Amazon Basics Digital Optical Audio Toslink Cable, 6 Feet, Black

Product Information

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. If your equipment does not have an HDMI port, digital optical cables are one of the best ways to transmit audio between two devices. Toslink cables with plastic optic fibers are not longer than 16 ft. If it needs to be used at greater distances, a repeater and additional cables or a signal booster need to be used. Also, coaxial doesn't have the bandwidth required to support high-quality surround sound formats such as Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. So, in a modern home cinema setting, its uses are quite limited. The name is a registered trademark of Toshiba, created from TOShiba-LINK. Variations of the name, such as TOSlink, TosLink, and Tos-link, are also seen, while the official generic name for the standard is EIAJ optical. [ citation needed]

The Toslink and digital optical connections are far superior to a digital coaxial connection. Both deliver the cleanest and clearest audio signal transfers.

How fast are Optical Audio Cables?

Optical audio cables should always be inspected to make sure there are no sharp kinks, as this will inhibit proper operation. The cable cannot properly transmit light along its entire length if it is bent, which is acceptable but unavoidable. While many modern systems only require an analog connection, optical media-based digital connections are increasingly ubiquitous in modern systems (RCA). RCA cables transmit both audio and video via a single connection. Optic cables are frequently more expensive than RCA cables. The type of connection you use will ultimately be your decision. For instance, depending on the parts of your home theater system and whether you desire stereo sound, your needs can change. The RCA cable can be the best option if money is a factor. Yet, the optical cable would be a preferable option if it were more important to be compatible with contemporary systems that require digital connectivity. Does optical audio cable quality matter? Digital optical audio connections transmit digital audio signals in Dolby Digital format. Dolby Digital decoders have been designed to shut off if they do not receive perfect signals. The cable features a stepped refractive index core that together with precision cladding techniques minimises light absorption and modal dispersion of single mode optical signals at the fibre boundary. Due to their greater bandwidth needs, optical audio connections frequently cost more than digital coaxial cables. They don’t interact with other surrounding electrical devices, but as a trade-off, they perform better when replicating digital signals.

The consumer version of the TOSLINK standard has stayed stable for decades. A TOSLINK optical audio cable from the 1990s will work just like one you buy today. Toslink cables send pulsating LED light flashes to transmit data between two devices. High-quality plastic fibers work as signal conductors. A Toslink connection is achieved by a 1 mm plastic optical fiber or a multi-strand plastic optical fiber. Although TOSLINK supports several different media formats and physical standards, digital audio connections using the rectangular EIAJ/ JEITA RC-5720 (also CP-1201 and JIS C5974-1993 F05) connector are by far the most common. [5] The optical signal is a red light with a peak wavelength of 650 nm. [3] Depending on the type of modulated signal being carried, other optical wavelengths may be present. [5] History [ edit ] TOSLINK connector (JIS F05) Don't believe us? Here's everything you need to know about HDMI ARC vs. Optical cables so you can decide for yourself. What is HDMI ARC?Both digital optical audio connections and HDMI are capable of delivering high-resolution audio. However, HDMI is better for video while optical is better for audio. Is SPDIF the same as optical? When it comes to choosing a cable for your audio, HDMIcables with ARC (or even eARC) support offer a better all-around experience. The HDMI ARC vs Optical debate was won long ago.

The German-based cable company called KabelDirekt has been delivering many top-notch products to US citizens over the years. Although they specialize in HDMI cables, their optical category is also quite rich and reliable. This cord can be used to establish connections with a multitude of systems. From your cozy home theater receivers to online streaming game channels to satellites – the KabelDirect optical audio cable can work with any system. Every time, it claims to produce crystal clear sounds on the other end. Even fiber HDMI cables typically have 2 to 4 copper wires, which is why they are still shielded. Pretty sure toslink is no metal outside the connections, which are often plastic also. Noise is hard to pin down sometimes because it depends on your house/apartment wiring, potential ground loops, ECT... 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. Both digital optical audio connections and HDMI are capable of delivering high-resolution audio. However, HDMI is better for video while optical is better for audio. Does optical sound better than RCA? The latest TVs and games consoles all support HDMI 2.1 natively, too, so you’ll find much better support for it than older optical connections, even if some devices and TVs continue to support it in a limited capacity.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. 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 ] The feature that really makes HDMI ARC vs Optical an actual debate, however, is that HDMI cables support audio return channel, or ARC, technology. That allows for a cable to connect a media source, like a Blu-ray player or games console, to an external A/V system, and for another HDMI cable to connect that to a TV. It keeps the number of cables used to a minimum, by allowing two-way communication along the HDMI cables. However, that demand for rigidity around such a clear transmission medium as glass, means that optical cables offer a high-quality connection with less chance of signal integrity loss over its lengths compared to lesser materials. HDMI cables are most commonly made with copper and therefore require additional shielding to achieve a high-quality connection that’s protected from outside interference.

QED is an award winning British company with over 40 years of experience in the audio-visual connectivity industry. And, in our experience, compared to optical, a coaxial connection does tend to sound better. That's because it has greater bandwidth available, meaning it can support higher quality audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. Optical is usually restricted to 96kHz. HDMI’s feature set, upgradability and the fact it can handle both audio and video means you don’t need to worry about too many wires clogging up your system. And, best of all, you won't sacrifice performance. Toslink is an optical fiber developed and manufactured by Toshiba Corporation. It uses fiber optics through light pulses (not electricity) to transmit digital audio signals. The Toslink cable (SPDIF Digital Optical cable) consists of an optical fiber cable with a SPDIF connector on both ends. Toslink cables support several types of media formats. Toshiba originally created TOSLINK to connect their CD players to the receivers they manufactured, for PCM audio streams. The software layer is based on the "Sony/Philips Digital Interface" [6] [7] ( S/PDIF), while the hardware layer utilizes a fiber optic transmission system, rather than the electrical (copper) hardware layer of S/PDIF. TOSLINK was soon adopted by manufacturers of most CD players. It can often be found on video source (DVD and Blu-ray players, cable boxes and game consoles) to connect the digital audio stream to Dolby Digital/ DTS decoders.Yes, all TVs that support Dolby Digital can pass through an Atmos signal as well. Why does my TV say audio out optical?