Optical Might Be Better Than HDMI ARC For You... Here's Why

[@bdk323]

I think I have the opposite of what most want. I don't want to turn my sound bar on every time I'm watching TV. The built in speakers are fine unless I want to watch a movie that's why I just use optical.

[@archwaytech]

And that’s a great reason to use optical.

[@andrewmieczkowski797]

The optical on your consumer devices, which is called S/PDIF or Toslink, has a max distance of 10m without degradation, if you are lucky.

[@fender7802]

I currently have the HDMI + optical setup mentioned at the end of the video. I'm using a 13 year old Denon AVR1612 with a 4k Samsung TV. The Denon has HDMI ARC, which is enabled, and ARC is enabled within the TV, but no matter what input I select on the Denon, audio from the TV will not pass through the HDMI cable via ARC. Interestingly though, I can use the TV remote to control the volume of the stereo, so the control side of ARC is working. That's where the optical cable comes in. For some reason, audio is still sent out of the TV via the optical jack even though the TV's audio output is set to "HDMI control" and not "optical". So with the Denon programmed to receive audio through the optical input, I'm able to get sound through the stereo but still control the volume via the TV. It almost seems like this shouldn't work but it's actually working out great. I'm getting true 5.1 surround sound via the optical cable and the sound quality is perfectly fine. I can definitely see how ARC can be problematic. I had to turn off ARC on every other device hooked up to the TV or things were turning on and off without me wanting them to. Luckily the Denon had a setting to have ARC on, but power control off. Another thing I ran across was when switching inputs on the TV, the stereo's input would also change, and it was changing to modes that didn't support surround sound. This was remedied by going into the settings for the Denon and actually "deleting" the other inputs, so it couldn't automatically change over to them. All in all seems like this can be a good setup for someone experiencing some issues with slightly older equipment.

[@d_techterminal]

I had the same problem and it turned out that the cable that I was using was the culprit

[@chaoswitch1974]

This is great to hear! I use digital optical because my ARC HDMI broke, and I honestly can't tell the difference in sound at all. Though, DOLBY ATMOS is supposed up be best, which you need ARC to function. It bothers me psychologically even though I don't notice the difference. Ugh! Stop my inanity lol

[@felipebaez3512]

😂 im the same way, if i know it can be better i wanna make it happen!

[@craigarnold1212]

Very nice overall view of the issues. I often find optical the best work around even if I have to use an audio remote and a tv remote. I did this with a mid 90's Sony 5.1 receiver and 4 diffferent TV's from an NAD cathode to an LG C8. While it could handle mp3 it did not work at all with mp4 the C8 can send down it to the reciever even with optical. I kinda knew it probably did not have the codec but I got 25 years out of that system. I updated to a sound bar which allowed me to get more exotic with where the TV could be and had issues as it would only work if things were plugged in a certain way. Unfortunately the sound and speed of changing a tv channel or skipping things while watching recordings got clipping via HDMI where optical plays nice and quick. But no 7.2. But the C8 does not even have arc. So that will have to wait till I update to another tv. This one is basically used for sports, not movies, where I do a fair amount of time shifting to the live stream.

[@raven4k998]

sounds like optical just needs an upgrade since it can be upgraded to handle more then copper🤔

[@gorkman5697]

I need help please .I have samsung hw-q990b sound bar and vestel tv .My tv doesnt have atmos optıon.so far I connected wıth Hdmı .my tv and sound bar has arc Which one is better .I didnt try optic cable yet,İs optic cable better.will ı get atmos sound.I dont even know how atmos sounds like And on tv which options I should enable .They mantion about the passthrough or Pcm when ı watched on other videos I will appriacte if you can help me ,Sorry my english is not good , Thank you

[@ashokrajacs]

I have a question.It would be good if you explain it in detail.Why the sound output is always low when we connect a soundbar with an HDMI arc.Possible answer is the preout volt is low in tv.But need clear explanation as no one is talking about it till now.

[@amirsan278]

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.

[@ks03xbf]

signal is digitall, there is no mixing, intrefering, etc, simply your reciver handle this signals differently if you hear difference

[@ryans413]

This video is so stupid let me explain if you want to just get audio from the tv too the sound bar or AV amp and you will just be mostly using the TVs built in apps like Netflix and you tube that’s okay because none of those services carry HD audio. Now if you have a Blu Ray player or games console please for the love of god don’t use optical. This is how you should set everything up. On the back of the sound bar or AV amp you will see the HDMI ports you’ll see one that says HDMI out and a couple that will say HDMI in. Plug One HDMI into your TVs ARC port then plug the other end of that cable into the back of the soundbar or AV amp that says HDMI Out. Now take whatever you want too hook up like a game console and Blu Ray Player and plug those into the HDMI ins on the sound bar or AV amp. Now doing this everything will be able to be controlled together and the HD audio will be sent properly along with the HD video. And if you wanna get sound from the tv using the built in apps it’ll be sent back through the HDMI to the sound bar or AV Amp. There is absolutely no reason to use optical anymore unless you are just using the TVs built in apps. Optical is an old standard dose not pass HD audio. Optical only works with. Linear PCM 2.0 2.1 and 5.1 in Dolby Digital and DTS. It will not work with Dolby True HD , Dolby Atmos , DTSHD Master and DTSX So there’s no need to really use optical anymore it’s like 30 year technology it’s an old standard stick with HDMI and set it all up properly following my steps.

[@EliasAnto]

You had mentioned in your video that Optical and HDMI ARC can send a “compressed” Dolby audio signal. Did you mean to say “lossy” signal, since Dolby TrueHD is also compressed but lossless?

[@KiRiTO72987]

I think the biggest thing pushing me toward HDMI ARC is CEC

[@jeanp.5929]

I have noticed my sound bar turning on in the middle of the night. Although, my Sony tv has some software issues. So I'm not too sure I can blame it on the HDMI port.

[@TheSweetswed]

Good video. My old 4k tv worked fine with my receiver i plug my computer into my receiver and then the receiver into the TV but this new 4k TV i bought it says no signal. When i press menu it shows so im going to have to try optical because my comp works fine when plugged direct into the TV but not through the receiver

[@tonyt.5771]

I've always used optical, never a problem.

[@hhkk6155]

Using optical on a 7.1 receiver with proper 5.1 speakers. I was thinking about buying 2 more speakers to get 7.1, but most of the movies really don't have an amazing soundtrack, like very few movies properly use even 5.1. So I see no point in upgrading to 7.1 or buying a ner receiver for Atmos, sure demo clips make use of all channels , but majority of movies don't. As for audio compression - you literally can't even tell if it's there, thats why compressed music won. Also heard a lot about audio being out of sync when using ARC, I was like: no thanks 😅

[@SuperFredAZ]

Consumer optical cable is NOT glass it is plastic, and rather low bandwidth.

[@Avril.Lavigne]

Where can I find a non-consumer glass?

[@SuperFredAZ]

@@Avril.Lavigne you can't it's nearly impossible to terminate by the consumer. It requires a fixture and hours of training. I am not sure why you would want it?

[@rodden1953]

ive been using a cable for about 5 years and its started to do strange things to the TV from the laptop so ive ordered a fiber cable , i think the plugs might be a bit worn out

[@EQUAL.RIGHTS.4ALL]

Hi brother. Can we make bluetooth speaker and hdmi work together?

[@CarsandCats]

My Sharp TV has ARC but my HDMI receiver does not. It also cannot do 4k. So, I had to hook my Xbox One X direction to the TV, then run the TV audio back to the receiver via optical. I get Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1 this way. When I turn on my Xbox it turns on the tv and receiver because it has an IR blaster built-in. So turns out, don't even need ARC!

[@anthonynigro3471]

My Epson projector has 2 reg hdmi ports and my Bose 900 has only hdmi arc or optic. Will using the optic on the 900 and converting it to hdmi on one of the hdmi ports and fire stick in the other hdmi port on the projector. Will this work? Please help thanks

[@farzadjahanfard]

If you want to use surround system use hdmi i save a lot of time for you guys

[@gerardangus3436]

A question why when I connect my tv to sound bar, all the 5 speakers has voice coming out, I need help anyone? In using a Sony Tv

[@44pakattack]

Are you using optical ? You may have to go into your tv setting to change the audio input

[@LoafRock]

Great video 🍻

[@archwaytech]

Thanks Bread 😊

[@claypyrotech7473]

This wouldn't help me since I run all my HDMI cable into my reciever then hdmi out to my TV the only time I use ARC is when I am watching Local stations on my antenna.

[@azriazris]

Optical most good than HDMI because plug in out hdmi problem

[@allanpennington]

But didn't you say that streaming services only output Atmos through compressed 5.1? If so will you get Atmos with Optical connection or only through HDMI? And as its compressed will you get Atmos from the streaming service if your TV only has ARC and not eARC? My Panasonic TH-50730EZ has ARC only but does have and optical out too. However it doesn't list Atmos support but does list Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and HDR10. So hoping when my new Samsung Q800B Soundbar arrives tomorrow Ill be able to get Atmos via Netflix and or Amazon Prime both of which are included Apps on the Smart TV.

[@91tempus]

Sorry but this is kind of bs, HDMI is heavily shielded and virtually never has interference issues.

[@iamwangine8752]

Yea sure 😂😂😂 , I have Denon AVC-A1H followed by 16 independent amplifier channels for each speaker ( tru' crossover) , try to connect you PC tru HDMI and you will find the noise pain 😂😂😂 . SPDIF is the best after 40 years . Is true a sound bar at bread price will work just fine😂

[@tristanbackup2536]

It's light. How it can it be affected?

[@iamwangine8752]

@@tristanbackup2536 SPDIF is not , HDMI it is always affected less or more . Ground mode loop residual current is always a bit*h 😂

[@raven4k998]

what if you had optical Ethernet and internet no copper wire involved at all what about that one?

[@moisesgrande6291]

Mi Sony HT CT 180 no reconoce el control de mi tv Samsung ru7000

[@thomasmoreno3602]

I'm having a issue here I plug in my HDMI Into arc Into my sound bar And I lose some of my Picture quality on my TV but when I disconnect it And I use only opt cord The picture is perfect can you tell me What is wrong could it be that I am using 2 different HDMI cords I'm using the xbox series x HDMI IS 2.1

[@chungus1149]

This video exists to appeal to the kind of people that swear cassette is better than CD. Optical is just worse lmao

[@toorandomenvi]

Optical is only stereo keep that in mind

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

It supports up to Dolby Digital/DTS 7.1 which was 5.1 and 7.1 were the standard multichannel audio formats from the DVD days.

[@johnlira3316]

@@BradOlsonBemidji I'm suing optical and getting 7.1

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

This is a good thing.

[@kidpoker9408]

no atmos

[@WiiNV]

Fiber Optic HDMI 👍

[@Jenna-zv6ve2sx4u]

i find that HDMI arc gets my audio and video out synch.

[@brendanrawson6364]

HDMI is pants. Sound cut outs all the time. Went back to optical and have no problems at all.

[@GT-Diaries]

Toslink optical cable connection should be used as the last resort. It's lossy, supports legacy sound formats (max dolby 5.1) and no CEC/ARC. This option should have been retired 5 year ago.

[@dustinwoolsey3292]

It's simply easier to use for most people who aren't total tech nerds. Most people don't know how to use anything so it definitely makes it easier for most. Most who have surround sound setups don't even use anything above 5.1 anyway. That's why it's still around.

[@allawy]

Earc has been nothing but headache for me; random sound cutting, lip sync issues and whatnot. Optical fixes that but still delivers a more than okay quality

[@josephmartinez7363]

Optical audio is better than normal HDMI ARC. EARC is better than optical & ARC. But optical audio could be better than EARC, for example internet fiber optical carries up to 12k video resolution with dolby atmos HD

[@wkduff]

Optical does not support atmos, never will, not enough power, HDMI is better.

[@hectorrivera4347]

Optical is the best for sound DTS Best Sound Ever

[@bryanp4827]

We moved on from TOSS link, for a reason...🙄🙄

[@Mikey-ym6ok]

I have to use it. Tv only has two hdmis and have to system. Bluetooth on my soundbar sucks, and hdmi switch had a lot of problems with my Vizio.

[@Kamperization95]

I’ve bought the LG C3 along with top of the line Soundbar by LG the optical IMO allows for better surround sound quality over hdmi and it’s noticeably different on my setup not sure why but I love the optical output better

[@001vidhu]

I prefer optical because i can use both tv spekaer and sound system at the same time if i do that. My tv speaker gives better width because of inbuilt dolby atmos, my home theatre gives me the surround & bass. So adding it gives me a better experience at low cost

[@christopherbrown8205]

Or, as in my case, the TV gives center and the speakers bass and better treble (I have a Sony TV from the days before soundbars became ubiquitous, so it has pretty good speakers 🙂 ).

[@igorstimac8993]

I think there's too much echo when using both the soundbar and the tv speakers

[@manigmaX]

I use Tewtross DAC Digital to Analog Audio Converter (SPDIF Optical to Aux) with an AUX splitter. So I am using my TV, Soundbar and 2.1 Speaker system all of them together. With bypass all are in sync and no delay. Wonderful experience. Maybe in future I will buy a good earc sound system to use with my C2.

[@misterlexx2721]

I have a Samsung 4ktv and Samsung 3 channel sound bar with sub woofer. I mainly use it for movies not regular tv . In movies , you want to hear the surround and bass but also very clear dialog.

[@rayharmacinski4934]

Nope. Optical is very limited

[@LeonXfilm]

I got a lot of electronic noise using ARC until I changed to optic

[@Alfred_Pennyworth]

If you want Atmos then you need eARC not Optical, otherwise there’s not much difference. Despite what people say very few can actually hear any difference anyway. Many say they can but blind testing proves otherwise.

[@sabbathAndy]

I also prefer optical for a single reason, HDMI BOARDS GO WRONG very often! It's my greatest fear for expensive av receivers!

[@chungus1149]

But nearly any receiver has both HDMI and optical inputs... So why not just prefer the far superior HDMI and then if the board burns out like you say (never experienced this) you can just fall back to optical ?

[@MaybeTiberius]

something that really helps with hdmi board going bad is additional cooling. you can open up the avr, buy some cooper heatsinks and put them onto the chips of the hdmi board, then additionally put some fans on top and your avr goes from hot cake to icecold

[@bobman929]

I lost a laptop because of a hdmi

[@derceto125]

My issue with ARC that made me switch to optical was this: My (slightly older) receiver was able to handle DD5.1 over ARC but not DD+. It could handle any audio format up to TrueHD and DTS-HD MA, including DD+ on any HDMI input, but not on ARC because it was out of spec. Now, my TV sends both DD5.1 (which works fine) and DD+ (not working) over ARC, no matter how I configure, but always sends DD5.1 over optical, transcoding all audio format supported. Fortunately, the remote can be configured to send the volume up/down/mute signals for the receiver when audio output is set to optical, so there's no need to use the receiver's remote.

[@rioguttaful]

I don't know what kind of TV u have but mines had a list of receivers that were outdated mines was one them by 1 year 🙏🏽 the store clerk sold me without telling me compatibility wen I took it back I should of got the optical cord but I was scared it wouldn't work also u have to look up the model of your reciever and make sure it's compatible with the year Arc they don't tell u that lol

[@Witty657]

I don't trust anyone who wears their jacket inside.

[@FeedScrn]

If you don't need the optical cable, with AV Receivers... HDMI I found to be better - because the receiver uses HDMI for OSD display.

[@deepblueskyK]

Like mentioned in the video's description: This is just a workaround for people who have problems with their HDMI-Arc connection. Anyway, there is still a severe downside when using an optical connection if you want to enjoy any of those modern 3d sound formats. Optical doesn't provide enough bandwith for Atmos, DTS:X or Auro. I just hope there will be a 'better' standard for HDMI-eArc in the future that makes connecting soundsystems and TVs/ streaming devices less of a pain to deal with.

[@caliginousmoira8565]

is it really a bandwidth issue... all the fiber being run to replace the 'old' trunk cables works better right...?

[@Arrozconchopsticks]

Another standard to where I would have to dump the earc 4k/8k receiver I haven't even bought yet. 🙄

[@zeroa69]

You can still transmit dtsx over optical if you are playing from a pc. The dts app decodes the signal before sending it out so that the receiver so the older reciver simpily sees it as dts and runs ot as such. Killer workound for those with htpc setups on older gear.my yamaha rx750 works perfectly and sounds way to good for me to upgrade just to get the newest version of native dolby atmos and dts. I have no intention of buying atmos speakers at this time when i already have a system worth around 3k that sounds magnificent as is. Even more so when i can just run presence speakers above my tv which was the precurser to atmos in the first place effectively doing the same thing without having to upfire.

[@Synthematix]

Use toslink optical, it was designed from the ground up for audio, it can work with 96KHz audio and is immune from electrical noise, as you are electrically decoupling the audio signal from the mains

[@josephmartinez7363]

In my experience, I have Pioneer receiver pioneer vsx rs320 5.1 it has normal hdmi, no hdmi ARC audio, year released 2009 only has optical audio input, so I decided to buy sony bdv-e2100 home teather 5.1 2018 year fabrication because it is HDMI ARC build in. My big surprise the pioneer vsx rs320 nine year older reproduce without lost of sound dolby digital plus and atmos format audio, transfering the back and heigth sound to the sorround sound speaker receiver, no sound is lost and reproducing via transference in the tv so reproduce the original audio format. Meanwhile the sony bdv e2100 almost a soundbar with separated 5.1speaker lost sound in sorround speaker dolby digtal plus and atmos, inspite to be HDMI ARC build in, also it is not wide dinamic audio range capable, the sound is flat and can reproduce it via PCM because via transference cannot reproduce sound. So I disided to stay with the pioneer vsx rs320 becausa even has better effects movies sound than the sony bdv-e2100, I thinks the optical audio is capable in audio only needs good hardware to reproduce sounds, I still didn´t test EARC so far, but I concider optial audio is better than hdmi ARC. At the time I bought the pioneer vsx rs320 all receivers had only optical and coaxial audio and analagus either 5.1 or 7.1 and stated to be dolby digital plus bulid in. This was my source sound test www.demolandia.net/cinema/dolby-demo-trailers-hd/page-9.html

[@darkdeath174]

I'm in the weird world of needing audio extractor for HDMI 2.1, as the series x has issues with digital audio. There aren't so many of them and they all have different price ranges and most don't even have stuff released in Canada.

[@Thode-R]

Hdmi is actually better and has better bandwidth

[@mccglastron1972]

That "as long as you see the light the cable is working" is not true. I had one that was kinked and probably therefore cracked and was having problems. Eventually I replaced it when i found the kink and I noticed the light was much brighter... problem solved. And none of the sound quality or eARC stuff matters if you're using a sound bar. No sound bar sounds anywhere near proper home theater... better then TV speakers yes, but not enough that you need to be worrying about Atmos and the absolute newest latest greatest... If that's what you want, get proper full size speakers.

[@DougZbikowski]

I’ve literally never seen nor heard of anyone having the problems mentioned with HDMI.

[@MrDaryboy]

It's all confusing. I just need to connect a tv and a projector to a soundbar that takes HDMI arc or optical. How do I connect both of these to the same soundbar? I'd be running a blueray player to both plus the TV is Roku and I can use a Roku stick via HDMI thru the projector. Please help. I'm missing something

[@archwaytech]

What Soundbar do you have?

[@bassinbillRC5300]

A Toslink cable is what I used on my older Pioneer VSX-D508 in our living room. It impressed my buddy while watching Mr. Brooks using DTS decoding from the DVD. Now I am using the same optical digital toslink cable from our Samsung UHDTV 50" flatscreen to our Vizio soundbar. Very good sound with NO hum nor RF interference of any kind. Never knew this format came out in 1985. Still a good idea to use today.

[@DavidMander-rs4uk]

I still use a Pioneer VSX-C301 and have all my devices hooked up via optical...Does me in my small flat with neighbours and very little space, HD and 5.2 (have extra sub, same Teac brand) Dolby Digital, DTS is all i need so high resolution would be wasted on me!

[@Wimmle]

I only just changed over to eArc and honestly optical is so much easier, eArc can be so finicky

[@ChiquitaSpeaks]

I like optical because it’s like digital and analog at the same time

[@Biggerbyte]

Bull. While optical sounds nice, it is limited. As an example, dolby atmos.

[@waltervanlille2263]

One hidden bonus of optical: When lightning destroys all your HDMI ports on your TV as well as your receiver, you can still fall back onto your optical connectors. Found this out the hard way.

[@cmdaniels55]

When I run arc or Earc I eventually get audio lag on ALL streaming.(YAMAHA RECEIVER) I HAVE DONE EVERYTHING. WILL OPTICAL HELP THIS. CAN YOU HELP ME

[@jamesrevell6475]

If everybody changes from Optical to eARC HDMI then the industry will quickly come out with a new standard and call it eARC+ or eARC 2.0 or some other trendy nonsense and ultimately our present home theater systems will be obsolete overnight. Starve the beast and be happy with Optical. Optical delivered everything it promised over 20 years ago and it works perfect today for 99.99% of the households that use it. The industry is taking the consumers for fools. Anything above 5.1 is a waste of money with diminishing returns. Most audio from television and movies is so horribly mixed that it renders Dolby Atmos, THX, Dolby DD+, Dolby LGBTQ and blah blah blah and all the other alphabet formats useless. I've ditched the whole scam and going back to 2 channel stereo.

[@0619421034]

My issue was the other way, my samsung tv use to wake up at night when connected through optical cable but it stopped happening when I started using hdmi arc port. It was good to know the cause now.

[@44pakattack]

Bro. I don't have the opt plugged in and my klipsch soundbar still turns on. Maybe cause I have a newer tv or something and it registers it somehow

[@jonathanwiliams4993]

Very, very good informative video! Thank you. I have all my devices using HDMI to my TV but optical from my TV to my audio receiver. It was really just happenstance from the ages of my components, but it sounds like I have the best designed system, and I didn't even realize it! Sweet.

[@derekclark7545]

So what universe are you in, Quality HDMI cables do not suffer any interference installed correctly and when was a sound bar any good at Dolby Atmos, Dolby say you need a minimum of a 7.1.4 speaker setup to listen to Atmos correctly, your not doing that over optical. Todays AV receivers, Blu-ray players and TV's all talk to each other, in fact have done for the last 3 years or more. If your having trouble with electrical products not talking to each other get someone in who knows what they are doing as for the last 6 years any product brought should work seamlessly over HDMI.

[@allisonclark6642]

Hi Josh, I have a Sony 2011 KDL46Ex520 television and for the past 2 days have been trying every troubleshooting idea to connect a Yamaha ATS-2090 sound bar. Thanks to your video I have used the optical cable and now everything works. Thank you so much 😊

[@archwaytech]

That's awesome that you could get it all working! Happy to help Allison 😊

[@sudanaguntavenkatasubbarao]

Please note Optical transmit 480kbits per second with two compressed signals Hdmi arc trsmits up to 1mbps compressed 6 channels and uncompressed 2channaels Hdmi enhanced arc will transmits 4 to 27mbps and up to 6uncompressed channels

[@bFix]

2:03 what are you on about? the Sonos Arc does "TV autoplay" for hdmi arc, too. like the playbar did for optical. this is not unique to optical, which you make it sound like here.

[@Magicinstalls]

I don’t have a problem with optical, except some remote will not control volume unless you hook it up to HDMI arc

[@philipsawyers719]

Hi great simple video. I'm having trouble with this, new Samsung TV new denon amp. Tv doesn't like, me using eARC, . The sound option on TV doesn't show amp. Hdmi option to auto works for a bit then next time sound only though TV. Optical cable might work?

[@wendellwendellb339]

Maybe for a sound bar, but, for those who really have a good Home theater setup, they are going to use HDMI all day every day. Once I found out how to get sound through HDMI on sets I have in different rooms, I disconnected the Optical cable!

[@ryans413]

Yes I don’t understand this optical trend lately it’s so old school it can only do Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 it can’t carry the HD audio. Ontop of that I see everyone going HDMI into there TVs then using the Optical out to get sound it’s so so wrong ugh it irritates me so much. Optical out from your tv is okay if your using the TVs built in apps like you tube and Netflix the audio there is not HD audio but for Blu Rays your loosing so much quality. The TV will downsample the audio to something the cable can handle.

[@xtrickster6556]

I'm not getting audio from my HDMI for some reason even with all the settings correct. I have no choice but to use optical cable

[@parkerwilkins5495]

@@ryans413 most people are just looking for a reliable experience and HDMI arc is notorious for being unreliable on some tv's. A lot of people are also using cheap soundbars, where they won't even be able to hear a difference.

[@RyGuyTheAVGuy]

Optical is especially great now that TV manufacturers started putting only 2 HDMI ports on the back of TVs, cheap bastards

[@Arrozconchopsticks]

For the time being..it is better than HDMI for me.

[@max_955]

This video is full of inaccuracies. Also you don't mention the limitations of the optical cable. It doesn't have any, does it?

[@cfldriven]

I use the optical out of the CD player straight into the Onkyo AVR, for the rest of the other devices it is HDMI arc.

[@colclumper]

As far as I know optical can only support up to the ancient 5.1,I have 7.2.4 Atmos.

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

Another thing to consider is the kind of movies you are watching. If you are watching mostly old movies that were made in mono or stereo, either straight optical or converting to analog is all you'll need.

[@Scott-sm9nm]

Nice job. Added a sound bar to a system that had a receiver and smart remote programmed for all options. I told Yamaha support that I just wanted it for sound/speakers but they wanted me to throw out the receiver saying the soundbar does it all. I'm going to use the Digital Optical Cable.

[@williammorris2305]

I found that using the optical cable over HDMI it sounds so much better HDMI would listen on 30 Optical 12 to 14 the same loudness the sound is so much better too on my 3.1 system

[@3480antonio]

Hi ,i have buy a new Google tv 144 hz ,i have Connect it to my sonos soundbar Whith a eARC cable but its only showing on the tv ,60hz , What is the problem. ?!

[@nyindallas1]

Question I have an outstanding Rotel RSX-1067. Ithas pre-amp in. So 5.1 from a blu ray is not an issue. For Streaming I can use Toslink to send a stero signal from the TV to the Rotel. I wish there was a way of getting even 5.1. You say there is. I have only been able to get 2 channel from the TV. any suggestions? Thanks

[@travismayne8830]

Is it worth getting a optical to hdmi for a surround sound system as atm im using aux. Worth upgrading even if its just optical?

[@Tripokaridos22]

Wrong... Hdmi is better in every way.

[@discoHR]

I've been using optical since the 90s and lately I'm on HDMI eARC. Optical doesn't have enough bandwidth for modern audio codecs and that's more than enough to never use it again for home cinema. I don't want compressed version of DD 5.1, I want full blown full quality Dolby Atmos and the other modern codecs. On the other hand, optical is still perfectly good for stereo (HIFI systems and such).

[@GenX_US_Marine]

I don't use the eARC connection on my setup. My receiver decodes every single piece of audio format that's out, and I don't need eARC to do that. All I need a compatible HDMI cable. I have a fiber optic HDMI cable, yes they do exist. Picture and sound both improved. eARC is more for sound bar setups and if you wanna use one remote to control everything. I tried eARC and it's to god damn buggy for my liking.

[@biglew1161]

when i first got a Blu-ray player my receiver (pretty old at that time, no hdmi input) could not get the audio from a blue ray over the optical but the same player would send the audio from a dvd. not sure if this is still a problem today. i currently use arc over hdmi and have had zero issues.

[@hollandrocksls]

Everytime I use HDMI it literally cuts the volume in half but is it worth it to hear a small leaf crackle in a scene ?

[@An.Individual]

1:45 THIS. My TV (modern) has only 4 HDMI ports and it's just not enough. Don't want to have to use 1 for the soundbar thus leaving me with 3.

[@bikeman7982]

If your TV is randomly turning on due to spurious commands, no need to switch to optical - just disable CEC in your receiver and TV.

[@gorkman5697]

I need help please .I have samsung hw-q990b sound bar and vestel tv .My tv doesnt have atmos optıon.so far I connected wıth Hdmı .my tv and sound bar has arc Which one is better .I didnt try optic cable yet,İs optic cable better.will ı get atmos sound.I dont even know how atmos sounds like And on tv which options I should enable .They mantion about the passthrough or Pcm when ı watched on other videos I will appriacte if you can help me ,Sorry my english is not good , Thank you

[@gabsterz180]

you forgot optical also supports dts dolby pro logic 1 and 2 dts es lpcm pcm ieee float dolby digital plus (downstreamed to dolby digital with the highest bitrate possible) for 5.1 i use optical with mpc BE on my windows 10 pc for full 5.1 i love it i used hdmi for awhile but moved to optical after haveing too many probs and needing a 200 box just to use it due to my tv not haveing arc or earc

[@daisylou71]

HDMI 2.1 is doing all...I get best picture and best sound from my Sony 7.1 soundbar, I don't use optical!

[@michaelschlefstein7360]

Optical has great bandwidth however, it cannot control eARC full integration. So, no thanks for this suggestion. eARC supports ATMOS as well better.

[@relaxtime8145]

I put hdmi to my soundbar, and max volume was 40 and verry low sound. Then i try optical, max volume 100 and better sound. How is that possible? I have LG sp8ya

[@Carlparishhonda]

My problem is my sony amplifier comes on by itself while looking at my sony Bravia TV.

[@jblaze725]

I have an LG c2 television capable of earc as well as a vizio soundbar capable of earc. I have turned earc on but it only ever works as an arc connection. How so I fix this?

[@Squishmallows24]

Optical has never given me problems. Arc/earc always give me problems. I try to avoid both lol

[@puglife6291]

My parent's Hisense tv and Yamaha sound bar failed the digital handshake via HDMI and ARC the dozen or so times i tried to connect them except one time the signal got through which was a one off. So I chose the HDMI directly to tv for video and the Optical for audio. Since my parents sound bar has no surround speakers so in effect no true surround set up, I opted to set the bluray player to down mix all audio to uncompressed PCM stereo. This way they are still getting DTS HD and Dolby True HD. This sounds richer and more full bodied than using the compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 surround option.

[@patd4u2]

my Bose 900 soundbar had the same problems with the handshake when turning the TV on, I got so tired of it happening so often I went to fiber optic and the problem went away completely, and the sound is just as good if not better

[@Gypsum179]

Optical solved all of my arc reliability issues. Maybe in another 10 years arc will be ready, but it clearly is not there yet.

Optical does not support Dolby Atmos.. it can handle only compressed dolby versions..

[@elangovangovindan9526]

Hello Sir, why no one talks about the DTS audio in any of their discussion.

[@knuckles1006]

Was there ass ever sued for this?