Fiber optic cable connection

Chew Toy McCoy

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Are you supposed to really jam it in there? If not I can’t believe it’s supposed to fit so loose that it might just pop out if you sneeze too close to it and it’s that way on everything I’ve used that type of connection on. I can’t believe the supposed best sound quality goes through a cable with the shittiest connection.
 

Chew Toy McCoy

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I may be showing my ignorance here and unfortunately the 2 setups that are chronically having this issue are at my parents' house and cabin. I don't live at either.

When you get a cable is it standard for them to come with a barely noticeable clear cap on the ends you remove before you install? I ask because I saw this mentioned online and I have never removed anything off the ends of these cables. It doesn't look like there is anything to remove without breaking it and it doesn't prevent the cable from being inserted.
 

DT

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Yeah, opticals generally some with some kind of cap on the ends, sometimes it's like a little "flip cap" if that makes sense.

You are correct, the TOSlink optical cables - that's the style with the square connector (two corners are slightly more rounded) - can be a little finicky, some are metal, and the ports are plastic (or the opposite), and generally not a super tight tolerance. You might could shop a couple of different cables, maybe try plastic connectors - or, you might try putting a very tiny strip of electrical tape on the connector so it hold tighter.

I loved the style of optical on the Mac (when it still had it), it was a 3.5mm headphone style jack, had a really positive connection. Also Coax optical, much tighter (not unlike an RCA connector).
 

Chew Toy McCoy

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Yeah, opticals generally some with some kind of cap on the ends, sometimes it's like a little "flip cap" if that makes sense.

You are correct, the TOSlink optical cables - that's the style with the square connector (two corners are slightly more rounded) - can be a little finicky, some are metal, and the ports are plastic (or the opposite), and generally not a super tight tolerance. You might could shop a couple of different cables, maybe try plastic connectors - or, you might try putting a very tiny strip of electrical tape on the connector so it hold tighter.

I loved the style of optical on the Mac (when it still had it), it was a 3.5mm headphone style jack, had a really positive connection. Also Coax optical, much tighter (not unlike an RCA connector).
Thanks for confirming. I've never bought any "premium" versions of this cable because I don't really see the point. As you probably also know from your music experience most of the time those expensive cables are snake oil for most purposes. My parents have a custom in wall entertainment center and everything is so tight that it's hard to get to the cables and if you just tilt the tv slightly the optical cable pops out. I might try the electrical tape idea. It just seems silly you should have to do that.
 

Thomas Veil

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Optical cables are a royal pain. I have one that goes from a recessed port on my TV to a recessed port on my sound bar. The design and tiny size of the connector makes it a challenge to plug into either device. Not to mention, the cables themselves are so thin they look fragile.
 

Chew Toy McCoy

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the cables themselves are so thin they look fragile.
That's the thing. You feel like it's this super high tech cable and don't want to jam it in there. I don't understand why a standard connection in no way feels secure (and isn't) and the design hasn't changed.
 
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