If you watch movies frequently with a home theater system use the hdmi cable.
Optical cable vs hdmi for sound.
Launched in 2002 the biggest benefit of hdmi is it s a one size fits all connection for video and audio.
An optical connection also can t support more than two channels of uncompressed pcm audio.
If you can t optical is decent enough for your audio or sound needs.
Hdmi is superior to both but if you were to choose between only them for various reasons then keep on reading.
If the sound system is solely set up for audio and music either cable will perform the same function.
Both hdmi and optical pass digital audio from one device to another.
Then there s the threat of damage if an optical cable is bent too tightly.
Optical on the other hand can only transfer the audio from one device to another with no video support.
For the purposes of this article we will discuss which one is better optical vs rca.
Optical audio cables for sound quality hdmi is better than optical.
A digital optical cable also referred to as an optical cable will produce a reliable and consistent sound.
These types of cables work through using a pulsing wave of light to relay audio signals from a source to a receiving device.
When comparing hdmi vs.
Although consistent and high quality it lacks the edge provided by the hdmi for video.
Both are better than analog the red and white cables.
This is why between hdmi and optical the simplest advice is to go hdmi as much as possible.
In fact some have claimed that digital optical cables relay slightly better sound than an hdmi cable.
However the coaxial cables make the audio sound better than the optical digital cables to a greater extent.
Moreover with optical cables the usage is limited to speakers up to 5 1 while hdmi takes advantage of dolby truehd and dts hd master audio.
The coaxial cable has better bandwidth than the optical cable and offers support for up to 192 khz.
Most tvs do support optical cables but it s not nearly as popular as hdmi.
Rca and optical debate for speakers and sound systems.
As you can see from the chart above hdmi is the best type of audio cable format available compared to optical digital coaxial and rca cables.
So what should be your preferred connection option.
The optical cable on the other hand can only support up to 96 khz.
The basics of hdmi vs.
Coaxial vs optical vs hdmi which is the best audio connection to use.
Both can pass multi channel audio like dolby digital.
The vast majority of consoles and displays support hdmi.
The digital optical audio cable is one dimensional and only puts out the sound.
