What is an optical cable?

Dorinda Metzer: an optical cable is a wire from one eyeball to the other

Roxane Leathers: It is a cable that carries information over light. In your case, it carries digital audio, which generally is better than analog audio (stereo RCA).SPDIF and Optical (AKA TOSLINK) are the same signal, except SPDIF is carried on an electrical coax, TOSLINK on optical. You can get converters to convert one to the other.

Maryland Gareau: An optical cable is designed to carry light, other cables are copper wire and designed to carry electrical current signals. your SPDIF cable is NOT an optical cable, you will need to get an optical cable for the application, you may need to get a unique cable for the brand of gear that you are using and I'd check the manufactures data on the specific unit that you intend to connect using optical cable.

Katheryn Skrobacki: I have a Sharp 32 in LCD LED HDTV and it has an optical cable input. Which is better and will is make a differe! nce in the sound?

Bryant Chaudhry: Optical cable is nothing more than a fiber optic cable. The question is, does whatever you have the Soundbar plugged into have an optical input?

Miguel Koczela: Which is better for sound? Should I use the RCA cables or buy an optical cable? Also, are there more than one type?

Cordia Fivecoat: spdif is a type of optical cable.an optical cable is basically a cable which uses light rather than electricity to transmit messages. (through fibre optics)

Newton Fedorko: it could be any part of it that has died, its impossible to tell without taking it apart, optical mice are not expensive, it would be easiest to just replace it