The cable is of good quality and the wires are well shielded... BUT here's the catch and why it lost a coupe of stars.
The connectors on both ends are just about a millimeter too thick, so they did not snap into my Samsung TV and my sound system but just fine on my other TV. It just depends on what you are connecting it too.
The fix is easy though - just shave off the top (grey) part of the connector a little with a knife and the cable snaps right in. I have no complaints with it otherwise. Just needed a couple of minutes of extra work on it. Belkin PureAV Digital Optical Audio Cable (12 Feet)
These cables are a bargin -- work great and at a fraction of the cost. I just wish I would have ordered two extra cables instead of one! Some of the new game boxes can take advantage of the optical links to output audio to my home theater system.
The only problem I had with this optical wire was that typically when connecting this type of wire into a socket it will "click" in, though I have tried testing it in my personal sound system, my xbox 360, and my living room home theater system and it seems to have a very loose fit, maybe I got the wrong size? Though I assumed all optical wires had the same shape and size etc.
Other than that it still transfers perfectly fine. I would have just liked a little more stabilization in the ends.
I purchased this cable on November 12th, 2010. 3 days ago (April 10th, 2011) it started shorting out. It hasn't been moved since purchase. It is attached firmly to my DVR and my receiver. I tested my DVR with a separate digital optical cable and it worked fine. I then tested my blu-ray player with this digital optical cable and, as with my DVR, the sound went in and out. The problem is definitely the cable.
Prior to April 10th, I would have given this cable a 5 out of 5. It sounds great when it's working and it's sold at a great price. But even at this low price, a cable should last more than 5 months. Maybe I just ended up getting a dud. Either way, it worked for 5 months and then it didn't, and that's disappointing.
Got this to use with XBOX 360 so I could listen to the surround sound audio while playing games (this was before I had an HDTV so HDMI wasn't an option at the time and I had the older XBOX 360 w/out HDMI out). The 12 ft length is great...makes component placement a breeze because I know I will always have enough cable to easily reach my receiver. The cable feels well made but is still flexible enough to be practical but I wouldn't make 90 degree bends with it (or with any cable for that matter) though!
Just an FYI: this cable can transfer 6 channels of audio. 5 for the surround sound plus 1 for the subwoofer. The two main formats are DTS and Dolby Digital. Both of these formats are discrete (separate) 5.1 surround sound meaning that each speaker has its own audio channel. The newer Blu-ray lossless formats are higher quality version and cannot be transmitted through this cable.
NOTE: A "Surround Sound" System isn't surround sound just because it comes with a lot of speakers! You need the receiver to be getting audio digital audio (encoded in a surround format) for the receiver to play true surround sound...The standard red and white RCA cables will not do it...
(I know there are some analog fans out there that run 5.1 or even 7.1 with their SACD or DVD Audio or Blu-ray players via multi-channel RCA's....but you guys are about 1% of the population...AND if you are a die-hard analog fan, you probably aren't reading this review haha. You can also run discrete surround sound from a computer via analog cables and a nice sound card....but most nice sound cards also offer digital output...or an extra piece you can buy that adds digital output!)
If for some reason you need to use this cable with your Blu-ray player/receiver it will work with Blu-ray discs...it just uses the older DTS or Dolby Digital format rather than the DTS Master Audio or the Dolby True HD formats. It will still be surround sound and will still sound good...just not as good as the loss-less formats.
ANYWAY, if you need to hook up surround sound and don't need/don't have an HDMI cable, this will work! There is no difference between the optical cables vs. the digital coax....it just depends on what technology the equipment manufacturer chose to use. Some people will argue that the optical cable is better for longer runs (50+ ft) but I doubt it/who has 50 ft cable runs?? Also, the protective covers for the ends are great when the cable is not in use.
This optical cable arrived and works as advertised. Much cheaper than other options. Contrary to other reviews, there was no problem with the compatability of this cable with my Samsung LN55C650 TV and Sony STRDE-945 amplifier optical inputs. The cable snapped securely into both pieces of equipment without modification. (Other reviewers stated that the cable did not fit their Samsung tv's). The cable also securely snapped into the optical audio output from my media center computer. I like the optical end covers that are attached to the cables to protect the ends when not in use. Other cables have had removable caps which I have since lost. At least I know where the caps are now! - Cables - Home Theater - Fiber Optic Cable - Optical'
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