The Slow Death of the Optical Audio Cable

Megalith

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
CNET is reporting on what may be obvious: the optical audio cable (otherwise known as “Toslink”) is on its way out, as more and more devices continue to ditch the connector. Optical fell out of favor largely due to HDMI, which offers sufficient bandwidth to transmit high-resolution audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Perhaps ironically, many custom installers use optical to transmit HDMI data. HDMI-over-fiber is usually more expensive than wireless, but significantly less prone to interference and issues. It's also capable of far longer runs than traditional HDMI cables. These cousins of the Toslink connection may share lasers and copperless cables, but they're Ferraris to Toslink's bicycle.
 
I still use one because my soundbar is a finicky bitch when it comes to pass through via HDMI. Too often would I have video and no audio (even though both went through to the soundbar) and then have to try random combinations of turning the TV on and off and the soundbar on and off and changing inputs until it magically decided to work.

It still defaults to using HDMI audio when turned on but one button press to switch to optical fixes any issues.
 
I still use optical for connecting my Schiit Modi 2 Uber and my Yamaha HTR-5890 to my PC. I can get away with 5.1 channel DD/DTS since I use front presence speakers rather than rear surrounds in my 7.1 speaker setup.

It's a shame TOSlink didn't evolve any further, it's handy when you need to do a long run, or you have a projection setup with the amp on the opposite side of the room, or be certain you don't have a ground loop issue. HDMI stuff is more bulky and expensive.
 
I used to use TosLINK exclusively with my 5.1 system I got almost 20 years ago (still have it, just not hooked up since I moved)...and the sound quality (allowed/enabled DTS on my receiver) was mind-blowing.
The first DTS movie I watched was Gladiator, and the opening scene (where all the arrows are flying around), completely filled the room with an almost eerie presence and accuracy.
...Since then, I have always had a preference for TosLINK.

But, I get it. I have heard some surround sound systems being fed through HDMI and it was just as impressive.
 
The article only lightly focuses on the real issue. The reason SPDIF doesn't support "HD" audio is because the standard does not support the bandwidth. It's the same reason Sony got in trouble for putting rootkit on their audio CD's. It's not that audio CD's couldn't support it physically, it's that rootkits aren't part of the Redbook standard...thus you can't call it a Compact Disc if it has a rootkit.

So optical could surely support any current audio format. But there is no desire to update the standard to do so. And while the convenience of HDMI might be what the consumer sees value in, I believe it's because the content owners want exclusive use of HDMI because it enforces HDCP which provides them with some level of copyright control.
 
DejaWiz said:
I used to use TosLINK exclusively with my 5.1 system I got almost 20 years ago (still have it, just not hooked up since I moved)...and the sound quality (allowed/enabled DTS on my receiver) was mind-blowing.
The first DTS movie I watched was Gladiator, and the opening scene (where all the arrows are flying around), completely filled the room with an almost eerie presence and accuracy.
...Since then, I have always had a preference for TosLINK.

But, I get it. I have heard some surround sound systems being fed through HDMI and it was just as impressive.
Click to expand...

Until they amended the HDMI spec to adjust for adaptive feedback (Jitter) HDMI digital audio was inferior as it was locked to simple PLL.
 
I still use optical, but only to connect my PS4/Xbox to my Gungir DAC in my office, which is a 2.0 setup. If we could get console manufacturers to reliably support audio over USB, which my Gungir also has, I'd be happy to drop optical but, for now, it stays. The main problem that I see with HDMI-only runs is that you are tying your audio to your video, meaning that if you want you audio to take a different signal route - say, through a discrete high-end DAC - then you have the problem of sending your audio back out through your receiver to said DAC, which can degrade your signal. Most users wouldn't even consider this problem since most end-users don't even know what a DAC is.
 
Sad....was always cool to be able to transmit high end digital audio via LIGHT. (Fiber Optics are so 1970's tech tho....)

Now, If someone said "They are killing off Component Inputs", well then I'd throw a party......when I had my old 65" set it came out before HDMI was approved, I had to run a Component Cable switch (4 ports for 4 devices, so 12 cables just for video...and a TOSLINK for each digital audio output). Then when I added a Projector I ran that 4 port output to a 2 port splitter to feed both the PJ and TV....more frickin component cables. Three wires as thick as the ones that run 120ac to your house times the number of High Definition devices plus then separate audio cables. *THAT* SUCKED. HDMI over 1 cord was a meme-cryface level improvement in that regard.

Toslink I think is still used to pass 5.1 or 7.1 compressed audio between soundbars and console headphones that offer surround sound, but as long as there is at least a digital coax connector, TOSLINK really..sadly..isn't necessary anymore. Toslink cables will go the way of VHF/UHF switch boxes for dual-screw rabbit-ear tvs. <sniff>

I'll pour a 40 on the ground for the cable that's not around....

lighter_at_concert.jpg
 
I still like to use Toslink cables it to provide electrical isolation between my rig and my DAC.

Even with USB or with digital copper SPDIF, you still get some of that nasty gigahertz noise from the computer spilling over into your DAC. I'd prefer to avoid that.

When you don't have a conductor, you don't get noise.
 
Last edited:
I have an old set of Tritton 5.1 surround headphones that I use with the consoles and have an optical splitter for them due to using them so much. That will suck when I have to retire them if the hardware stops having an optical port on the back. Could always move them to the computer since they still have optical out on them although not sure how well I could make use of it if the games have to support 5.1 audio. Hmm guess I'll have to read up on that.
 
westrock2000 said:
The article only lightly focuses on the real issue. The reason SPDIF doesn't support "HD" audio is because the standard does not support the bandwidth. It's the same reason Sony got in trouble for putting rootkit on their audio CD's. It's not that audio CD's couldn't support it physically, it's that rootkits aren't part of the Redbook standard...thus you can't call it a Compact Disc if it has a rootkit.

So optical could surely support any current audio format. But there is no desire to update the standard to do so. And while the convenience of HDMI might be what the consumer sees value in, I believe it's because the content owners want exclusive use of HDMI because it enforces HDCP which provides them with some level of copyright control.
Click to expand...

Ding.

Optical is limited to basically three formats*

2.0 Uncompressed PCM
5.1 Dolby Digital (*and Dolby Digital EX for what it's worth)
5.1 DTS

Both Dolby and DTS are lossy audio formats, and are long overdue dying off. Not glad to see them, as well as TOSLINK finally dying off.
 
Portman said:
I have an old set of Tritton 5.1 surround headphones that I use with the consoles and have an optical splitter for them due to using them so much. That will suck when I have to retire them if the hardware stops having an optical port on the back. Could always move them to the computer since they still have optical out on them although not sure how well I could make use of it if the games have to support 5.1 audio. Hmm guess I'll have to read up on that.
Click to expand...

Without a soundcard that supports Dolby Digital Live, you'll be limited to Stereo. PCs don't bother with Dolby/DTS formats, and TOSLINK can't support uncompressed 5.1.

Which kind of highlights why the standard needs to die.
 
gamerk2 said:
Ding.

Optical is limited to basically three formats*

2.0 Uncompressed PCM
5.1 Dolby Digital (*and Dolby Digital EX for what it's worth)
5.1 DTS

Both Dolby and DTS are lossy audio formats, and are long overdue dying off. Not glad to see them, as well as TOSLINK finally dying off.
Click to expand...

The saving grace of DD and DTS is that their is easily accessible encoders on the market for the end user. I don't know if there is encoders yet available for 7.1/HD stuff. I would love to see multichannel AAC come into usage since it's open source and easily support HD, but no one is biting (not even Apple).
 
gamerk2 said:
Without a soundcard that supports Dolby Digital Live, you'll be limited to Stereo. PCs don't bother with Dolby/DTS formats, and TOSLINK can't support uncompressed 5.1.

Which kind of highlights why the standard needs to die.
Click to expand...

That calms my worries about watching it fade away and not being able to use it. I had always meant to record some music from a game via optical since it was released on the Xbox but would probably be easier now to just fire up the game and go hunt the music online between all the streaming sites and places to buy used discs.

Hmm more excuses to buy new tech gear eventually too so that's a plus. Makes it easier to justify when it is obsolete. :D
 
gamerk2 said:
Ding.

Optical is limited to basically three formats*

2.0 Uncompressed PCM
5.1 Dolby Digital (*and Dolby Digital EX for what it's worth)
5.1 DTS

Both Dolby and DTS are lossy audio formats, and are long overdue dying off. Not glad to see them, as well as TOSLINK finally dying off.
Click to expand...

They still need to come out with a better alternative though. I can't output just audio over HDMI. So my computer is driving a third, pointless monitor. And ARC is flakey. Half the times it doesn't work. And my receiver doesn't support HDR, and consoles only allow 1 HDMI out, so I'm stuck between worse audio but better picture, or a worse picture and better audio.
 
Last edited:
Nytegard said:
They still need to come out with a better alternative though. I can't output just audio over HDMI. So my computer is driving a third, pointless monitor. And ARC is flakey. Half the times it doesn't work. And my receiver doesn't support HDR, and consoles only allow 1 HDMI out, so I'm stuck between worse audio but better picture, or better picture and worse audio.
Click to expand...

DVDO used to have a product that split the HDMI input into HDMI Out Receiver (Audio only) and HDMI Out (Display device) so you got the best of both worlds.

I would consults the AVSForum video scaler section for their advice as to what is available now.
 
As long as Google's Chromecast Audio supports SPD/IF out, I'll keep using it. It sounds just awesome run into even a mediocre DAC and into my hifi system.
 
gamerk2 said:
Ding.

Optical is limited to basically three formats*

2.0 Uncompressed PCM
5.1 Dolby Digital (*and Dolby Digital EX for what it's worth)
5.1 DTS

Both Dolby and DTS are lossy audio formats, and are long overdue dying off. Not glad to see them, as well as TOSLINK finally dying off.
Click to expand...


This ^

No Dolby Atmos (7.1.4 (or greater)) or DTS-X (7.1.4) nor even 7.1 DTS HD or 7.1 Dolby TrueHD.

In the home theater enthusiast realm - Optical Toslink has been dead for years.
 
Nytegard said:
They still need to come out with a better alternative though. I can't output just audio over HDMI. So my computer is driving a third, pointless monitor. And ARC is flakey. Half the times it doesn't work. And my receiver doesn't support HDR, and consoles only allow 1 HDMI out, so I'm stuck between worse audio but better picture, or better picture and worse audio.
Click to expand...

I researched a lot into this issue, the workaround sucks adding a second fake screen. And it causes new issues. So for now I just keep usng the optical out and DTS connect. Its pretty stupid HDMI can't output just sound with no audio. Its a HUGE problem if you need audio when your screen is in power saving mode.
 
Galvin said:
I researched a lot into this issue, the workaround sucks adding a second fake screen. And it causes new issues. So for now I just keep usng the optical out and DTS connect. Its pretty stupid HDMI can't output just sound with no audio. Its a HUGE problem if you need audio when your screen is in power saving mode.
Click to expand...
If you have a receiver (Denon, Marantz etc) - I think you can have audio go to your AVR without a picture. I can verify for sure, but I'm pretty confident that works. You just have to select the proper audio out via the windows sound properties.
 
The big limitation with it is that it can't do more than uncompressed stereo.

I use headphones, so I don't care.
 
I still use optical out from my 4k tv to the receiver under my desk. It gets shared between my PS4 Pro and Nvidia Shield TV. Its outdated as hell, but still pretty convenient if you want to hook up digital audio outputs to old receivers.
 
I wish optical would get an update for lossless audio formats... pisses me off that I have to but new amp just to support new HDMI standards...
 
My receiver is not the latest or greatest. I tried to do everything over HDMI at first. I had issues. I switched to Toslink and ethernet and it's great. Simple and functional. Listening to MP3s through it right now and almost all the time. The minute differences between those high end standards are lost in my world. Too much background noise EVERYWHERE. I don't really care about surround sound though.
 
I still use one when I hook up my PS4 to my monitor in my office. The monitor doesn't have an audio out, so I use SPDIF in on my PC and use my PC sound card to relay to speakers. It's a funky setup, but it works.
 
I like how thin the optical cable is, very easy to hid. Gonna miss it when it's gone ...
 
It's unfortunate because optical (or the toslink on rca) has a much better 'just works' factor. If I have a receiver with either and a consumer audio source and connect them, it will just work. It's still sometimes a bit painful to get a computer to output audio over it, but better than trying to get things working with a computer and HDMI. HDMI seems like a constant game if maybe it will work when I get a new X, or maybe it will work consistently.
 
toast0 said:
It's unfortunate because optical (or the toslink on rca) has a much better 'just works' factor. If I have a receiver with either and a consumer audio source and connect them, it will just work. It's still sometimes a bit painful to get a computer to output audio over it, but better than trying to get things working with a computer and HDMI. HDMI seems like a constant game if maybe it will work when I get a new X, or maybe it will work consistently.
Click to expand...

That's my concern as well. TOSLINK is painless. Every motherboard I've had for nearly two decades had a port, my DACs, decoder/splitter, and older receiver all have it, and I have never had any problem. HDMI, however, sometimes gives me weird problems. Either it's some buggy, brand specific ARC feature passing audio back through the HDMI to a decoder, introducing latency for no good reason, or a PITA to enable on a particular brand of device.

HDMI and it's many specs have a long way to go before I start looking for supporting devices and give up on the guarantee of TOSLINK working every time.
 
I've never once had an issue with HDMI that I didn't have with TOSLINK.

I haven't used TOSLINK for years, the last time I used it was to connect my MD player to my CD player.
 
Can you send audio via HDMI on the rear IO of motherboard if you don't have iGPU? I doubt this is even possible, else Creative / Asus would have released all soundcards with HDMI input/output.
 
I have to keep it around, unfortunately. My new TV doesn't support ARC, so when my wife wants to use an APP on the tv, versus the computer, we only get the tv audio because it won't feed back into the receiver via HDMI. So I'm forced to use the optical out to the receiver for those circumstances.
 
Last edited:
Meeho said:
Except those are useless for 99.9% of consumers.
Click to expand...

Surround audio in general is useless for 99% of consumers and in most cases is set up totally incorrectly - Doesn't mean we should remain in the past.

There is no way anyone can argue that having a single cable for audio, video and in some cases networking is harder to use than TOSLINK.
 
BulletDust said:
Surround audio in general is useless for 99% of consumers and in most cases is set up totally incorrectly - Doesn't mean we should remain in the past.

There is no way anyone can argue that having a single cable for audio, video and in some cases networking is harder to use than TOSLINK.
Click to expand...
It is when you want to separate your video and audio outputs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top