optic cables

[edemille]

slow day at work...I'd like to finally connect my PC to my receiver, and am looking at an optic connection...planning on this soundcard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118105

but I don't know much about optic cables...looking at Amazon and the range of cost is confusing...I didn't think I could find a 3 ft cable for $30 and also find a 75 ft cable for $18.  I'm looking for something in the 12-15 ft. range, and it looks like I can get something for under $20...Is there anything I want to look for?  I'm assuming the thicker the cable the better (the 7.0mm vs. the 5.0mm)...other than that? 

[tet]

can't tell you much about the sound card.  the last time i researched sound cards on PCs was in the early 90s (been relying on whatever audio Apple builds-in since then), and Turtle Beach was a top-end company back then.  not sure how their stuff is now, but i'd imagine they are still well made.  it seems to have features you'd want and is priced reasonably.  however, keep in mind that it is limited to somewhat lower bitrate audio, maximizing output at 24-bit/48 KHz.  that is good enough for most people, but 24-bit recordings can be up to 96 KHz for DVD-quality audio, and nearly double that for DVD-Audio.

now, most of us with "standard" high-end systems (= everyone in these forums not named Marmar 8-) ) will never hear the difference between those and even 16-bit/44.1 or 48 KHz, which are 99% of the recordings we listen to today.  if you want to future-proof yourself (a ridiculous notion in this day and age), buy something with higher-resolution output, should you ever upgrade your music collection and sound system.  however, i'm betting you will be 100% satisfied with a 24-bit/48 KHz maximum for years to come.  it is only 5.1 compatible (the "cool" people use 7.1) but more is likely overkill for most people - and very few things are encoded in anything about 5.1

as for the cables, that i do know a bit more about.  do not buy those expensive cables, as a TOSLINK cable (the technical name of what you're looking for) is a TOSLINK cable, no matter what fancy brand or woven cloth coating gets put on it.  audio in optical cables travels (duh) optically.  i.e. there is no chance in hell of electromagnetic interference.  light is light, and cannot degrade in the midst of its signal path - with one exception being a broken light path!  the fiber part of these fiber optics can very easily break by folding the cable in half, as it is actually made of glass.  therefore, don't ever bend the cable sharply, and you won't have a problem, no matter how think the cable insulation is.  so, this extra insulation a $75 Monster cable gives you may look pretty and feel really strong in your hand, but it doesn't make one bit of difference in the signal quality going through it.  buying a 5.0mm will be just fine.

take a look at this place, i've bought all sorts of video and audio cables from them and they are really all of great quality, never a problem.  great prices, and pretty quick shipping too.

http://www.optimization-world.com/products/catid/14.html

i'm sure people will disagree, but i believe in science.  and science shows light particles are more gooder for audio  :mrgreen: 

[mattstick]

We buy cheap-o Optical cables for our installations - just make sure you don't have any 90 degree turns and you'll be fine.

[rowjimmy]

Crimp not!

[edemille]

beautiful, that's what I figured...thanks for the info...so how much "bend" can you get out of them?  I'd want to run the cable down from my pc under the floor and back up behind my receiver...so more or less 4 90 turns...obviously they don't need to be 90, but how will I know when I'm approaching the red zone?  Do they sort of stiffen up? 

[jephrey]

For optic, you just want to stay away from sharp bends, it doesn't matter if the thing spirals, as long as the radius isn't tight.  My rule of thumb (when I was working with fiber for communications) was 6" radius.  I assume the thicker, more durable cable is just stiffer, not allowing tighter bends.  Internally, light is light.

[VA $l!m]

i think every cable i buy now is from radio shack. i like their stuff.

[tet]

i think every cable i buy now is from radio shack. i like their stuff.

i've got a few Radio Shaq optical cables myself, they have worked great.  however, they now have almost completely eliminated their own line of cheap cables and try to push Monster on you. 

[VA $l!m]

i think every cable i buy now is from radio shack. i like their stuff.

i've got a few Radio Shaq optical cables myself, they have worked great.  however, they now have almost completely eliminated their own line of cheap cables and try to push Monster on you. 

last week i bought an optic and a hdmi, total $60 ($40 for the hdmi, 19 for the optic)
of course this is nebraska so i'm 5 years behind whatever they are doing in the real world.

i have a monster coax cable and its fine, though overpriced. once i bought the radio shack gold tiped componet cables i have a couple years back, i was sold on their stuff.

[Marmar]

avoid that card man.....

do yourself a favor and get a decent, mid-grade card.....you'll thank me for it, trust me.

Turtle Beach used to have a decent reputation....something changed a few years ago though, their quality isn't all that great anymore since they switched to a cheaper chipset.....think of that soundcard you are looking at as the Yugo of the soundcard world....seriously, it's that bad and then some. Spend $100 on a M-Audio 2496 or an E-MU 0404.....They don't have optical outs, but they do have SPDIF outs....the only real nice thing about optical is for short cable runs anyways....too fragile.....unless you absolutely don't have an option on your other components, stick with SPDIF, the cables are less expensive and you'll never have to worry about dust fucking up your signal......

Another thing to consider...if you are running this cable under your rug, stepping on it can, and will eventually break it.....

If you were running from components all within 6 feet of each other, I'd say go optical.....other than that, go SPDIF....much more durable.....plus, I don't like how easily optical cables can come unplugged from a device......that's their only major drawbacks in my eyes....

And ummm....slim.....any specific reason for the 2 cables?...HDMI is a one cable solution......

[tet]

And ummm....slim.....any specific reason for the 2 cables?...HDMI is a one cable solution......

some of us don't have receivers that take HDMI - i need HDMI to run from cable box to TV, then optical from TV to receiver.  i could also go cable box direct optical to receiver, but that puts it out of sync since HDMI is lagged a bit with all that encryption.  from the TV, it's perfect.

[VA $l!m]

And ummm....slim.....any specific reason for the 2 cables?...HDMI is a one cable solution......

some of us don't have receivers that take HDMI - i need HDMI to run from cable box to TV, then optical from TV to receiver.  i could also go cable box direct optical to receiver, but that puts it out of sync since HDMI is lagged a bit with all that encryption.  from the TV, it's perfect.

yeah.
i have a couple of different setups. none are perfect solutions since my receiver doesnt have a hdmi passthrough. i also use an optical audio cable for my 360. i didnt want to even  mess with the hdmi at all, but my tv only has two compnet vid ins, so... i was sick of unpluging my cable box when i wanted to use my dvd player. so now i have: 1. my 360 video componets into my tv; with the optic audio into my receiver. 2. my dvd vid componets into my tv; with a audio coaxial into my receiver. 3. my cable box hdmi into my tv; with an additional optic audio into my receiver if i want surround sound-- otherwise i just use the audio from the tv speakers which is fine for most things(it has a great audio processor). i can run a optic out from the tv back to the receiver but it fucks up the signal from the box because of the processors in the tv, so i found that the optic out from the box to my receiver sounds the exact same even with the hdmi to the tv... i just mute my tv if i want that sound on. (no lag for me)

[Marmar]

Hmmm....

It's been a while since I helped ya with that unit slim....so correct me if I'm wrong here please.....

If I remember correctly, your unit has component passthru abilities.....where you can hook either 2 or 3 component sources into your unit and then send the signal out to the set using the unit for the switching between sources......

Why not set that up? Then you'd have no cable swaps and you'd also have an extra slot on the TV for anything else that's component...?

[VA $l!m]

Hmmm....

It's been a while since I helped ya with that unit slim....so correct me if I'm wrong here please.....

If I remember correctly, your unit has component passthru abilities.....where you can hook either 2 or 3 component sources into your unit and then send the signal out to the set using the unit for the switching between sources......

Why not set that up? Then you'd have no cable swaps and you'd also have an extra slot on the TV for anything else that's component...?

well, i think i understand your question and the answer would be that your right that is an option. though the reason i opted for the hdmi setup is twofold, and i DONT have any cable swaps anyway: 1. i prefer to have the option of running my cable w/out my receiver, it saves on using an extra remote and actually unless its a HDef 5.1 signal it really actually sounds better through my tv.  & 2. and more importantly  this way i have every VIdeo source plugged directly into my tv and therefore eliminate any degredation of signal quality by running it through my receiver... even if i'm crazy and that is ridiculous, the bottom line is that it is apples and oranges, one or the other setup, as long as i'm not swapping cables, which i'm not anymore.

[mattstick]

Your amp is designed to act as a video switcher, so don't worry about signal degradation running component cables through your amp.  I hate HDMI, they're expensive, the connection isn't as solid as RCA-plugs, and in general it's a really lame format designed to get an extra few hundred bucks from consumers.