Audio Cable - Which One To Choose?

Determining which audio cable is the best replacement for those on an existing system is not a difficult task whatsoever. Purchasing new cables for the purpose of expanding or connecting a new device to an existing stereo, on the other hand, is somewhat more complicated. There are actually several different types of audio cables being used by manufacturers today. Each of these cables carry with it certain pros and cons and they are almost never interchangeable with one another. This makes it extremely important for a person to determine exactly what type of connectors are on their devices in order to purchase the right cable for their application.

The audio cable that has been in use the longest and is, arguably, still the most popular is the RCA cable. RCA cables come standard with a number of different devices and have been used because they deliver high-quality sound and are almost universal among DVD players, video game consoles, televisions, and home stereos. RCA cables come in a variety of lengths and an individual can spend more or less depending on the quality of the cable that they purchase. When purchasing a long RCA audio cable it is usually good idea to spend a little extra to get a high quality unit since they can suffer some signal that relation.

The standard 3.5 phono jack, sometimes referred to as a headset jack, is also extremely popular but not usually a very good option when it comes to connecting devices intended for high definition audio. This type of audio cable is just fine for connecting a headset to an MP3 player or an MP3 player to an automobile audio system, but does not provide the kind of immersive audio experience that is possible with other cables. The 3.5 audio cable is capable only of stereo sound and is more or less useless when it comes to a home theatre.

When it comes to connecting a home theatre system to a high definition television, most manufacturers intend the purchaser to use either an HDMI cable or an S/PDIF cable. S/PDIF or Toslink cables as they are also known are fairly new to the market and provide a true digital listening experience. They do not require an audio signal to be converted from digital to analogue. HDMI cables can also be used as an audio cable, but they are a bit of overkill in this type of application since there also capable of video which is not being used.