Editing Introduction to a Self Managed Life: a 13 hour & 28 minute presentation by FUTO software (section)

==== 2.4 Optical output from your computer to your receiver. ====

Optical audio output is available on most desktop motherboards. It is worth checking to see if yours has this; which is green in the photo above. Most sound cards also have this port, if you have a sound card.

This requires an optical cable, but optical audio cables are considerably cheaper than optical video cables, since the bandwidth requirements are so much lower. For same day purchases, a [https://www.walmart.com/ip/onn-6-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink-Sound-Bar-TV-Cable-Black/ cheap walmart optical cable] will do fine, and [https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=1419 high quality 50 ft cables] from reputable vendors like monoprice cost less than $15.

'''Why this is better''': You are not using the analog audio output from your laptop or desktop. This allows you the flexibility to choose an audio device that does not have poor sound quality, rather than being stuck with what comes in your computer. Digital output means even if the motherboard’s audio circuit is total garbage, it doesn’t make a difference, since you aren’t using it. You will be sending the raw 1s &amp; 0s of the audio to another device &amp; letting it do the work of turning it into an audio signal.

<blockquote>'''“UHM, AKSHUALLY” NOTICE:''' Some wiseguy’s going to say that this is unnecessary. They might say that if we’re connecting our computer to the television using an HDMI cable, that the audio is ''already'' going to the television through the HDMI cable, and that you can use the optical output from the television to send the audio to the receiver digitally without having to worry about whether your computer has a digital SPDIF output.

Some televisions do this. Some don’t. Some claim they do and have broken menus. If we are going to be buying gear from scratch, I think it makes sense to keep our options open. '''In 2024, there is no price premium to pay by asking for an audio jack that came out in 1983.'''
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