You won’t get extra special audio by overspending on a cable. Just buy a good value, well-made brand – and note the emphasis on well-made. Optical audio cables are used extensively for digital audio applications, providing clean audio signals without interference. These types of digital audio cables are often used with entertainment systems and devices such as: Along with HDMI, optical and coaxial are the two primary connection types for sending digital audio.

Connect your DVD player directly to the soundbar rather than the TV. This will require your soundbar to support multiple inputs. TOSLINK is just the shortened trade name for Toshiba Link, both named for the company that introduced optical audio as a consumer standard. A common issue for some people is they can’t get 5.1 surround sound from their TV’s optical output to their sound system or soundbar.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. A DAC performs this process, so a poorly designed device may create audible differences when using optical or coaxial inputs. In contrast, a high-quality device shouldn’t sound any different. 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? So far, so good. But when you hear the DVD’s movie audio on your soundbar system, you only get stereo audio – not 5.1 surround.

Use an AV receiver and speakers for your surround sound rather than a soundbar. You can then connect the DVD player directly to the receiver. Here is a handy table comparing the differences between optical and HDMI ARC and HDMI eARC connections: Optical, HDMI ARC and HDMI eARC Connection Comparison Older devices with HDMI may not support audio over HDMI. Optical audio ensures compatibility with those devices.This issue will only likely affect audio from external devices, and the audio from streaming apps on the TV itself should pass surround sound OK. Another consideration is that the sound quality may vary by device. Before you hear a digital audio signal, you must convert it to analog audio. While this might be technically true regarding bandwidth, you are unlikely to find many devices supporting these audio formats via their optical connections. Surround Sound/Home Theatre - Many high-quality sound systems use a digital optical cable to connect a subwoofer to a receiver. This makes the sound quality getting through the subwoofer significantly higher than it would be comparing to only connection with speaker wire.

However, HDMI also supports Dolby Digital Plus and high-resolution audio like Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.Optical audio cable, also referred to as TOSlink, is a type of cable that is used to transfer data, usually audio or video, from one source to another. Optical audio cables utilise fibre optic to transfer signals via light rather than electrical signals by wire, as found with standard audio cables. At RS you will find a selection of high quality optical audio cables available in a wide range of lengths, colours and profiles to suit your needs. Types of Optical Audio Cable Long HDMI cable runs can sometimes cause signal issues, so optical audio provides a reliable separate audio path. Blu-ray players, DVD players, and game consoles also typically have optical outputs to send digital audio to amplifiers, AV receivers, hi-fi DACs (digital-to-analog converters), and soundbars. In the picture above, the optical port has a protective ‘door’ that will move out of the way when you push the cable in. A fast cable connection can deliver speed up to 50Mbps, however, fibre optic speed can be as much as 20 times faster than 50Mbs. What is an Optical Audio Cable used for?

Use an HDMI audio extractor to split the 5.1 audio from the DVD player’s HDMI output and send the optical signal directly into the soundbar. You may also need an optical audio switch if your soundbar only has one optical input.Due to bandwidth restrictions, optical outputs do not support multichannel LPCM, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X – or high-definition audio such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. So, while HDMI is ideal for combined audio/video, optical digital audio remains a valuable alternative for specific situations. How to Connect an Optical Cable From Your TV to Home Theater If you are sending the same audio format, it will sound the same regardless of whether you are using optical or HDMI. A potential benefit of optical connections is that they won’t be affected by electromagnetic interference. In theory, coaxial could be. Portable Devices - Many portable gadgets are equipped for transferring data to another segment through digital optical cable.