Digital Coax vs Digital Optical

[prejudged_fire]

Whats the difference between the two, and which one gives better quality? I'm looking into buying a 5.1 surround sound set up and my sound card has both optical and coaxial outputs.

 

[suvayanr]

I've heard that optical generally has slightly better video quality, but my bose home theater uses digital coax, and the sound is amazing.

 

[manticore]

For sound Coax everytime, a good quality coax cable will do you just fine, optical is not bad but its not as good.

 

[margag_]

My feeling in terms of sound quality is that they are equal.
Digital is digital you know...1 and 0.

But most people **feel** that coax is less ''dry'' and more ''warm''.
Other's will say that optical is ''cleaner''...
Never ending story here..........................................................

Any way my choice is coax, it is stonger than fragile optical cable.

 

[Thelly]

Co-ax is considered the better choice because it is less prone to a digital distortion known as "jitter".

Will it make a difference in your system? Only your ears can answer that question.