HDMI ARC vs. Digital Optical (TosLink) | How to get the best sound
HDMI or Optical? Both are one-cable audio solutions for your home entertainment system, but they work in different ways, and one can do a few things the other can’t. Which should you use and how do you set it all up? We've got the answers for you.
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00:00 Intro
01:03 Why HDMI ARC or Digital Optical?
02:01 Digital Optical
04:30 HDMI ARC
05:11 How To Setup HDMI ARC & Optical
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I started chasing surround sound formats decades ago. It became a never ending chase with the next "best" technology always thousands of dollars away. Years ago, I went back to a high end two channel system and never looked back. Granted, I do have the thousands invested, but the technology will never change, vinyl is back, DAC's are fun and movie audio on my two channel system blows most surround systems out of the water.
Totally agree, I followed the same path and never been happier 👍
Even 2-channel audio can be a perpetual treadmill for those continually chasing the "latest and greatest" technology. Where each person chooses to jump off that treadmill is up to the individual.
I did a full Atmos surround system for several years and it was just too much hassle between hiding all the wires and doing room correction every time I changed something. It was cool when content took full advantage of it but you need a flagship surround reciever to get the power necessary to drive 5+ speakers; especially if you’ve had monoblock power amps and know what proper amplicication sounds like. Two properly driven floor standers are impossible to beat dollar for dollar.
I prefer multi-channel stereo over surround sound. It's like 2-channel but on steroids.
Surround sound was developed to give a large audience a good experience. If you are alone in the sweetspot how ever I agree that 2 channel can be better in some ways. But you will not get the same directional sound effects as you do with rear speakers in a high end system imo.
I just got a toslink optical cable after just using Bluetooth to transmit audio for the longest time. And I am absolutely gobsmacked. The sound quality with optical is absolutely insane.
Gobsmacked?
We also have to remember that you moved from Bluetooth and... Anything, IMHO, is better than that. I'd go for 3.5mm copper cable over Bluetooth any day.
@@ramencurry6672 Yo brother I think you need to use a dictionary and look it up. You'll see what it means.
@@ramencurry6672when you get so blown away that you have to invent a new word to describe just how amazing it is 😂
@@LM-nb7rj I've actually heard the term "gobsmacked" quite a few times in my life!
i was expecting a super long video, but you explained it so clearly that i was amezed at how quick the video was over. Thank you for the info.
Watched a handful of your videos now and you do a great job breaking things down quick, and easy to understand.
WOW! Thank you soo much for doing these videos! We recently bought a new Sony A80J TV and set up was pretty easy but I hooked everything up like my old TV and could not get the sound to work good. The picture is truly amazing but I did not know the all the different sound connection possibilities. Finally got it working with my sound system but only by watching your videos explaining the differences. Your videos help so many people like me who do not have a good knowledge of this ever-changing world of the new TV's not only to make good decisions when buying but also how to best set up for our specific taste. Once again thank you for all you do.
Yeah, I had exact same problem and this vid got me on track.
I am using the optical myself from tv to receiver, which is a Denon model I bought in 2007 and doesn't have HDMI ARC. My important audio sources (4K UHD and HD-DVD) go directly to receiver.
HDMI continues to amaze me. Thanks for this video. I've been using optical my whole life and will start paying attention to ARC.
I just bout a BOSE Soundbar 600 and was gonna use digital optical purely for simplicity. I'm glad I looked this video up before setting it up. Cheers.
I am an audio-video pro....and also an enthusiastic consumer. Your video was awesome! I learned so much! Like - no Atmos with digital optical cable. And - in some systems, no ARC unless CEC is on. Brilliant! Thank you! And yes, subscribed!
And, no PCM rather use Bitstream to get true 5.1 or higher...
Optical/toslink is limited to 480kbps ish, so it cant even manage DTS-HD or TRUE-HD do youre basically limited to DD or plain DTS, its been a LONG dead method of sending audio since the advent of hd dvd/blu ray
Thanks for giving the info in a coherent, direct manner!
I had no clue about any of this. And you explained it extremely well. Thank you
Best simple explanation with actual screen shots of where to plug in.
I’m a two channel guy. The toslonk into a good D/A converter sounds amazing if with movies. I’d rather have huge main speakers and a big sub than lots of midfi speakers and poor power amplification. It’s amazing how good your center image is when you have speakers that image well!
That’s how home theater works that’s just stereo lmao
These basic info vidoes are soooo important! I always have to teach people about these things!
Love the rainy Portland background in this video. Makes it feel cozy.
Thanks for go over this information, I have no clue how to use these cable until now! I feel confident when I purchase my TV I will be able to get the most out of the sound system I have.
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="187">3:07</a> is wrong... S/PDIF only has support for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. Only Dolby Digital Plus supports 7.1 which cannot be transmitted via S/PDIF.
Well, yes and no...sort of. The reason why this is so commonly confused is because S/PDIF connections do certainly support Dolby Digital and DTS in a 5.1 signal configuration. However, they will also support the far less common Dolby Digital EX audio format as well. That's an extension to the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 codec that came out back in 1999. It adds a matrixed rear channel creating a 6.1 channel output. Some receivers can then up-mix that 6.1 signal to a pseudo 7.1 by distributing the single rear channel signal to both rear surround speakers. So, can you get 7.1 discrete channels over S/PDIF? Certainly not. Can you get a matrixed, up-mixed, pseudo 7.1 channels out of the signal passed over an S/PDIF connection? Yes, if you have the right receiver.
@@michaelbeckerman7532 Yes indeed, you can only do 5.1 or matrixed 6.1 which are not 7.1 ;) and especially as it's not transmitted via S/PDIF.
Awesome explanation. I feel most people within the TV tech field don't do this enough.
Loved the video. Took a look at some of the comments and just want to Second a motion (comment). You got to the subject and made your points eloquently and concisely. Easy to follow and engaging. So many videos out here where people spend more time being full of themselves and less time saying something useful. Wish more were like you. Thanks.
Hello and thank you for simply explaining the sound system and settings. I've recently upgraded and it's been a hard slog (For someone not technology minded to work out!) Especially the no sound or sound lagg... been so frustrating. But with your help of multiple videos I will endeavour to sort this once and for all by upgrading cables, use eARC and fingers crossed get that sweet Dolby sound coming though. Many thanks again. so Helpful.
A couple of things: 1. TOS link is resilient to electromagnetic interferences as it is light instead of electricty in the wire. Can be a better option when one of the devices is not well grounded for exemple 2. The optic fiber or optical cable is not what limits the bandwidth; it is more about how/what the source and receiver are capable of encoding into light
With regard to issue (1) there a LOT of issues a few years ago with problems of PVR/DVD recorders "not working" and the manufactures and shops could not understand the problem - even when explained in many blogs. If you use a crap HDMI lead without proper grounding connections to the shielding then 1080p digital encoded signal is around 1-4gHz depending on the encoding etc. The UHF signal for digital TV (your country may vary) is around 0.3-4Ghz. When you set your PVR/DVD to record a TV show it just recorded "no signal". The problem was that the digital signal in the unshielded HDMI cable created a massive interference emission that swamped the shielding on a TV coaxial cable - and killed the digital TV signal. Of course, you could watch the TV, you could watch PVR/DVD - so all looked fine, it just meant you could not do both - hence no recording. Beware of crap HDMI . TOS link itself creates no EMF, but the signal generator/decoder at each do, but generally TV's and other devices are properly made with metal shielding for the circuits and grounding. Beware of cheep stuff.
Absolutely correct. My internet service is fiber optic, carrying audio/video to every device in the house.
@@tomooo2637 That's completely incorrect. HDMI could never produce a signal that could swamp a coaxial cable signal, its a 5 volt line. There's not enough power there to create the interference, even on directed frequencies. Coaxial cable can be dropped on top of 220v transformers and show no interference on the line. If your assertion were true, every power line, your cell phone, your wi-fi, and you car would create enough interference to decimate signal everywhere. I've had HDMI receivers for the better part of 15 years. Two separate lines, always on at the same time, usually running within a few feet of each other. To add, I've never run into unshielded HDMI cable, its part of the IEEE rating, if you're buying cables without IEEE ratings on them, that's your own fault. HDMI also has frequency standards, and they are the following: Category 1-certified cables, which have been tested at 74.25 MHz (which would include resolutions such as 720p60 and 1080i60), and Category 2-certified cables, which have been tested at 340 MHz (which would include resolutions such as 1080p60 and 4K30) I don't know where you got your information from, but its 100 percent wrong.
Cheap material for optic transmission can limit light travel especially when long optic lengths are used and transmitting devices don't provide adequate light amps with high speed capabilities.
@@rgruenhauslength isn't cheap . I know that I'm not 😅
With an eight-year old TV and sound bar, I find things work best when using both. They are connected using both an HDMI cable and digital optical cable. The HDMI-CEC is turned on and the ARC is turned off at the sound bar. Using this arrangement, the power and volume controls work perfectly, and there are no audio sync or drop out issues.
Correct. HDMI for video, Digital Optical for Audio. Now you got the best of both worlds!
Awesome explanation all this time I haven't had it set up correctly as I was never told, brilliant can't wait to hear the difference. Thank you so much
Thanks mate, for someone who nothing about this tech stuff. You explained it perfectly .
Optical vs HDMI Audio is very dependant on ones setup and content usage. There was no mention of making sure all your devices that you're connecting are actually capable of sending and receiving the same audio formats. Newer Samsung and LG TVs for example don't support any DTS formats and older TVs may only support up to basic 5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS or 7.1 Dolby Digital True HD/DTS-MA. Some soundbars support only PCM and Dolby Digital or support Dolby Atmos but not DTS X, so it's very important to know what your devices are capable of sending and receiving and whether you're better off connecting directly to your audio system or the TV. I would also add that the overall majority of content, both physical and digital is still at best basic Dolby Digital/DTS/PCM 5.1. So no, you don't NEED an Atmos or DTS X setup. Quite honestly unless your setup has actual physical speakers for rear surround, height channel, center channel and/or a sub all you're getting is fake fancy processing from your audio system if it's receiving anything beyond 2.0 PCM/DD/DTS... your speaker/channel count needs to match or exceed the audio format you're listening to.
Brooks Carter thank you for your clear and concise explanation of how different equipment can and can't support all the different sound formats. This hobby can be very confusing for users such as myself who I might add has been trying to figure out the ever changing world of hi-fi sound for longer than I can remember. I feel that by the time I have a good understanding of hi-fi and all that comes with it my old ears will no longer be able to make good use of it or at least to a very full appreciation of what it is capable of....lol
Thank you for taking your time to share this info. It’s very kind of you and I learnt everything I needed to know in one paragraph 👊🏻
Well even native atmos content in most cases is not mind blowing, at least what I read about it and heard myself (latest being TG Maverick). But modern receivers have Neural X which is able to quite aggressively upmix all content to atmos speakers, even better than atmos mix itself in most cases. Sound engineers are maybe too lazy or nobody really knows, but only few movies have "proper" active atmos mix that uses height channels dynamically and most of all for some real effect. Usually it's just atmospheric or too quiet etc. At least this is what I gathered from ppl who have that.
I have a Sony Bravia TV (‘21 model) that had ARC hdmi but using an older receiver that doesn’t. The receiver does have hdmi inputs, but I don’t always watch everything with my receiver on which powers a simple 5.1 setup. I’m using an optic cable from the tv to receiver and using the tv as the hub for fire stick and ps5. Seems to work just fine and I doubt the human ear can even distinguish the difference between the signals correct?
@@bumblebvr6 well you sure as hell can hear a big difference when playing higher bandwidth audio on quality and revealing speakers. I'm on optical and can hear a big jump in quality/bass/rear channels from going 300kbps to let's say 1500kbps. So with HDMI your limit is much higher so should be possible to hear it as well without any issues. Compressed vs uncompressed audio is a big difference.
optical was a fun time: I got a $8 audio switch from monoprice so I could switch between TV, PC, and Xbox... because it was a simple physical fiberoptic switch
Thank you so much for explanation about differences and especially about PCM and Bitstream.
Seen these inputs everywhere and they always seemed so mysterious.
There is also a speed issue with Optical. It may not matter any more but this is a true story. When I moved, originally, I didn't connect my optical cable, just HDMI. I was having issues with both Rock Band and Guitar Hero, again, a decade ago. The lag was so bad, I couldn't play the game, when I reached out to one of the developers for help, they told me the game requires an optical connection to ensure the least amount of lag. Once I connected the optical connection from my PlayStation, the in game audio synced with my physical inputs. Crazy how something so disposable can prove to be a factor.
Optical audio could be more capable than hdmi arc, but, they decided instead improve the hdmi. The best internet so far is through optical cable, carries up to 12 k videos and dolby atmos hd
That's crazy how something invented in the 80's can be just as good if not better than HDMI ARC in certain situations.
I need this guy in my basement so he can get my stuff working🤔
Very informative and to the point. Good audio and clear voice. Great job.
Thank you soo much! For explaining the setting pcm and the other one. I bought a soundbar with speakers in the back and no matter what I did. The sound was the same with all speakers. So I heard people talking in movies from the back really loud.. and I was so confused and disappointed about the sound. Almost returned it. Until I saw your video 😁
I’ve had a sound bar for a few months and couldn’t see what the fuss was sounded exactly the same as the tv. I didn’t even know about the settings. 🤣
For home automation, ARC can be very iffy and unreliable. But for the average living room, it’s super convenient. Hiding your components in a cabinet or closet and running HDMI to the TV is a very attractive option for most. Optical is still more reliable for simple 2-3 zone A/V zones, unless you’re running a high end control system like Savant or C4 which offer IP audio solutions.
@JR1505 Does your engineer friend prefer Optical?
@JR1505 kay thanks dude.! If you can ask him I'll be waiting.. i appreciate it! 🙋♂️ ..morning
Wow! Long live toslink! Definitely the most unique digital connector out of them all and the most hated by audiophiles! I just recently got into TV subscription streaming after many years with dish network and bought a 65" Amazon fire TV. The TV has all the options for audio output including Arc, Earc, and optical. My old school Theta Digital Casablanca though updated to decode lossless audio sans Atmos and X does not have Arc or Earc but it does have a toslink input! So lo and behold, after many years of being absent in my AV rig, Toslink has made a return and serving me well! Long live Toslink lol
wait you actually pay? for stuff? been pirating since 93...
Ya but spdif doesnt have enough bandwith to support genuine atmos/dtsX signals hence the takeover of Earc. Personally i prefer the laser i wish they would upgrade that tech. Absolutely no interference over spdif regardless of the pricetag of the cord.
@@zeroa69 it's streaming bro I'm fine with no atmos or dts x, those encodes take enormous bandwidth.
Yes indeed, I really need to understand more about this and I appreciate all the help that I have been receiving..
Just set up my new Sony a80l. Connected digital/optical cable to my Sony xv800 Bluetooth speaker. Amazing! With the in screen speakers on the TV and the bump of the subs in the speaker sounds great.
I use both, HDMI plays a role for many other modern source devices especially for object based audio. And Optical is only used for lossy audio output from digital Satellites, IPTV, Terrestrial or Cable tvs.
and for high end PC Gaming.i for one use it only.and creative sond blaster Z conected to a HT Creative D5500 set of 5.1 digital speakers is my must have for game like a Pro all night long with pristine surround sound that blows all off the 2 stereo sounds set out off the water.
You covered most of the issues with optical except two things. Many televisions limit the sample rate to 48kHz with optical, but go up to 192kHz with HDMI and the spec supports up to 2 channel 24 bit/192kHz . Second, most manufactures got rid of analog out which was useful if you want to use the internal DAC with an analog receiver .
Sure, but 48kHz is plenty for everyone.
@@tinytownsoftware3837 not for everyone. if you give me a sample of 192khz and 44 48 64 or anything else lower ill notice right away. for some like me its very important to get the full width. its called audiophile and its like an sickness. dont look into it tho or you will be one too. cant get out of it and its expensive as hell
@@hyikoyo2501 I sincerely doubt that you will notice the difference between 192 and 44. First of all, 16bit vs 24bit is much more important than the frequency. Second, most music is not recorded at 192. Even 96 is relatively rare. So if you're upscaling to either of those from 44.1 or 48, that does absolutely nothing to the quality.
It's all about how they limit each model to upsell another model. Like crystal UHD and QLED differences.
@@tinytownsoftware3837you must have missed the part where he said it was “a sickness”. It doesn’t matter what is sampled when psychoacoustics get involved.
I used to have my Harmon Kardon soundbar connected vis optical, it worked, but took up to 2 minutes to synchronise the sound and sometimes it didn't even mange that. I changed to HDMI arc and it now switches on at the same time as the TV, is correctly synchronised from the outset and everything works smoothly as it should. That's my experience.
My first soundbar had hdmi and optical but my TV at the time didn't have hdmi arc. I connected an optical cable for audio but also connected a hdmi cable so that I could take advantage of hdmi cec to control the volume from my TV remote.
The problem with hdmi is that is useful for receivers but receivers have too high total distortion rate for the money compared to stereo dac amp setups of same money. The dacs usually recognize optical, not hdmi
HDMI is more convenient - u can change volume using standard remote instad of the one dedicated to soundbar
I can change the volume of my optical soundbar using my TV remote.
@@zachvalzach2434 same via xfinity box
My sound bar is connected to my tv via Optical cable, it’s the only connection and it’s a 2021 sound bar, I can change the volume with the tv controller but the tv or the sound bar displays the volume number, which is a bit annoying. But the bar has these little lights that flashes everytime I change the volume.
It would be more helpful if you cover and explain if PCM includes BASS drive or not, as well as Sound bar generation/version with or within a 5.1/7.1 surround system/s.
Brilliantly explained and I have learned a lot very quickly!
I'm tempted to just use optical because I hate having one of my HDMI ports taken up and it would be nice to have all of my consoles hooked up at once without having swap things out based on what I feel like playing. I already have 1 HDMI switch box hooked up. What's interesting is that I got an LG C2 OLED and a nice LG Soundbar system for Christmas and it only came with an optical cable and not an HDMI. The old Samsung sound bar came with an HDMI cable and not optical.
I have just got the C2 and bought the USC9 sound bar which pretty much is designed for the C2/C3. Would you use HDMI Arc guys for this ?
Same, but since I only have 5.1, it shouldn't matter right? The problem is, I have both a PS5 and gaming PC. Both capable of 120Hz ofc. However HDMI 3 is the one with ARC & 120Hz compatibility. So I have to give up ARC, to use both HDMI for PS5 and PC. Very inconvinient sadly, but I guess I just have to roll with it.
My Onkyo audio receiver is still working perfectly after nearly 20 years and sounds great through both optical and digital coax. I'll stay with digital optical until it craps out and it's time to buy a new one.
I have a pioneer receiver of a similar age and it was on the cusp of HDMI coming out as it had 2 HDMI inputs great receiver for what it is
Okay.
Hey question... i have a decade old A/V receiver with hdmi ports, i just got a new tv, am I supposed to connect BOTH the HDMI AND the OPTICAL to the old receiver that I want to use? Also, which audio cord does the tv and receiver default to when both are connected?? Thanks pros!
Very well explained. Thank for the clear-cut differences explained and setup instructions :)
I purchased a Monster cable S Video (digital optical) for my 2002 Sony S master home theater system. Sound still is amazing for my New/old system.
My tip for Toslink, is push it in, until you get a satisfying snap. Good sockets have a kind of semi lock snap, so push quite firmly. Failure to push in properly will result in garbled audio.
Haha!
Yeah and take the protective caps off first!
I have an older Sony TV so my option is the optic cable. Since the soundbar came with HDMI I connected both HDMI and Optic. Why not, the more the merrier may be? 🤣. I'm not good with tech stuff so not sure if it's right, should I be worried? Although I'm not experiencing the surrounded or immersive sound like Sony HT-G700 claim it to be but I do have sound and things shaking when I set the volume high. 🤔
I wouldn't do that, the soundbar might blow up from all that audio signal !
At first that's what I thought using just the optic cable but when referring to Sony HT-G700 instruction for TV with normal HDMI without ARC, the picture shows both optic and HDMI cables are connecting to the back of TV and soundbar. I was confused so did what it said. Was reluctant to remove because I wasn't sure and had already hung the TV back to the wall so it would be a bit challenging to take it back down. If it's going to create an issue down the road, I guess I'll just have to take the one I don't need down. Thank you all for responding, appreciate it.
I've renovated my den, played around with vintage HiFi I had. Forgot so much like Digital Coax not as limited as Optical Toslink inputs. Never mind ARC and eARC. Surprising differences.
Stumbled upon this video by accident but found it very helpful. I have a new LG B2 65 inch inbound and had no idea I could use the HDMI arc on my surround sound.
Have same tv how do u get sound from receiver to tv🧐🧐🧐🧐
Optical cables can absolutely transmit Dolby Digital +. When Blu-ray and HD DVD were first launched, very few AVRs even accepted any audio over HDMI, so they would be connected via optical or digital coax. At the very least, DD+ is seen as DTS by the AVR. If a soundbar can't accept Dobly Digital + over optical, that's limitation of that soundbar not toslink.
No and No. TOSLINK support Dolby Digital, not Dolby Digital Plus. You can't "see" DD+ and DTS because those are totally different surround formats by competing companies. DTS Surround came out around the same time as Dolby Digital and uses a different compression, but is otherwise similar in quality and capability. DD+ isn't allowed over TOSLINK due to DRM issues. When you saw DTS, you were getting DTS, not DD+
Great video! Have you ever done one about the differences between HDMI cables and how to choose the best one for your needs?
I spent almost $300 on a high end Audioquest HDMI cable for my PS5, and I can personally see and hear a difference from the provided HDMI cable, but maybe I'm just deluding myself to justify the price.
@@jimherold7827 You certainly are.
@@oggyoggy1299 🤷♂
Very helpful. Answered everything I needed to know.
The most helpful video explaining the difference. Thanks!
With optic cable the sound is much better and clear then hdmi in my av reciver , sony str dn1080 I think mixing of video and audio signals in the same cable cause electronic interference. With all due respect to all the formats that HDMI can transmit, They still haven't addressed the basic problem, Which is complete isolation of the cords between audio and video in an HDMI cable.
Great video, you would be surprised that many people still use old HDMI cables on there eARC connections, instead of UltraHD High Speed 4K HDMI cables. Glad you’re posting on this information ℹ️
Hello! Would this help my volume issue with streaming apps?
@@nickmcclaughry8699 Yes, I think it would
@@paul8926 thank you!
@@nickmcclaughry8699 👍🏼
Haha!
I havent bothered with optical cables for years. I now tend to go with the higher end HDMI cables - avoid soundbars and most devices that require wireless connections running through my Pioneer VSX 933 AVR
Excellent video - thanks for this. Clear & concise information, Great presentation.
Nice explanation, I was confused before which one to use.
Finally which is the best?
ARC isn't reliable for me so I have to use optical until I can upgrade my receiver. It may not sound the best, but it still sounds good and it always works.
Caleb, been awhile, LOVED your review of the Pioneer Elite BDP-88FD and seeing you now, you looked AWESOME, even younger in some ways. Way to go, hoping for my reversion to my state of fitness, prior to getting married 10 years ago and now working 2 jobs since the Spouse retired but with too meager of retirement savings. Ah, happy times!
Very helpful. Best explanation I've found. Thanks
I own a TX-SR600 from 2003. It’s still a powerhouse and I’m lucky is has a optical input. I’ve been to a buddy’s house a few times that has Atmos and…it’s okay. Not enough of a difference to drop a lot of money on a new receiver when mine is doing great still and I love 5.1. The only issue I have is with some movies that have Atmos on the disc is sounds quieter than a 5.1 mix.
Absolutely. Older Sony surround receivers all seem to have optical and like my STR-DE545 they can be had for $50 to $75 bucks on eBay, Craigslist, tag sales etc. The amp and electronics in that are better than most sound bars. You can also get used very good speakers for a song so the sound set up is less than a high end sound bar.
@@SHO1989 I just found a full Kenwood surround sound speaker set for $10 at Goodwill. It didn’t have a subwoofer though and I just got one in the mail today.
Great video I stopped using optical years ago but it's still important to know the difference. Hdmi to me is better due to having dolby atmos.
I stopped using HDMI Arc because sometimes it can be a real pain 🤦🏾🤷🏾
@@myquietreviewsfeaturingc.t9354 I still do but I just turn it on and off when I use or don't use it! I feel sometimes the sound coming out of the tv to the receiver sounds better than hooking the 4k blu-ray player up to the receiver itself 🤷🏽♂️ but I do feel your pain I hate the switching it on and off! Life of an Audioholic 🤣
@@movie_av_impulse excuse my noob question, do i need a sound system/bar in order to use the eARC hdmi port? I mean is it worth it to connect my PS5 to the hdmi eARC port? Is there a benefit?!
@@medbelheni9488 without a receiver and or soundbar! (Which you have to make sure they both your receiver and tv have earc) you won't be able to use earc or arc. Like for instance my tv only has arc but my receiver has both. So I can still have arc but not earc. Anymore questions I'll be happy to help.
Depending on the TV, optical can do DTS, dobly true HD, Doble atmos via optical, it just depends on the the TV itself. I use to use hdmi through eArc, but the hdmi port on my receiver went bad, so I opted for upgrading my TV to a u6g, and the audio pass through on that tv is magnificent, every codec and dobly feature you get through hdmi, you also get through optical. Edit: the other benefit of the optical is that I can still use the TV speakers, eArc with the hdmi overrides your sound default to the receiver, but through optical, I can turn off receiver and just use the quieter TV speakers, for me it's a benefit since my kids don't wake up from the bass or rumbling at night, I can't switch to the TV speakers on demand and just shut off the receiver.
Awesome video, this is something I’ve wanted to learn about for awhile. Thanks for always posting great content.
Very informative. I have ARC HDMI port in my TV, but never used it. Maybe I will use it now.
Unless I'm doing something wrong (and I probably am), I have better results using my remote control when using the optical inputs on my new LG TV and Sound bar. When I tried HDMI, I had to use separate TV, sound bar and cable remotes which was rather inconvenient. With the optical, my cable remote took care of most functions.
It should actually work the other way round. It's the HDMI-ARC with CEC that takes care of a single-remote-for-all-your-devices functionality, I've only discovered it recently myself :)
But that's right. LG TVs in conjunction with an LG Soundbar gain this convenience even via Optical.
Why haven’t they updated TosLink like they have HDMI? Aren’t fibre optic cables capable of way more bandwidth?
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Wonderful coverage in simple and easy manner making it easier for viewers
Great information summarized very nicely. Thanks for sharing.
Great, informative video! However, forgot one thing: some TV's will only allow surround sound in EITHER connection by switching to Bitstream audio on the TV. And if you have a cable box/ satellite receiver connected, you can turn surround sound on or off there, too.
You can send Dolby Atmos over Toslink and BT even. There are devices that can do that. Toslink max "band" is 125mbps. Optical cable has zero electromagnetic interferences.
can you provide a link to one of these devices?
@@bigsteve8921 WLA-NS7 Sony BT transmiter.
Thank you so much for this video. Doubt cleared.
Thanks for the simple explanation
I didn't realize how old the optical cable was. I have always just assumed that fiber optics was going to deliver the best signal.
and it does. in some scenarios where you wont to have less moyse from electromanetic sources like pc for example.
For interference it's better.
Question: if optical can carry DD+ how is it possible that it doesn't carry atmos (height) channels. Because DD+ is capable of carrying atmos, just not lossless.
Optical can't carry DD+, only the original DD, up to 7.1. It can't do lossless or object based formats.
@@B.D.B. Weird, I hear some ppl on avforums/reddit have it working. But maybe they are just imagining things and in reality it is just plain dd. Can't test it myself unfortunately. Thanks anyway
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="207">3:27</a> DTS-X is dts's compeditor to dolby atmos, and also uses the object based audio, and the dts equivaled to dolby true hd is dts master audio
Thanks mate you saved me time sound all fixed and I can spend time with my kids now cheers again
I'll take optical any day. After installing for decades, KISS (keep it simple stupid) holds true. Make it simple for the customer to understand/USE. IMO unless your an audiophile or like to measure things ;) most people don't appreciate the high end audio options.
I loved optical because it's simple and easy, but I now you it limits you. Optical has plenty of applications, but for those of us who have uncompressed capabilities, it's clear we need HDMI. After all these years, they should have released a new option version to compete with HDMI. Feels like that would have been the logical step after 30 years.
I just like the Toslink connection simply because it doesn't eat up an HDMI slot on your TV.
I feel that, I helped a friend set up his new 75 in Samsung TV and Surround system. The TV only had 2 HDMI slots. Compared to the 55 In LG he upgraded from with 4. He ended up buying an HDMI switch since he has 4 devices to connect.
Ooooh, you are a great source of knowledge. I have an ONKYO 7.1 receiver with both type of audio inputs. Now I know what type of connectivity I should use. Thanx
I have a vintage analog receiver as crisp and natural as birdsong on a spring day. The least expensive audio converters I found that can handle Dolby only do optical and not HDMI audio. So for my situation the solution is a no brainer.
Digital Coaxial has a higher frequency range for PCM than Toslink (Optical), and 5.1 surround capability. I broke my optical-in on receiver and now use a high-frequency coaxial converter and was surprised with higher frequency response and better sound quality I can hear.
The quicksand is then the cable quality. When dealing with copper connections, cable quality, build and QC can play a role. It’s actually one of the more fun tinkerings you can do with cables. If you can get your hands on a $100 cable AND a $1,000 cable…you’ll be staggered by the potential difference in a “digital” cable. After all…they’re all just 1’s and 0’s.
@@superdadmoney Just. No.
@@hepphepps8356 24 year pro…a great cable will slap you in the face with how good it is. So sure “no” is the best answer if you can’t afford the expensive one. Your system will start to sound broken without it.
@@superdadmoneyI can attest to higher end cables delivering better performance. I worked in a very high end A/V store for 7 years and it was amazing the difference that cables could have. To someone who either cannot afford good cables or someone who doesn’t have a good working set of ears, they aren’t going to hear a difference and will justify junk cables to their end. However anyone who has the physical ability to tell the difference, it’s a game changer!
So basically, if I want great stereo audio and decent surround I am pretty well off with digital optical.
But as far as I know Optical doesn't carry surround.
This was a big help. I've just got an Xbox and been trying to figure out how to get decent sound from it, not being impressed plugging my headphones in the controller (why do they do it that way?) and it not having optical like my PS4. I bought an Astro mixamp, so I'm using USB and that was better but still not great. Having seen this video I realized I could use the tvs optical, and now I also know what settings to use. This is invaluable because I don't know about any of this stuff and experimenting causes me anxiety so this video has been a huge help. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing the HDMI vs Digital Optical Facts.
A few notes. TOSLINK is prone to jitter and has no copy protection. This is the reason why you need HDMI for DD+ and newer formats. It's not about the bandwidth as many toslink interfaces (and especially coax s/pdif interfaces) can actually handle very high bandwidth. Second, if you use an AVR, your AVR can better adjust both video and sound than your TV. You should be plugging everything into your AVR! Unless you use the built-in smart apps on your TV (I don't as I use Chromecast because the Vizio interface is clunky and buggy), then you don't need ARC! I see so many people saying that the TV has to support Atmos and you need eARC and all this other stuff when they have everything plugged into an AVR. When using an HDMI source for audio, ARC isn't used and your TV doesn't play a part in the audio game! AVR sends video to TV and plays the audio itself - the AVR has to support the fancy audio codecs, not the TV. ARC is sending back audio that the TV itself is getting and in this case, the TV must be able to pass-through the audio to the AVR. Optical also can't do CEC, like volume control of your AVR or turning on/off other devices! It's basically dead. Thanks to DRM, you don't see anything new being compatible with TOSLINK anymore.
There is no such thing as jitter - there is a buffer at both ends of the connection.
@@estusflask982 No such thing as jitter? Are you fucking serious? Go read anything about phase locked loops (aka PLL) and clock recovery. The clock has to be recovered and jitter is a FACT in all digital clocks. Just happens to be a huge issue in optical systems.
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Thank you for information. I've had questions about that. 👍
Thanks Caleb. Also, is it possible to connect a TV 's ARC to an older A/V Receiver's (non-ARC) port and still get the sound to the speakers? Thank you!!!
HDMI = Habitually Down, Multiple Issues...
I can't stand the HDMI standard. I miss the days when audio was on one cable and video on another. Everything worked every time. No handshake issues, no loud pops when switching sources. No needing to unplug all my sources for some random reason. No random waking of my blu ray player when I want to play PS5 No having to re buy all my cables because my old ones don't support 4k120 The list goes on and on.
I want to express my sincere gratitude for your outstanding assistance in setting up my soundbar. Your expertise and patience made the process seamless, and the audio quality is now exceptional. Thank you for your professionalism and commitment to customer satisfaction. I truly appreciate your invaluable support.♥
Thanks, gave me the answers I needed!!
Wow answered all my questions great video thanks a bunch
I have a fairly premium 2.2 channel living room setup with my sources running through my TV and use optical back to the Anthem STR preamp. I'd love HDMI eARC for CEC volume control, but the STR doesn't have an HDMI in. Optical though is still great in this setup. Signals are all digital through to the STR, it's uncompressed as it is 2-channel, and it's easy to send the signal 40'+ from my TV to my STR.
Another great video. I always learn something.
Thank you so much... you have a wonderful way of putting the words in my brain...
Wonderful channel! My TV's got just one eARC and I use it to connect a PlayStation. If I had a soundbar, would I need to choose which one should I plug in only? In those cases, is optical the only alternative to connect to soundbars then?