PURE|AV Digital Optical Audio Cable with Mini-Toslink Adapter

Reviewed by Robert Pritchett

What They Say

PureAV Silver Series Digital Optical Audio Cables provide an ideal solution for connecting DVD Players, CD Players, AV Receivers, and Digital Satellite Receivers for Dolby® Digital and DTS surround sound. The multi-core fiber construction reduces digital distortion for a marked improvement over the sound quality of single-core cables.

The Purest Sound

·      Drastically reduces jitter/signal distortion for exceptional sonic accuracy using premium-quality, multi-core optical fiber

·      Offers maximum durability and lowest possible loss for a more detailed, natural sound with high -performance cladding

·      Creates stronger signals and better high frequencies for the cleanest audio possible using precision-polished, optical terminations

·      Protects against wire damage for consistently high-quality audio with integrated strain relief and abrasion-resistant, flexible PVC jacket

·      Provides comfort and ease of install with non-slip rubber grip and integrated color-coding

What I Say

Would you like to be an audiophile and use that optical port on your Mac? See our extensive discussion of that port in our November 2006 issue of macCompanion (the link is located above.)

The Belkin PURE|AV Digital Optical Audio Cable with Mini-Toslink Adapter comes with an optical fiber and not a plastic fiber, yet is extremely flexible, which I found rather amazing. The cable itself feels like silicon rubber, but it is PVC. The jacks are thoughtfully capped with attached clear dust caps and the Mini-Toslink also comes with a dust cap, but it is not with a lanyard, like the other jacks are. There is only one Mini-Toslink adapter, so going between two Apple products requires another Min-Toslink adapter.

When plugged into the iMac, the internal speakers obviously go off and the light in the optical cable goes red, so I know the Optical Audio port on the iMac works. I wanted to tap between the iMac and the Airport Extreme, but Apple uses the Mini-Toslink ports, and the package only had one. Why would I want to add an Airport Extreme via the Optical Port to an iMac instead of to an audio receiver? Dumb idea, I guess.

I was under the impression that fiber signals would be bidirectional so the devices would be communicating both ways. They operate at the same wavelength according to the specs, so come to think of it, trying to make such an attempt is a bit lame-brained.

For both the iMac and the Airport Extreme, the reason why only one Mini-Toslink is in the kit is because the cables are designed to be used with devices that are “audio receivers” for high-tech audio – one way. So fiber is being treated as if it were copper. Think of the adapter-enhanced Optical cable as a USB A-B cable and you will catch the drift. Sorry, I’m not used to that at all. When I ran fiber cables, they were not cables with unlike connectors at opposite ends or needed adapters to be converted from one kind of plug to another. Attenuators maybe, but not adapters.

We discovered a long time ago that fiber can be operated at different wavelengths over the same piece of fiber using multi-mode (as is true in this case) or single-mode (for super-long distances). The limitations are only in the minds of the fiber electronics engineers and the electronics that tap into fiber.

In this case, the electronics in the Macs are simplified to the point that apparently only one-way communications are possible for audio output. So there you have it. The port is “Optical Out” and not Optical In/Out. Now the dunce cap can come off.

Why doesn’t Apple have their own Mini-Toslink cables? I suppose that if there was a large enough market…

Anyhow, the Pure|AV division of Belkin has a winner here with this cable. Give it a try.

For more pics, refer to the other reviews listed above.