Question Length of optical cable matter?

LuvCVs

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I want to run a long optical cable around my living room which will be around 24m. So, does the data begin to fade at that length of cable? If so, would buying a higher priced one be better?
 
Price is not necessarily a guarantee that any cable will work for your needs or expectations. If you want to push 4k HDR then I would suggest a hybrid fiber cable such as the 30m Ruipro cable. They are not cheap but do get the most positive reviews from actual users and installers than any other mfr. Just be mindful of bend radius, even though the Ruipro cables have a very generous bend radius.
 
Are you looking for HDMI or Optical audio?

SPDIF Optical is not designed for more than a few metres. It's very reliant on the sender diode and these can be a bit variable. It's not like a true fibre transmitter using a coupled laser which can do tens of miles. Polishing the end of the fibre can help a lot, but they can be very susceptible to microphonic noise - if it's knocked or moved, as this can be enough to cause momentary dropouts.

HDMI over fibre will depend upon the system you buy. We used to use pro systems that would do about 1500m without issue, but the shorter length systems are also pretty good, with sealed optics keeping things stable.
 
Assuming you mean a digital Audio Optical cable we have found some kit will work OK with long cables (10m+) others not.

10m is the longest we tend to supply and install - anything longer we usually go with Optical Digital Audio over CAT Extenders.

Joe
 
Hi, it's so I can connect my PC to my Onkyo PR-SC5508 so I can listen to my music through my AV setup via SPDIF optical audio cable.
 
24m is definitely pushing it for optical SPDIF. Talk to @Joe Fernand about his Cat5 options or consider a streamer and play the files via the network.
 
I'll concur with Joe, I've got a 10m optical that works for me however while it's been trouble free for my Cambridge Audio CD player I've tried some other devices that didn't work reliably which makes me think 24m would be problematic.

Personally I'd probably build or buy some sort of network streamer.
 
Ok guys, so I think I'll just pick up some sort of network streaming device, how does that work? Like when I connect my TV to my network via windows 7 on my PC?

I have a external 6TB HD with all my music on it, would I need to add it all to a library folder on my PC in order for my TV to find that folder via DNS? Only have a 1TB drive inside my PC so it wont fit my tunes on it.
 
Depends what you buy and what other equipment you already have. Before I got Lazy and just use Spotify and other online streaming services, I had a 500gb drive with all my music on it. This was plugged via USB into my Netgear router and it then appeared as a DLNA server that my TV and Blu ray could access. Menu structure remained and I search and navigate very easily.

A streamer should be able to do much the same and you may even be able to control it from a phone app. You will also be able to access various online services and radio stations etc.
 

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