[doat1]

I am sorry if this has been beaten to death but from the search i just want to get a list of pros and cons of both. Like can Digital Optical handle 5.1 DTS, and what distance can be used before quality loss and HDMI can handle such and such over this distance before quality loss.

thank you.

 

[ap1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by doat1 /forum/post/0


I am sorry if this has been beaten to death but from the search i just want to get a list of pros and cons of both. Like can Digital Optical handle 5.1 DTS, and what distance can be used before quality loss and HDMI can handle such and such over this distance before quality loss.

thank you.

Optical is OK, unless you need to transfer high definition audio. I wouldn't use cable longer than 10 feet though. For HDMI length up to 30 feet shouldn't be a problem.

 

[doat1]

So i guess my 30Ft HDMI is better than my 35FT toslink? I am streaming from my pc to my receiver for audio and from my PC to my tv through HDMI about 30FT but i also have my TV hooked up to my receiver with a 6ft toslink to get audio from the tv as well since i don't have a 6ft hdmi cable. For streaming from my PC to my TV to watch videos would i be better off using the HDMI instead of the toslink?

 

[c.sperling8]



Quote:
Originally Posted by doat1 /forum/post/19504815


So i guess my 30Ft HDMI is better than my 35FT toslink? I am streaming from my pc to my receiver for audio and from my PC to my tv through HDMI about 30FT but i also have my TV hooked up to my receiver with a 6ft toslink to get audio from the tv as well since i don't have a 6ft hdmi cable. For streaming from my PC to my TV to watch videos would i be better off using the HDMI instead of the toslink?

I'm not sure if you've done it already, but there is specific HDMI for long runs which might help improve performance:



BJC Series-1 Belden Bonded-Pair HDMI Cable



Another great thing about going with this cable is you are supporting an american made cable by an american made company. all wins if you ask me.



*edit*

Also as a note, this whole TOSLINK thing has a lot of different opinions. Most will say there is no difference, some will say they only use Lossless formats. Either way, here is a good read on the exact topic you were addressing:
http://www.highdefforum.com/speakers...cal-audio.html

 

[doat1]

Thanks for the info and link, i checked it out and seems that HDMI will be better but how would i transmit audio from my pc to my receiver? The distance between the two is about 30-35ft and i am using my video card, GTX 465, to stream video to my TV but i think i can also stream audio as well because i now have the option in my sound properties showing my TV. So i would just need another 6ft HDMI cable from my receiver to my TV? Would an Onkyo HT-S3300 be able to handle the video?


I am confused about how i can stream video and audio with the 30ft+ hdmi cable i already have hooked up from my PC to my TV, if my receiver can handle audio and video then would i just need to connect my pc to my receiver then another hdmi from my receiver to my tv? Also if i do switch from my toslink to HDMI how much of an improvement would it be? Forgot to mention i have a 5.1 setup.


I am happy with my current setup the sound seems to be perfectly fine and sounds like full 5.1 but if i can improve it significantly then i'll go for it.

 

[BIslander]

When it comes to audio, the source is what makes the difference in quality. HDMI can transmit high-resolution multichannel audio. Optical cannot. So, if you have TrueHD, dts-MA, or multichannel PCM sources, then HDMI may be better (although the amount of improvement is questionable). If you are listening to DD 5.1, DTS, or stereo PCM, there will be no difference.

 

[c.sperling8]



Quote:
Originally Posted by doat1 /forum/post/19506377


Thanks for the info and link, i checked it out and seems that HDMI will be better but how would i transmit audio from my pc to my receiver? The distance between the two is about 30-35ft and i am using my video card, GTX 465, to stream video to my TV but i think i can also stream audio as well because i now have the option in my sound properties showing my TV. So i would just need another 6ft HDMI cable from my receiver to my TV? Would an Onkyo HT-S3300 be able to handle the video?


I am confused about how i can stream video and audio with the 30ft+ hdmi cable i already have hooked up from my PC to my TV, if my receiver can handle audio and video then would i just need to connect my pc to my receiver then another hdmi from my receiver to my tv? Also if i do switch from my toslink to HDMI how much of an improvement would it be? Forgot to mention i have a 5.1 setup.


I am happy with my current setup the sound seems to be perfectly fine and sounds like full 5.1 but if i can improve it significantly then i'll go for it.

First off, you have a great gpu, so it can transmit audio and video no problem. You should be able to do exactly what you are describing without any issues (PC > Receiver > TV). If you plug in the receiver and all you get is sound with no video, try extending your screens via the screen resolution page in display properties.


And actually if you read that one really long post in the thread he was saying that a movie music producer couldn't hear the difference between a lossless vs compressed version, so the difference that people say is there is not as apparent as they make it seem. I am not saying that lossless is equal too, but just that to most ears the differences will be indistinguishable. With your system/receiver combo I will say the differences will be very hard to notice, if you can notice it at all. Either way TOSLINK does full 5.1, just not lossless, so once again the difference will be hard to notice.


In terms of your receiver, the only thing that you need to worry about is powering the speakers, because all your peripherals (PC, monitor, etc) are all self powered. Since it was a HITB set up, your receiver will work great (unless you decide to upgrade the speakers).

 

[doat1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by BIslander /forum/post/19507456


When it comes to audio, the source is what makes the difference in quality. HDMI can transmit high-resolution multichannel audio. Optical cannot. So, if you have TrueHD, dts-MA, or multichannel PCM sources, then HDMI may be better (although the amount of improvement is questionable). If you are listening to DD 5.1, DTS, or stereo PCM, there will be no difference.

Yea most of the things i watch are in DTS or Dolby and when i play games i use the PC# Movie channel, i know i did not spell that right i can't remember exactly what it says but it's something like that, is that the PCM you guys are referring to? I don't know what PCM is exactly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by c.sperling8 /forum/post/19508263


First off, you have a great gpu, so it can transmit audio and video no problem. You should be able to do exactly what you are describing without any issues (PC > Receiver > TV). If you plug in the receiver and all you get is sound with no video, try extending your screens via the screen resolution page in display properties.


And actually if you read that one really long post in the thread he was saying that a movie music producer couldn't hear the difference between a lossless vs compressed version, so the difference that people say is there is not as apparent as they make it seem. I am not saying that lossless is equal too, but just that to most ears the differences will be indistinguishable. With your system/receiver combo I will say the differences will be very hard to notice, if you can notice it at all. Either way TOSLINK does full 5.1, just not lossless, so once again the difference will be hard to notice.


In terms of your receiver, the only thing that you need to worry about is powering the speakers, because all your peripherals (PC, monitor, etc) are all self powered. Since it was a HITB set up, your receiver will work great (unless you decide to upgrade the speakers).

I do not plan on upgrading anything so i am using the stock speakers that came with the receiver, they sound fantastic anyway so no point really. So i might as well just leave the setup as it is since i most likely will not notice a difference unless i am trying to use TrueHD and such and everything i stream from my PC to my TV is usually DTS or DD anyway.


Bottom line, everything sounds perfectly fine to me the way it is currently setup, if an explosion happens behind the camera in a movie i hear it through the sub and rear speakers etc., so it sounds like it's working fine with 5.1. Would i benefit more if i connected my xbox 360 to my receiver then receiver to tv all through HDMI? Again it sounds perfectly fine the way i have it currently setup, xbox to tv through HDMI then tv to receiver through optical but again if i will notice a difference i'll go for it.

 

[c.sperling8]



Quote:
Originally Posted by doat1 /forum/post/19508769


I do not plan on upgrading anything so i am using the stock speakers that came with the receiver, they sound fantastic anyway so no point really. So i might as well just leave the setup as it is since i most likely will not notice a difference unless i am trying to use TrueHD and such and everything i stream from my PC to my TV is usually DTS or DD anyway.


Bottom line, everything sounds perfectly fine to me the way it is currently setup, if an explosion happens behind the camera in a movie i hear it through the sub and rear speakers etc., so it sounds like it's working fine with 5.1. Would i benefit more if i connected my xbox 360 to my receiver then receiver to tv all through HDMI? Again it sounds perfectly fine the way i have it currently setup, xbox to tv through HDMI then tv to receiver through optical but again if i will notice a difference i'll go for it.

Xbox cannot play HD audio anyways, so it doesn't make a difference. If anything the way you have it set up is slightly better because the TV will sync the sound better than the receiver will (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[doat1]

AH, yea like i said everything sounds perfectly fine to me i get the 5.1 effect so it's all good but just thought i would check with you guys and get some good info and see if i can improve my setup significantly. Thanks for the quick replies everyone and help i appreciate it.

 

[xianthax]

There is no quality loss over distance with this type of digital transmission. It either works or it doesn't. 'Doesn't' would mean audio dropping out, very audible clicks, pops, etc. If your not running HD audio streams that are only offered over HDMI then there will be no difference between the two as long as the cable+transmitter combination 'works' for the specified distance.


The distance limit really varies. There is a specification for each of course but transmitters often beat specification and cables can also out perform specification. All beating the spec does is increase the distance you can go, it doesn't improve quality over a given distance that a $2 cable would have also worked for.

 

[doat1]

yea i get that now, audio doesn't depend on the cable so much as the quality of the audio itself, if you are streaming a bad quality video you will get bad quality audio.

 

[BIslander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doat1 Yea most of the things i watch are in DTS or Dolby and when i play games i use the PC# Movie channel, i know i did not spell that right i can't remember exactly what it says but it's something like that, is that the PCM you guys are referring to? I don't know what PCM is exactly.

PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) is the digital audio format used by nearly all home entertainment equipment. CDs are recorded as PCM. So are movie soundtracks. Home audio equipment is designed to process PCM. Bass management, distance adjustments, room correction, and signal processing such as ProLogic II are all designed to work on PCM. And the digital-analog converters take PCM and turn it into analog audio.


DD and DTS are not digital audio formats. They are compression codecs - really just zip files. PCM is fed into the encoder and compressed to save space by removing some of the data. The decoder decompresses the file, turning it back into PCM by restoring some or all of the data that was removed. You can't "play" a Dolby or DTS track to produce sound. It has to be decoded back into PCM and that's what gets processed.

 

[doat1]

ah i see, thanks for explaining