefits in performance.