Optical or Coaxial Cable ?

[admin_exported]

Need some assistance,

Which ia a better cable to connect Sky HD box to a Yamaha 2400 AV amp coaxial or optical ?

The AV receiver has no HDMI connections

Thanks

Kawal

 

[DandyCobalt]

I understood that the coaxial route requires less processing/converting by the kit, and therefore "purer" - but I'm ready and blindfolded to be shot at dawn by those who know better on that one 🙂

 

[fr0g]

Both the same.

The processing and converting should have zero baring on anything so long as it works.

There is no electrical connection with an optical link though, so it "could" reduce any noise introduced from the Sky Box. I say "could" reservedly, as I don't think it makes a blind bit of difference. Get a £5 optical cable and you're done.

 

[The_Lhc]

But on the other hand the optical cable will be immune to electrical interference.

You're unlikely to notice any difference with Sky.

 

[kevin7.1]

I believe the general opinion is that coax is better, The owner of the small independant retailer i go to is of the same opinion. I have read that if the run is less than 3 meters then coax is the better bet and for anything above that then optical is better.

Funny thing is i have had a sky hd box for years and never noticed a coaxial connection. Think i will have to have a look tonight and swap cables and see for myself!

 

[relocated]

I'm with Kevin on this one, no offence but are you sure there are both?

Use optical anyway otherwise you will fall into the Mire of which one is best and you don't want to open that can of worms. As has been said spend a few quid on an optical and enjoy.

:wave:

 

[ellisdj]

This is where things get interesting

Threre is apparently 0 difference between hdmi cables because its a digital signal.

There should be no difference between coaxial and optical as well then as both digital signals.

However if you have sky wired to an amp and go from the coax to the hdmi it sounds different - surely that impossible but it does?

 

[The_Lhc]

Well it'll certainly sound different if you're watching something with a 5.1 soundtrack...

 

[MykhailM]

Having tried a good quality optical cables vs a good quality coaxial audio cables I strongly recommend to get a good coaxial cable it sounds better. Pick up a few good cables from your local dealer and try it for yourself for your personal experience. A good cable either digital coaxial or analogue is certainly worth to have and pay a bit more money for a good one as it will serve you well for many years to come.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Well it'll certainly sound different if you're watching something with a 5.1 soundtrack...

Why would one sound different? Both optical and coaxial cables can carry 5.1 signals. I know, I've tried both specifically to determine a difference, and I can see - sorry, hear! - no difference between optical and coaxial cables.

Somebody mentioned distance. I've never tried a coaxial cable longer than two metres, but I've tried optical cables of 20 and 30 metres, indeed I'm still using the 20m one, with no problems at all.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Having tried a good quality optical cables vs a good quality coaxial audio cables I strongly recommend to get a good coaxial cable it sounds better. Pick up a few good cables from your local dealer and try it for yourself for your personal experience. A good cable either digital coaxial or analogue is certainly worth to have and pay a bit more money for a good one as it will serve you well for many years to come.

I replied too eagerly to this thread in post #10, thinking that it was still current. MykhailM, why are you reviving a question from FOUR years ago???

 

[Dave_]

I replied too eagerly to this thread in post #10, thinking that it was still current. MykhailM, why are you reviving a question from FOUR years ago???

Because he's a spammer who's been 'necroposting' all over the forum.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Look it up for a precise definition, I'm in my car.

But simply put, signals get lost on long cable runs. Analogue signals tend to loose highs and lows, digital 1s and 0s drop to the point where the DAC at the downstream end doesn't recognise the voltages. In extremis the signal won't get to the end of the wire.

Metallic cables suffer from attenuation problems far more than fibre optics, so for long low voltage runs fibre optics work best.

For a Sky box, or CD player or whatever, however, there's unlikely to be any real difference.