Fiber Optics and Home Audio
 
 
Over the last 20 years or so, fiber optic lines have taken over and transformed the long distance telephone industry. Optical fibers are also a huge part of making the Internet available around the world. When fiber replaces copper for long-distance calls and Internet traffic, it dramatically lowers costs. In the following article I will briefly explain how fiber optics works, give a brief history on fiber optics and it's relationship to home audio.		  
     
  What is fiber optics? Fiber optics (optical fibers) are long, flexible, thin strands of very pure glass about the diameter of a human hair, essentially wires that carry light. These "wires"e; are arranged in bundles called optical cables and used to transmit light signals over long distances.  
     
  It all began about 30 years ago in the R&D labs (Corning, Bell Labs, ITT UK, etc.) and was first installed in Chicago, IL, USA in 1976. By the early 1980s, fiber networks connected the major cities on each coast. By the mid-80s, fiber was replacing all the telco copper, microwave and satellite links. Other applications developed as well. They discovered they could offer phone and Internet service on that same fiber and greatly enlarged their markets. Computers and LANs started using fiber about the same time as the telcos. Industrial companies were among the first to use fiber for it's noise immunity. Because optical fiber does not conduct electricity and is not effected by electromagnetic waves, it can be used in electrically hostile environments like factories and power plants. Mainframe storage networks came next, the predecessors of today's fiber SANs (storage area networks.) Aircraft, ship and automobile data busses, CCTV for security, even for consumer digital audio!  
     
 
Yes fiber-optic cable can be used for home audio applications, yielding distortion-free sound. Home theatre isn't just about watching movies, it's about experiencing them. Achieving the best possible picture and sound means using the most advanced, highest definition cable. Dolby Digital and DTS are ultra-high quality digital audio formats that provide incredible surround sound and superior performance. You must use a fiber optic or digital coax cable to take advantage of these exciting new technologies.		  
     
  Fiber optic sound cards are becoming much more affordable, and motherboards are more and more often coming equipped with fiber optic cable connection built into the sound card. "I've been enourmously impressed by the improvement in the sound quality going through a fiber optic cable vs. the old analog connection." says one fiber optic sound card user. Do yourself a favor, if you haven't already upgraded your soundcard in your machine to a card that supports a fiber optic connection to your receiver/amplifier go and do it now.  
     
  -Nick Garcia
www.comcuts.com

  
     
  Resources
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com
www.lanshack.com
www.monstercable.com
www.ehomeupgrade.com
www.digitalmediathoughts.com		  
     
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