BlueRigger Digital Optical Audio Toslink Cable (6F

Excellent Value from and Excellent Company
This product saved me from having to upgrade my home theater receiver to one with HDMI capability (see description of set-up at bottom if you are interested).Beyond that, the product does exactly what it is supposed to do – run digital sound between components, which in my opinion, is the mark of an excellent product. The cable is also a great value at $7.99 (what I paid in August of 2012) and costs far less than what many competitors charge (including the “bogeyman” of cables).The company appears to have good customer service in that I received an email asking if I was happy with my product, however, because I am, I did not have to test Blue Rigger’s service beyond that.As far as quality goes, the cable is sturdy, thin (in a good way – not flimsy), and the connection points are solid and snap snugly into place.I will buy products from Blue Rigger in the future for my connection needsFor those interested in my system setup, read on. For the rest, the product review ends here.I ran this cable through the wall to connect it from my Plasma TV to my old Pioneer 5.1 channel receiver and it works perfectly.For those out there wondering why I would use a digital optical cable instead of HDMI, the answer is simple – my receiver is not HDMI capable. One can get around that conundrum though by using the TV itself as the “center” of their system for the input of all signals (thereby using the TV for source switching between Blu-Ray, Cable, Internet TV, etc.), and run the sound through the TV’s “output” to the digital “input” on my receiver. This way I get the benefit of a digital picture (via HDMI cables plugged directly into the TV) and 5.1 digital sound (via the digital optical “out” from the TV to the receiver) without having to upgrade my receiver at this point. I ran the same set-up at my parents house years ago and it has been working without a problem ever since (although I can’t say there is no user error).

This cable WORKS with my new Prozor DAC converter box!
Problem:Could not hear audio from digital TV’s streaming apps on headphones through analog amp.Why: Husband could not stand to hear TV’s audio when I was watching TV or streaming youtube videos on our Samsung HDTV while he was in adjacent room surfing Facebook. Although he is deaf, he does ‘not like to wear’ his headphones or plug them into his laptop computer.Why not just upgrade to digital headphones? 1) we did not want to invest in digital headphones. 2) I want to control Mute function and Volume from TV’s remote control.Goal:Listen to streaming apps on analog headphones PLUS control audio volume PLUS mute sound using TV’s remote control.First fix:1) Connect new smart TV audio to old analog amp. 2) connect my analog headphones to old analog amp and adjust TV volume to my preferred volume – using cables from our stash. Of course, that did not work.So I did a LOT of online research.Turns out that we needed to buy ANOTHER new device to convert the smart TV’s digital output to analog for the amp’s input. Therefore, I bought the inexpensive Prozor DAC digital-to analog converter box here on amazon. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KNNSKV0?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_detailsThe Prozor’s comments indicated that it works well – but the included audio cable resulted in static. So I researched and in the same order, I also bought this Bluerigger cable. After hubby messed around with all the spaghetti cables behind our tv, this setup works well, so far.Only one hiccup.Seems like I can NOT control the TV audio volume or mute from the TV’s remote control when streaming apps [Youtube, Netflix, Prime Video, etc.]. I prefer to MUTE sound during ads – I hate commercials…So I’m still trying to figure that out… I’m doing a few more tests, then maybe reconfigure the spaghetti or buy a new gizmo/gadget.Our current A/V components:- New-ish HD TV [Samsung] with streaming apps included and Optical jack – but no Headphones jack!- New analog headphones – with hybrid, double ended cable [OneOdio – LOVE them!].- Ancient analog amplifier – with headphones jack PLUS controls for power, volume, bass, etc.- Ancient analog VCR player (yes – we still watch VHS tapes sometimes).- Brand-New combo BluRay/DVD/CD player. [wow – what a great picture!]- Newish TV converter box [yes – we still watch network TV!]- Brand-New DAC converter box [Prozor].- THis BlueRigger cable plus a Gazillion other cables to connect all this mess.Solution:If I can’t fix volume with this setup, I’ll have to WALK over to the amp and turn the volume knob. LOL.P.S. I was bandleader and lead singer for my own band in the dark ages. So I do know a tad about connecting audio systems. Hubby is experienced too with A/V systems. But it’s still a headache making all this stuff talk to each other…P.P.S. In another location, our main audio system components are:- Hi-Fi stereo Receiver / amp / radio- 4 desktop speakers- Turntable Record player [yes – we still enjoy vinyl!] + adapters for 45rpm records.- Cassette player [yes – we still enjoy cassette tapes, too!]- CD player- A million cables connecting this other mess. LOL

Been using it for long time and still rocks