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HDMI is great for a home theatre set up where there's an obvious central unit, but the ecosystem has gotten worse if your speakers don't take in HDMI, at least

HDMI is great for a home theatre set up where there's an obvious central unit, but the ecosystem has gotten worse if your speakers don't take in HDMI, at least at the very cheap end of the spectrum I buy on. My current TV will only put out an inferior "headphone" mix over the 3.5mm connection, and the SPDIF connection is co-axial on the tv, but optical on the speaker. Having to run a powered converter box just to get audio from my tv to a speaker feels like such a step backwards.

spicybright 5y ago
Is there a big difference because 3.5 and something digital? I know 3.5 is worse on a technically, but I've never been able to actually notice the difference.
- Talanes 5y ago
  My assumption was just that it was something about how the EQ is mixed for that jack, because it is labelled specifically as headphones. The other replies about surround sound are true, as well, but I don't think should apply to my tv -> stereo soundbar set-up. But the difference is definitely noticeably, even to my relatively forgiving ear.
- X-Cubed 5y ago
  3.5mm is an analogue signal that can only output stereo. Its quality will be limited by the device it comes out of. SPDIF (both optical and coaxial) support sending multiple audio channels in their original encoding, to support surround sound. The receiving device needs to support decoding of the audio, which is why there is often an option to force the SPDIF output to use PCM stereo instead of surround sound. If you have a cheap TV and a good hifi, you'll want to use SPDIF or HDMI so that your audio isn't ruined by poor quality of the audio chipset in the TV.
- tjohns 5y ago
  The biggest difference is digital interconnects can carry extra data for surround sound. (Also, unique for optical connections, it's easier to avoid ground loop hums.)
babypuncher 5y ago
It sounds like your speaker system predates HDMI's adoption, or was never intended for use in a home theater system. Even the lowest budget soundbars will include an HDMI port and support ARC. I am surprised your TV has coax SPIDF but not toslink, as it was the gold standard for home theater audio before HDMI came around. It sounds like you just got bad luck with your TV having a bad 3.5mm jack and not supporting toslink, as most I've seen will at the very least support the latter, and often have a separate "line out" port for the former.

spicybright 5y ago

Is there a big difference because 3.5 and something digital? I know 3.5 is worse on a technically, but I've never been able to actually notice the difference.

Talanes 5y ago
My assumption was just that it was something about how the EQ is mixed for that jack, because it is labelled specifically as headphones. The other replies about surround sound are true, as well, but I don't think should apply to my tv -> stereo soundbar set-up. But the difference is definitely noticeably, even to my relatively forgiving ear.
X-Cubed 5y ago
3.5mm is an analogue signal that can only output stereo. Its quality will be limited by the device it comes out of. SPDIF (both optical and coaxial) support sending multiple audio channels in their original encoding, to support surround sound. The receiving device needs to support decoding of the audio, which is why there is often an option to force the SPDIF output to use PCM stereo instead of surround sound. If you have a cheap TV and a good hifi, you'll want to use SPDIF or HDMI so that your audio isn't ruined by poor quality of the audio chipset in the TV.
tjohns 5y ago
The biggest difference is digital interconnects can carry extra data for surround sound. (Also, unique for optical connections, it's easier to avoid ground loop hums.)

babypuncher 5y ago

It sounds like your speaker system predates HDMI's adoption, or was never intended for use in a home theater system. Even the lowest budget soundbars will include an HDMI port and support ARC. I am surprised your TV has coax SPIDF but not toslink, as it was the gold standard for home theater audio before HDMI came around. It sounds like you just got bad luck with your TV having a bad 3.5mm jack and not supporting toslink, as most I've seen will at the very least support the latter, and often have a separate "line out" port for the former.