So you have a shiny new smart TV mounted on the wall and a swell soundbar sitting right below it ready to make some noise. But how do you actually connect your sound system to your TV?
Chances are if you can see the ports on the back of your devices, two options stick out: HDMI eARC and Optical. These might sound like tech jargon to the average person, but choosing the right connection technology matters more than you think for your home theater. Let me walk you through what eARC and optical connections are all about.
A Quick Primer: eARC and Optical Explained
The enhanced audio return channel, or eARC for short, is a relatively new digital connection for transmitting audio signals from your TV to external speakers or amplifiers. It builds on the previous HDMI audio return channel (ARC) standard to deliver the highest sound quality without any loss of audio data along with exciting enhancements like voice commands.
To experience everything eARC can do, you need:
- An eARC compatible TV with HDMI 2.1 ports
- A compatible AV receiver or soundbar able to decode advanced audio
- A high speed HDMI cable (usually one is included with new gear)
By comparison, optical connections, which have been around since the 80s, send audio through fiber optic cables using pulses of light. Using optical, you can connect your TV to older surround sound receivers, basic soundbars, or even powered computer speakers and headphones with a simple TOSLINK cable.
Chances are good your TV has an optical output alongside HDMI. And it‘s never a bad thing to have options when hooking up your television to your favorite speakers!
Now let‘s examine 5 key differences between eARC and optical to help you choose the right connection option for your home theater or music room.
Audio Format Support: No Contest
The biggest benefit eARC delivers over optical connections is support for bleeding edge, object-based surround formats that use advanced encoding methods for breathtaking 360 degree audio.
For example, Dolby Atmos, the premium cinema sound format, recreates the enveloping audio you hear in movie theaters at home through techniques like height channels. Sounds whisk around your room in a sphere of audible bliss. Pretty neat right?
Here‘s a look at the multichannel home theater audio formats enabled by eARC compared to what plain old optical can manage:
| Audio Format | eARC Support | Optical Support |
|---|---|---|
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
| DTS:X | Yes | No |
| Dolby TrueHD | Yes | No |
| DTS-HD Master Audio | Yes | No |
| 7.1 LPCM | Yes | No |
| 5.1 Compressed Surround Sound (Dolby Digital, etc) | Yes | Yes |
| 2 Channel Stereo PCM | Yes | Yes |
As you can see, eARC packs way more horsepower necessary for object-based sound that optical simply wasn‘t designed for.
The absolute highest sound quality comes through eARC thanks to lossless formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA that use advanced codecs to deliver bit-for-bit identical quality to studio master recordings. We‘re talking reference level clarity, thunderous LFE, and pinpoint surround imaging all without audio degradation.
Meanwhile, optical maxes out at compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 which is fine, but it‘s kind of like listening to a low bitrate MP3 instead of a pristine lossless FLAC file.
According to Dolby, eARC supports bitrates up 32 Mbps for lossless HD audio or 1 Mbps for compressed surround vs just 6 Mbps total throughput for optical cables.
For true audiophiles and videophiles eARC is absolutely justified to hear and see films as intended. Optical kinda falls flat here unless you simply need a 2.1 stereo connection to basic amplified speakers or headphones. Not everyone needs or can accommodate elaborate surround systems after all.
Device Control Superpowers
Here‘s a cool trick. With eARC, connected devices can communicate directly with each other to simplify your life using a feature dubbed HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC). Ever juggle three remotes just to watch a Blu-ray? Yeah CEC fixes that.
By binding components together via software commands transmitted through HDMI itself, CEC enables conveniences like controlling your receiver, soundbar, or streaming box volume using just your TV remote rather than fumbling for multiple clickers under the couch cushions.
And that‘s just one example. You can also automatically switch TV inputs when playback devices are turned on. Or have your Blu-ray player turn on your TV and receiver to the right settings for movies with the touch a button. The possibilities to reduce headaches are almost endless with CEC.
Now optical connections purely pass audio signals. There‘s no room for extra data that enables functionality like CEC. And that can be annoying if you want a unified smart home media experience. With eARC, support for advanced surround codecs and device integration makes it a formidable double threat.
What Gadgets Work With Each Connection?
You might be sold on bleeding edge sound formats and reducing remote clutter with eARC. But what good does that do if your gear doesn‘t even support it? Good question young padawan!
The optical connection still reigns supreme when it comes to sheer device compatibility and longevity. Since optical debuted in the 1980s, virtually every piece of consumer AV equipment under the sun supports it in some fashion whether that‘s TVs, surround receivers, computers, consoles, you name it. Optical is ubiquitous.
And that ubiquity means optical cables are perfect for connecting modern TVs with older AV receivers for example. Or hooking up a TV to basic computer speakers that only need lossy 2.1 stereo audio fed to them. Retro gaming consoles also typically lack HDMI altogether meaning optical or RCA analog are your only options there too.
Compare that to eARC which requires supporting devices have an HDMI 2.1 chipset. While HDMI 2.1 adoption is rapidly increasing thanks to gaming features like 4K/120Hz, only the absolute newest TVs and A/V receivers contain eARC functionality today. Give it another product generation or two and that will change. But for now optical enjoys wider legacy support.
Here‘s a quick compatibility chart:
| Device Types | eARC Compatible | Optical Compatible |
|---|---|---|
| Modern TVs 2021+ | Yes | Yes |
| Surround Receivers | High-end 2021+ models | Most models |
| Soundbars | Few premium models | Most models |
| Media Streamers | Some models | Some models |
| Consoles | PS5, Xbox Series X | Most current and legacy |
| Computers | High-end GPUs | Most motherboards |
| Vintage Equipment | No | Yes |
The main idea here being optical offers near universal plug-and-play while eARC requires cutting edge gear. But eARC devices are catching up quickly.
Cable Considerations
Cables. Can‘t live with ‘em, can‘t live without ‘em. Both optical and eARC connections rely on cables, but not all cables play nice with the amount of data eARC pushes around.
You see that slick HDMI bundled with your new TV? It might technically have enough bandwidth for eARC, but chances are you‘ll want to upgrade to a certified "Ultra High Speed HDMI" cable that has 48 Gbps throughput. Why bother with another cable? Two words: Lip sync.
Lip sync errors, or audio noticeably lagging behind on-screen video, plague many home theaters. Several culprits can cause lip sync like TV processing lag. But often the HDMI cable itself bottlenecks causing delay if it can‘t quickly transport huge chunks of spatial audio data fast enough from a Blu-ray player to an AVR for example.
These certified Ultra High Speed HDMI cords contain high bandwidth chips and shielding engineered specifically to transmit 4K/120Hz and eARC signals at breakneck speeds without dropping bits. True lossless audio passed flawlessly without sync issues. And many come with handy eARC labels so they‘re easy to spot. Though costing $15-25 bucks a pop instead of a couple dollars hurts.
Optical is far simpler. One TOSLINK cable is as good as another since they aren‘t pushing complex surround sound signals. Their noise-free fiber optic construction also makes them less prone to electromagnetic interference that can disrupt signals. Just be gentle with optical cables since their glass fiber cores snap easier if kinked compared to copper HDMI wires.
Either way, stock up on extra high quality HDMI and optical cords for connecting components. Patching everything together gets easier if you have options handy!
To eARC or Not to eARC?
That really is the home theater question. Ultimately, eARC opens the door to the pinnacle of audio quality paired with device control integration that optical connections simply cannot match. If you want the absolute best quality reproduced accurately speaker by speaker or easy ways to tame devices, there‘s no contest: eARC over optical.
When eARC is the Way:
- You have gear that supports advanced surround formats
- Reference quality, lossless sound is important
- Minimizing remote switching chaos with CEC appeals
- You can accommodate extra cabling complexity
That said, sometimes you just want to casually pipe audio from your TV to some cheap computer speakers or headphones. And optical connections excel at basic stereo signals even high-end gear struggles reproducing. Plus near universal compatibility with vintage equipment means optical still pulls plenty of weight.
When Optical Gets the Nod:
- Hooking a TV to basic soundbars, amplifiers or headphones
- Connecting a projector with an older receiver
- Streaming TV audio to a computer line-in jack
- Linking legacy consoles like a Nintendo 64 to modern screens
If all you need is no fuss 2.1 PCM stereo without messing with surround setups, optical is a cost-effective plug-and-play solution. The audio quality might not wow, but it works. Just be realistic what optical connections can handle.
My advice? If your gear supports eARC, use it paired with suitable 48 Gbps HDMI cables for maximum quality. But keep optical around since it never hurts having options to link things together! Let your ears be the judge.
I hope demystifying these two audio options helps you streamline connecting your home theater or music gear using the best connection technology available. The world of tomorrow is upon us! Now it‘s time I disappeared into the infinite abyss of cyber spac…
Sincerely,
Your Friendly, Neighborhood Home Theater Nerd
P.S. – Stay tuned for my upcoming Playstation 5 review where I dive deep into the wonders of 4K/120Hz HDR gaming paired with spatial audio! Cya around!
